T. M. Thiagarajan Biography 
T. M. Thiagarajan was a Carnatic musicologist from a musical family of Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. An artiste of several dimensions, he was a well-known guru, performer and composer. He lived during the period 28 May 1923 – 27 June 2007. He is the son of great mridangam player Mahalingam Pillai. Thiagarajan took advanced learning in Carnatic music from the great Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Did his first public concert at the age of 8, during his glorious period he was also known as a lyricist, composer, teacher and administrator. He passed away in 2007 aged 84.
Thiagarajan was a great administrator. He served as the Principal of the Government Music College in Chennai, and following his retirement in 1981, he served as the Principal of the Music Teachers' college of Music academy, Chennai. Same year he was honoured with Sangeetha Kalanidhi title by Madras Music academy. Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1982 by Sangeet Natak Academy and Sangeetha Choodamani in1974 by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai are the other major honours received by him.
He was born into a family of musicians in Thanjavur in the year 1923. His family was known for music as well as dance and many of his ancestors have served as court musicians of Baroda princely state. He was born to Mahalingam Pillai, a mridangam maestro and Seethalakshmi Ammal. After receiving initial training from his father, he took advanced learning from Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
For his first public performance at Thiruvaiyaru at the age of only 8, he impressed the legendary Pudukottai Dakshinamurthi Pillai with his delightful performance. Since then he has performed for many concerts and regularly performed at AIR. He was also seen performing for TV shows towards the end of his journey. His brother Balasubramanian was also an accomplished violinist.
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Updated: April 03, 2016
