M. S. Subbulakshmi: Difference between revisions

| name             = M. S. Subbulakshmi

| image           = M. S. Subbulakshmi (03).jpg

| caption         =  

| birth_name       = Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi

| alias           =  

| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1916|9|16}}

| birth_place     = [[Madurai]], [[Madras Presidency]], India

| spouse           = [[Kalki Sadasivam]]

| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2004|12|11|1916|9|16}}

| death_place     = [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India

| genre           = [[Carnatic classical music|Indian classical music]]

| occupation       = Classical vocalist

| years_active     = 1930–1997

| label           = HMV

'''Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi''' (16 September 1916&nbsp;– 11 December 2004) was an Indian [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] singer from [[Madurai]], [[Tamil Nadu]]. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the [[Bharat Ratna]], India's highest civilian honour.<ref>{{cite news|title=M S Subbulakshmi: 'Nightingale' of Carnatic music |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/11ms2.htm |newspaper=Rediff |date=12 December 2004 |location=India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708075137/http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/11ms2.htm |archive-date=8 July 2015 }}</ref> She is the first Indian musician to receive the [[Ramon Magsaysay award]]<ref>{{cite news |author=Clare Arthurs |title=Activists share 'Asian Nobel Prize' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/851034.stm |work=BBC News |date=25 July 2000 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> in 1974 with the citation reading "Exacting purists acknowledge Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi as the leading exponent of classical and semi-classical songs in the carnatic<!--as in source--> tradition of South India. She was the First Indian who performed in [[United Nations General Assembly]] in 1966."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationSubbulakshmiMon.htm |title=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation |publisher=Rmaf.org.ph |access-date=22 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901045121/http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationSubbulakshmiMon.htm |archive-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{citation | year=1982 | title = The Ramon Magsaysay awards | publisher=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxblAAAAMAAJ&q=semi-classical | page=141}}</ref>

She travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at

#Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama in 1963

#[[Carnegie Hall]], New York; the [[UN General Assembly]] on UN day in 1966

#[[Royal Albert Hall]], London in 1982

#Festival of India in Moscow in 1987

were significant landmarks in her career.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/PIBF2602982.html|title=M.S.SUBBULAKSHMI – A DIVINE MAESTRO|author=K.S. Mahadevan|publisher=Press Information Bureau, Government of India|access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref> In 1969 she was accompanied by Indian Railways Advisor SN Venkata Rao to Rameswaram, where she sang several songs in front of each idol in the Rameswaram temple. She shared a very cordial relation with Sree Ramaseva Mandali Bengaluru for whom she performed 36 concerts.

MS Subbulakshmi also played the male role of [[Narada]] in ''Savitri'' (1941) to raise money for launching [[Kalki (magazine)|Kalki]], her husband's nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of the [[Rajasthan]]i saint-poetess [[Meera]] in the eponymous 1945 [[Meera (1945 film)|film]] gave her national prominence. This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947.

| 1945 || ''[[Meera (1945 film)|Meera]] '' || Tamil || [[Meerabai]]  || [[Chittor V. Nagaiah]] || Ellis R. Dungan || [[S. V. Venkatraman]] || Chandraprabha Cinetone

| 1947 || '' Meerabai'' || [[Hindi language|Hindi]] ||  Meerabai  || [[Chittor V. Nagaiah]] || Ellis R. Dungan || Dilip Kumar Roy || Chandraprabha Cinetone

[[File:Ms subbulakshmi.jpg|thumb|M. S. Subbulakshmi wearing  saree of a colour which has become synonymous to her name – MS Blue.]]

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had this to say about M.S. Subbulakshmi- "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen, a Queen of Music". While [[Lata Mangeshkar]] called her ''Tapaswini'' (the Renunciate), [[Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan]] termed her ''Suswaralakshmi'' (the goddess of the perfect note), and [[Kishori Amonkar]] labelled her the ultimate eighth note or ''Aathuvaan Sur'', which is above the seven notes basic to all music. The great national leader and poet [[Sarojini Naidu]] called her "Nightingale of India". Her many famous renditions of [[bhajans]] include the chanting of [[Meenakshi]] Pancharatnam, [[Bhaja Govindam]], [[Vishnu sahasranama]] (1000 names of [[Vishnu]]), [[Hari Tuma Haro]] and the [[Lord Venkateswara|Venkateswara]] [[Suprabhatam]] (musical hymns to awaken Lord Balaji early in the morning).

She was bestowed with enormous prize moneys with these awards, most of which she donated to charity. She has given more than 200 charity concerts and raised well over Rs. 10,000,000. She was awarded honorary degrees from several Universities. She was an ardent devotee of [[Kanchi Mahaswamigal]] and she rendered his composition ''Maithreem Bhajatha'' (O World! Cultivate peace) in her concert at the UN in 1966. She made a 20-minute recording of Venkatesa Suprabhatam for HMV, the royalty from which goes to the Veda Patasala run by the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pages ago – Singing for Bapu, Jawaharlal and Paramacharya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article968377.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=22 December 2010|location=India}}</ref> She donated many of the royalties on several best sold records to many charity organisations.