The world of Carnatic music on Friday commemorated the centenary birth anniversary of renowned classical vocalist M.S. Subbalakshmi. The doyen, whose voice chimed with spirituality, has passed away in the year 2004. But her devotional renditions still reverberate as wake-up chants for millions of Indians across the world.
The basic nature of Subbalakshmi's voice was piety and she had a special ability to transport her listeners to a different world through her music. She made all her renditions prayers and absorbed her audience fully to her music. Brimming with spiritual enchantment, each of her concerts was a master piece in itself.
Subbalakshmi was born to veena player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer on September 16, 1916. However, her musical lessons were given by T. Sadasivan, an eminent in carnatic vocalist. Her spiritual profundity in music had reached its zenith in Venkateswara Suprabhatham, a devotional recital in praise of Lord Venkateswara.
Though she had a brief stint in films Subbalashmi soon returned to music. Sevasadanam, Sakuntalai, Savithiri and Meera were some the Tamil films in which she had acted while Meerabai was a Hindi film, released in 1947, in which she had donned the title role.
When Subbalakshmi was accorded the Bharat Ratna in 1998, she became the first person from the realm of music to be bestowed with such an honor.
