Madurai Shanmugavadivu Subbulakshmi has the distinction of making it big in the field of Carnatic music when it was strictly a male domain. MS, as she is popularly called, was born in the temple town of Madurai, Tamil Nadu on 16 September 1916. Her mother Madurai Shanmugavadivu was an exceptional veena player. Young Subbulakshmi (the name means ‘the auspicious goddess of wealth’) grew up listening to the notes of the nagaswaram and the chants emanating from the Meenakshi Temple near her house. She dropped out of school when she was in the fourth standard and dedicated herself to music. Her guru was Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Subbulakshmi was a child prodigy. She gave her first recital in 1926 when she was just 10 years old. She has continued to enthrall audiences since then.
In the field of music, India has produced many eminent musicians. And each occupies a special place in the music world. But what is it that puts MS Subbulakshmi apart? The answer is that as soon as she sets her hands on the mridangam, she forgets herself and words flow from her mouth and resonate in the air. The grace and dedication with which she sings has resulted in a huge fan following. She always wants her audience to be immersed in music and feel a divine presence.
In 1938, Subbulakshmi made her film debut with Sevasadanam. It was based on the theme of women’s liberation. In 1940, she married Thyagarajan Sadasivam, a freedom fighter, who was also her guru and guide. A major credit for Subbulakshmi’s success goes to her husband, who shaped her musical career. Sadasivam was also a filmmaker. Subbulakshmi appeared in Tamil films as a singing star, all of which were runaway successes. She acted in Shakuntalai in 1940, Savitri in 1941 and Meera in 1945. Meera was remade in Hindi and became a hit. The film made her a household name across the country.
However, it was her devotional songs (bhajans and shlokas) that made her truly famous in India and abroad. She has rendered her voice to the compositions of the Carnatic music trinity — Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Sastri. When she sang Gandhiji’s favourite bhajan Vaishnava Janato Tene Kahiye, Je Peer Parayee Jaane Re, magic was created on stage and he was moved to tears. Amongst her famous renditions are Shree Venkatesha Suprabhatam, Shree Vishnu Sahasranaman, Meera bhajans and Hanuman Chalisa.
When MS sang at the United Nations Assembly, New York Times wrote that she could convey her message to Western people through her music. Although they could not understand the words, the sweet voice emanating from her throat made the message easy to grasp for foreigners. She also sang before the Queen of England at Royal Albert Hall in London.
When Sarojini Naidu heard her renditions, she said, “From today, I surrender to Subbulakshmi, the enchanting singer with an enchanting voice, my title (the Nightingale of India).”
In 1954 Subbulakshmi was honoured with the Padma Bhushan. She received the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1969. She was the first woman to be honoured by the Madras Music Academy. In 1974, she received the Magsaysay Award and the following year she received the Padma Vibhushan. She was the recipient of the Indira Gandhi Award for national integration in 1990. She was honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1998, the first musician to be honoured with this award. She created a great void when her soul left for her heavenly abode on December 11, 2004.