Dates July 22, 1914 - October 8, 1994 Genre Carnatic - Krithi Language Telugu, Tamil   Profile   Compositions   Related Composers   Biography   Links

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K M Soundaryavalli, KMS as she is known, was one of the very few woman composers of Carnatic music. Her son-in-law Sri K N Sundaram is trying to popularize her compositions. Credit for all the material about KMS on Musical Nirvana goes to him.

She was born in Andhra Region as the daughter of Sriman Nadadoor Ammal Narasimhachariar and Srimathi Singarammal. Sriman Narasmihachariar was a teacher, Head Master and lastly Inspector of schools. He was very well recognised as a poet in Telugu and Sanskrit in the Andhra Region. Early years of life were spent in the Andhra Region of India and she was thus conversant more with Telugu.

She had minimal formal education. She was initiated into Karnatic Music by Naadaswara Vidwan Sri. Murugula Seetharamayya. She was married to Sriman Kavanoor Maadaboosi Krishnaswamy Iyengar at an early age and moved over to the Tamil Region and learnt Tamil by reading over and over again the Divine Tamil Scriptures.

She had an inborn capacity to compose lyrics and set them to music herself. She composed several lyrics in Tamil and Telugu on Lord Yoga Narasimha and His Divine Consort Amruthavalli. She had the darsan of the Paramacharya of Kanchi and composed extempore a Tamil lyric of ten verses delineating the life and achievements of Aadi Sankara. Very pleased with the composition and after also listening to her other compositions, the Paramacharya bestowed on her the title of "Kavithamani", which was announced in a public meeting by the then Chief Justice of Madras Sri. P.V. Rajamannar in 1954.

Having visited Thiruvayyaru where Saint Thyagaraja attained the bliss of salvation, she imagined the Saint as her guru and composed 30 Telugu keerthanas on the Saint, which were appreciated by Srimathi Bangalore Nagarathnama who had given away her life's savings for building the Saint's samadhi. Sangeetha Kala Acharya T.S. Parthasarathy reviewed these keerthanas in "The Hindu".

At the ripe old age of 75,she got herself introduced into Sahaj Marg - a modified system of Raja Yoga of Sri Ram Chandra Mission of Shajehanpur. And at that age, physically a bundle of ailments, she, having her faculty of involuntarily composing lyrics in tact, composed several lyrics in Tamil and Telugu on the method, mission and Master.

Related Composers

Teachers & Influences	Murugula Seetharamayya
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