Sirkazhi Govindarajan

Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Background information
Birth name	Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Born	19 January 1933; Sirkazhi, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	24 March 1988 (aged 55); Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Genres	Film music (playback singing), Indian classical music
Occupation(s)	Singer, Actor
Instrument(s)	Vocalist
Years active	1952–1988

Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was a leading vocalist in Carnatic Music.

Govindarajan, was born at Sirkali, a small town in Madras Presidency (Present day Tamil Nadu) to Siva Chidambaram and Avayambal Ammal. Sirkazhi was the birthplace of Thirugnanasambandar, one of the Samaya Naalvar and the 63 Nayanmar of the Saiva faith. It was little wonder that he became a child prodigy performing at the Tirupurasundari Temple at the age of eight on the occasion of the Gnana Paal Festival.^[2] His son Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram is also a Carnatic singer.^[3]

He graduated from the Tamil Isai College in Chennai in 1949 with the Degree 'Isaimani'. He also graduated with the Degree of 'Sangeetha Vidwan'. At the same time, he started rigorous training (Gurukulavasam) under his Guru Sri.Thiruppampuram Swaminatha Pillai, who was then a Professor at the Central College of Carnatic Music, Madras. Under his tutelage and in-depth study, he gained knowledge of the nuances and intricacies of Indian Music, especially, Classical Carnatic Music. During this period, 1951–1952, he won many competitions, conducted by the Sangeetha Vidwat Sabha (Music Academy) and the Rasika Ranjani Sabha. He was the proud recipient of three Gold Medals(First Place) in the austere and hallowed halls of Sangeetha Vidwat Sabha (Music Academy) from Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer. "Sangeetha Vidwan" Sirkali won all first places in the three categories: Apoorva Krithis of Sri Thyagaraja swamigal, Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi, and Tamil Classical Songs.^[2]

He was conferred the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. The Central College of Carnatic Music was the next institution for his musical enrichment.

Govindarajan had also done playback singing in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films.^[4] Madras University conferred a doctorate (Honoris Causa) on him in 1983. He died of a massive heart attack in 1988, aged just 55.

Collaboration

Music Composers

S. V. Venkataraman, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, S. Rajeswara Rao, S. Dakshinamurthi, V. Dakshinamoorthy, G. Ramanathan, C. N. Pandurangam, Master Venu, K. V. Mahadevan, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, B. Narasimma Rao, A. Rama Rao, T. Chalapathi Rao, T. G. Lingappa, P. Adinarayana Rao, T. R. Pappa, Ghantasala, Vedha, G. K. Venkatesh, M. S. Viswanathan, T. K. Ramamoorthy, V. Kumar, A. M. Rajah, C. Ramachandra, Ilaiyaraaja, and Shankar Ganesh.

Playback Singers

He has sung with other male singers such as M. S. Viswanathan, T. M. Soundararajan, Ghatasala, P. B. Srinivas, S. C. Krishnan, Tiruchi Loganathan, A. L. Raghavan, K. J. Yesudas and S. V. Ponnusamy.

He also sang duets with many female singer such as M. L. Vasanthakumari, P. Leela, K. Jamuna Rani, Jikki, P. Suseela, K. Rani, L. R. Eswari, L. R. Anjali, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi, R. Balasaraswathi Devi, N. L. Ganasaraswathi, A. P. Komala, A. G. Rathinmala, T. V. Rathinam, Bangalore Ramani Ammal, Vani Jayaram, S. Janaki, M. R. Vijaya, Sarala and Rohini.

He sang duets with singing actors such as N. S. Krishnan, T. R. Mahalingam, P. Bhanumathi, S. Varalakshmi and Manorama.

Award

Filmography

Year	Movie	Role
1967	Kandhan Karunai	Nakkeerar
1969	Vaa Raja Vaa	Police Officer
1970	Thirumalai Thenkumari	Raghavan
1972	Agathiyar	Agathiyar
1972	Dheivam	Cameo Appearance
1973	Rajaraja Cholan	Nambiyandar Nambi
1975	Thiruvarul	Cameo Appearance
1976	Dasavatharam	Naradhar
1982	Thaai Mookaambikai	Cameo Appearance
1989	Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal	Agathiyar

Discography

References

^ Simple, Soul-Stirring Music. The Hindu, 29 June 2001.
^ ^a ^b Sirkali Home Page
^ "An Aussie honour for Indian vocalist". The Hindu. 7 December 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
^ Govindarajan Profile^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

[1] Simple, Soul-Stirring Music. The Hindu, 29 June 2001.

[sirkali-2] Sirkali Home Page

[3] "An Aussie honour for Indian vocalist". The Hindu. 7 December 2001. Retrieved 2 August 2009.

[4] Govindarajan Profile^{[permanent dead link]}

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