February 10, On This Day
A distinguished Indian Carnatic musician and painter from the state of Tamil Nadu was born on February 10, 1919. S. Rajam is celebrated as a rare and gifted artist and performer.
He is known for his series of portraits of the Trinity of Carnatic music — Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, the iconic 18th century composers of hundreds of weighty songs, most of them in praise of the divine.
He was a student of the Carnatic musician Papanasam Sivan and the older brother of Tamil film director and musician S. Balachander and actress S. Jayalakshmi. He acted in films before becoming a full-time musician (especially renowned for his singing) and painter. He also worked as a staff artist and music supervisor at All India Radio.
Rajam passed away on January 29, 2010.
