The voice that immortalised ‘Bhaja Govindam’ and made Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatham and the Vishnu Sahasranamam popular household chants is 100 years on Wednesday. M. S. Subbulakshmi, as we know her, was born on September 16, 1916 in Madurai and moved to the city when she was just 16 years old where she lived till she breathed her last.
After her marriage with T. Sadasivam, co-founder of Kalki magazine, she moved to a rented house on Big Street in Triplicane where he was living then. “It was only after they made the film Meera that they bought Sladen Gardens, which later became Kalki Gardens,” recalls a long-time associate of the family. The Kalki Garden property was later sold to Mahrishi Mahesh Yogi. “When he came to the house, an arthi was performed at the puja room on the first floor. At that time he told Sadasivam Mama that she has reached an exalted position where the rest of us try to reach,” he recalled. The Sadasivams have lived in homes on Barnaby Road, Poonamallee High Road and Kotturpuram but the longest was at Kalki Gardens. Unfortunately none of these properties were made into any kind of memorial or preserved in the memory of M.S. Apart from concert halls, public functions and weddings, the Ganesha temple on Big Street in Triplicane and the Anjaneyar Temple near the Thannithurai market are the only two places in the city where M.S. used to visit with her husband. “She wouldn’t go anywhere without him. She never even went shopping. Her silk saris used to be supplied by one Muthu Chettiyar. From time to time he would bring three saris and Amma, Radha and Vijaya Rajendran would wear similar saris to concerts,” he said. Her first public concert in the city was organised by the Indian Fine Arts Society on December 28 at Saundarya Mahal in George Town. She was accompanied by T. Gururajappa on the violin and her mother on the veena.
The Hindu , on January 1, 1935, carried a listing about her concert at The Madras Music Conference at the special pavilion behind the Ripon Buildings, People’s Park. It said: “5.30 to 7.30 p.m. Sri Subbalakshmi of Madura – vocal, Mr. Sankaranarayana Aiyar – violin, Hamsa Damayanti – Mridangam.”
She wouldn’t have even dreamt on that day that one day she would offer a fund-raiser concert for The Music Academy - where the Chief Guest was Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru - or that she would be the first female musician to receive the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi Award.
It was also in Madras that she received the Padma Bhushan in March 1955. According to a report in The Hindu , Sri Prakasa, the then Governor of Madras, presented the medal and Sannad at an event at the Raj Bhavan. Sri Prakasa said that he was asked by the President to present the decoration to “the great and talented artiste” Srimathi M.S. Subbulakshmi. He was sure that Madras would feel proud of it and he himself felt greatly honoured in handing it over to her.
