‘Soolamangalam’ Jayalakshmi, the elder of the Soolamangalam sisters, who was well known in the carnatic, devotional and film music circles, died here on Thursday. She was 81.
Unlike her younger sister Rajalakshmi, who had a good career in the film world and died in 1992, Jayalakshmi confined herself to devotional songs and carnatic concerts.
Even though they performed carnatic concerts and were appreciated by great maestros like Tiruvavaduthurai T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai, M.K. Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar and P.U. Chinnappa, it was their devotional songs, particularly the Kanthashasti Kavasam , that made them a household name in Tamil Nadu.
Born in Soolamangalam, Jayalakshmi and Rajalakshmi moved to Chennai in the late 1940s after the demise of their father Karnam Ramsamy Iyer.
“By that time, they had been adequately trained in carnatic music by Soolamangalam K.G. Moorthy.
“In Chennai, they honed their skills by learning from Pathamadai Krishnan,” writes historian of Tamil film music Vamanan in his book Thirai Isai Alaigal .
Jayalakshmi used to say that it was because of Krishnan they could achieve great heights in the field of music. Vamanan says M.K. Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar learnt many keerthanas from Rajalakshmi.
Jayalakshmi also forayed into the film world and rendered songs in Bhojan, Chakrathari and Natyarani, among others.
They together recorded many songs. Sreemagaganapathi (Atana) and Swararagasudha (Sankarabharanam) continue to fill the air along with Kanthasasti Kavasam in Tamil Nadu.
