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In some lineages of Hinduism, Purusha (Sanskrit puruṣa, पुरुष "man, Cosmic man", in Sutra literature also called puṃs "man") is the "Self" which pervades the universe. The Vedic divinities are interpretations of the many facets of Purusha. According to the Rigvedic Purusha sukta, Purusha was dismembered by the devas—his mind is the Moon, his eyes are the Sun, and his breath is the wind.

In the Rigveda, Purusha is described as a primeval giant that is sacrificed by the gods (see Purushamedha) and from whose body the world and the varnas (classes) are built. He is described as having a thousand heads and a thousand feet. He emanated Virat, the female creative principle, from which he is reborn in turn after the world was made out of his parts.

In the sacrifice of Purusha, the Vedic chants were first created. The horses and cows were born, the Brahmins were made from Purusha's mouth, the Ksatriya from his arms, the Vaisyas from his thighs, and the Shudras from his feet. The Moon was born from his mind, the Sun from his eyes, the heavens from his skull. Indra and Agni emerged from his mouth.

The parallel to Norse Ymir is often^[1] considered to reflect the myth's origin in Proto-Indo-European religion.

Interpretations[link]

The Vedanta Sutras mention that : janmādy asya yatah, meaning that 'The Absolute Truth is that from which everything else emanates' Bhagavata Purana [S.1.1.1]. This Absolute Truth, which is personal in nature, is Purusha personified.

In Samkhya, a school of Hindu philosophy, Purusha is pure consciousness. It is thought to be our true identity, to be contrasted with Prakrti, or the material world, which contains all of our organs, senses, and intellectual faculties.^{[citation needed]}

Varna system[link]

Varna refers to the Hindu belief that human beings were created from different parts of the body of the divinity Purusha.

See also[link]

• Anthropos
• Brahman
• Cipactli
• Hindu deities
• Hindu idealism
• Hindu mythology
• Indian caste system
• Narayana

References[link]

Neyyattinkara Vasudevan (1940–2008) was an acclaimed Carnatic music vocalist from Kerala in south India.^[1] The Padmasree-winning Carnatic vocalist and disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Ramnad Krishnan, he combined tradition and innovation in his widely acclaimed career.

Biography[link]

Vasudevan born in a village near Neyyattinkara in southern Travancore, and did his formal music studies from the Swati Tirunal Music College, Thiruvananthapuram, chiefly under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. He also did advanced studies under Ramnad Krishnan.He passed Ganabhushanam in 1960 and Sangeetha Vidwan in 1962.^[2]

He worked as assistant professor at the RLV College of Music, Thripunithura, for nearly a decade before joining All India Radio as an A-grade staff vocalist in 1974. He retired in 2000 and was later ranked ‘A Top’, the highest honour given by AIR to classical musicians.^[3]

He died on May 13, 2008 in Thiruvananthapuram.^[4]

Awards[link]

• Padma Shri in 2004 ^[5]
• Swati Puraskaram in 2006^[6]

Movies[link]

He has also sung for few Malayalam movies.

References[link]

M.S.Subbulakshmi
An EMI record of Subbulakshmi
Background information
Born	(1916-09-16)September 16, 1916 Madurai, Madras Presidency, India
Origin	India
Died	December 11, 2004(2004-12-11) (aged 88) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Indian classical music
Occupations	Classical Vocalist
Years active	1930–2004
Labels	HMV

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (Tamil: மதுரை சண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலட்சுமி, Madhurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi ^? 16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004), also known as M.S., was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.^[1] She is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award, Asia's highest civilian award, in 1974 with the citation reading "Exacting purists acknowledge Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi as the leading exponent of classical and semi-classical songs in the Karnataka tradition of South India."^[2][3]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Subbulakshmi (Kunjamma to her family) was born in Madurai, Madras Presidency, India to veena player Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist.

She started learning Carnatic music at an early age and trained in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and subsequently in Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. She also learned Sanskrit and Telugu under Dr. Nedunuri Krishnamurthy.

Her mother, from the devadasi community, was a music exponent and a regular stage performer, and Subbulakshmi grew up in an environment very conducive to musical learning. Her musical interests were also shaped by regular interactions with Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.^[4] Subbulakshmi gave her first public performance in 1929 when she was 13 years old at the prestigious Madras Music Academy. The performance consisted of singing bhajans (Hindu hymns).^[5] The academy was known for its discriminating selection process, and they broke tradition by inviting a young girl as a key performer. Her performance was described as spellbinding and earned her many admirers and the moniker of musical genius from critics. Soon after her debut performance Subbulakshmi became one the leading Carnatic vocalists.^[6][7]

Move to Madras[link]

In 1936 Subbulakshmi moved to Madras (now Chennai).^[7] She also made her film debut in Sevasadan in 1938,.^[8]

Musical style and performance[link]

M.S. Subbulakshmi (left) with S. Varalakshmi in Sevasadhanam (1938)

Singing career[link]

M.S. Subbulakshmi began her Carnatic classical music training under her mother Shanmugavadivu; and later in Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Subbulakshmi first recording was released when she was 10 years old. She gave her first public performance, at the age of eleven, in the 100 pillar hall inside the Rockfort Temple, Tiruchirappalli; with Mysore Chowdiah on the violin and Dakshinamurthy Pillai on the mriganga. ^[9] By the age of 17, Subbulakshmi was giving concerts on her own, including major performances at the Madras Music Academy, a prestigious centre for the study and promotion of Carnatic music. Performance in Carnatic music concerts, was until then, a domain, traditionally reserved for men. She performed a vast variety of devotional musical forms in different languages including Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, Panjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati and Marathi.

When the governor of Madras wanted the famous spiritual leader, Mata Sri Anandamayi Ma, to reside in his residence, Anandamayi Ma replied, "I will stay in the house of Subbulakshmi. She is Meera to me." Within two days, Sadasivam had special quarters built in their garden for Mata to give darshan and arranged for a new well to be dug nearby for fresh drinking water. Every evening thousands of people gathered there.

She traveled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at

• Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama in 1963
• Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966
• Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982
• Festival of India in Moscow in 1987

were significant landmarks in her career.^[10] In 1969 she was accompanied by Indian Railways Advisor SN Venkata Rao to Rameshwaram, where she famously sang several songs in front of each idol in the Rameshwaram temple.

After the death of her husband Kalki Sadasivam in 1997, she stopped all her public performances.

Films[link]

M.S. also acted in a few Tamil films in her youth. Her first movie Sevasadanam was released in 1938. MS Subbulakshmi also played the male role of Narada in "Savitri" (1941) to raise money for launching Kalki, her husband's nationalist Tamil weekly. Her title role of the Rajasthani saint-poetess Meera in the eponymous 1945 film gave her national prominence. This movie was re-made in Hindi in 1947. The movie had M.S Subbulakshmi. sing the famous Meera bhajans, with Dilipkumar Roy as the music director. Later, she quit films and turned wholly to concert music.

Awards and honours[link]

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had this to say about M.S. Subbulakshmi- "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister before a Queen, a Queen of Music". While Lata Mangeshkar called her Tapaswini (the Renunciate), Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan termed her Suswaralakshmi (the goddess of the perfect note), and Kishori Amonkar labeled her the ultimate eighth note or Aathuvaan Sur, which is above the seven notes basic to all music. The great national leader and poet Sarojini Naidu called her "Nightingale of India". Her many famous renditions of bhajans include the chanting of Bhaja Govindam, Vishnu sahasranama (1000 names of Vishnu), Hari Tuma Haro and the Venkateswara Suprabhatam (musical hymns to awaken Lord Balaji early in the morning).

She was widely honored, praised and awarded. Some of the more popular ones include^[11]

• Padma Bhushan in 1954
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1956
• Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1968 (literally, Treasure Chest of Music. She was the first woman recipient of the title)
• Ramon Magsaysay award (often considered Asia's Nobel Prize) in 1974
• Padma Vibhushan in 1975
• Kalidas Samman in 1988
• Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990
• Bharat Ratna in 1998.

She was honored as the court-singer[Asthana Vidhwan] of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.^[12] Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) has installed a bronze statue of M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Poornakumbham circle in the temple town. It was unveiled by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on 28 May 2006.^[13]

The famous Kancheepuram Saree shade known as MS Blue was named after her^[14] by the well known Congress party member and philanthropist, Sri Muthu Chettiyar when they met at the residence of Sri R. Aiyadurai and Smt. Thangam Aiyadurai at Lady Desikachari Road, Madras, who were close friends of MS and Sadasivam.

She was bestowed with enormous prize moneys with these awards, she donated most of them to charity. She has given more than 200 charity concerts and raised well over Rs. 10,000,000. She was awarded honorary degree degrees from several Universities.

She was an ardent devotee of Kanchi Mahaswamigal and she rendered his composition Maithreem Bhajatha (O World! Cultivate peace) in her concert at the UN in 1966. Venkatesa Suprabhatam in Gramaphone record of HMV, the royalty from which goes to the Veda Patasala run by the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.^[15] She donated many of the royalties on several best sold records to many charity organizations.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• M.S. Subbulaksmi, the Voice Divine (79 pages) by V. Gangadhar.
• MS - A Life in Music, T. J. S. George. 2004, HarperCollins. ISBN 978-81-7223-527-7
• Gowri Ramnarayan (Dec. 18–31, 2004), "Cover Story: The M.S. phenomenon", Frontline 21 (26), http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2126/stories/20041231006400900.htm 
• MS & Radha - Saga of Steadfast Devotion - by Gowri Ramnarayan - http://www.msstribute.org/

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: M. S. Subbulakshmi

• "Artists: M.S.Subbulakshmi, Nat Geo Music". National Geographic Society. http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/ms_subbulakshmi. 
• Biography at the official site of Ramon Magsaysay award
• M.S. Subbulakshmi at the Internet Movie Database
• Photo of MS, Sadhasivam and Ellis R. Dungan
• M.S. Subbulakshmi: Portraits of a diva - The Hindu

See also[link]

Indian classical music portal

v t e Bharat Ratna laureates Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) C. Rajagopalachari (1954) C. V. Raman (1954) Bhagwan Das (1955) Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) Indira Gandhi (1971) V. V. Giri (1975) K. Kamaraj (1976) Mother Teresa (1980) Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) M. G. Ramachandran (1988) B. R. Ambedkar (1990) Nelson Mandela (1990) Rajiv Gandhi (1991) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) Morarji Desai (1991) Abul Kalam Azad (1992) J. R. D. Tata (1992) Satyajit Ray (1992) A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) Ravi Shankar (1999) Amartya Sen (1999) Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) Lata Mangeshkar (2001) Bismillah Khan (2001) Bhimsen Joshi (2008)