Lalitha Sivakumar

Lalitha Sivakumar is a Carnatic music teacher and composer. She was known for vocally accompanying her mother-in-law and leading Carnatic vocalist, the late D. K. Pattammal, in concerts. Lalitha Sivakumar is also prominently known as the mother and guru of Nithyashree Mahadevan, a vocalist in Indian music. She is a well known veteran guru (teacher) of the D.K.P's school of Carnatic Music.

Early life Lalitha Sivakumar's father, Palghat Mani Iyer, was a mridangist in the field of Carnatic music, and was the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmabhushan awards. At the age of 18, Lalitha Sivakumar was married to I. Sivakumar, son of D. K. Pattammal. The day after the wedding, she received training in Carnatic music from D. K. Pattammal. Pallavi Prasanna, Nalini Krishnan, Maharajapuram Srinivasan, Dr. Periyasamy and several others.

As a testimony to her music knowledge, Smt. Lalitha Sivakumar is the most preferred judge for several Carnatic Music competitions and Devotional Music competitions held throughout the year in India.