Mani Krishnaswami

Mani Krishnaswami, (also written as Mani Krishnaswamy, 3 February 1930 – 12 July 2002) was a Carnatic music vocalist of Tamil Nadu, India.

Family Her birth name was Mani Perundevi. Her father, Lakshmi Narasimhachari, was the secretary of Vellore Sangeetha Sabha. When Mani was six years of age, her mother Maragathavalli taught her to play violin. Mani's husband Krishnaswamy is an active arts promoter.

Training in Carnatic music Krishnaswami's first mentor in Carnatic music was a family musician friend named Gopaalachaari. Krishnaswami learned more than 500 songs while still a child. After completing secondary education, she enrolled for the Sangeeta Siromani course in Kalakshetra at Adayar, Chennai. At Kalakshetra she came under the influence of doyens like Rukmini Devi Arundale, Tiger Varadachariar and Papanasam Sivan.

She has the distinction of learning Carnatic music from five giants in the field, who were also recipients of the coveted Sangeetha Kalanidhi award. They are: Mysore Vasudevachar, Budaloor Krishnamurthy Shastri, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tiger Varadachariar and Papanasam Sivan.

Mani followed the Musiri tradition. She was a key figure in popularizing the works of Musiri Subramania Iyer.

Awards

Sangeetha Choodamani, 1979 by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1987 by Sangeet Natak Akademi Padma Shri, 2002

Death Krishnaswami died on Friday, July 12, 2002, at the age of 72 due to cardiac arrest.