Subbu Arumugam (12 July 1928 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian musician, writer and Villupattu theatre art exponent. In 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in the Arts and Literature category. He published 15 books containing Villu Pattu narratives, songs, short stories and novels such as Veera Pandia Kattabomman. Some of his published notable works are ''Noolaga Villisai'', ''Ramayanam'', and ''Villisai Mahabharatham''. Arumugam was born on 12 July 1928 at Chatthiram Pudukulam village of Tirunelveli district in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India. He received training in the Villu Paatu theatre art under A. Subbaiah Pillai, N. Krishna Pillai, and N. S. Krishnan. Arumugam had many Villu Pattu audio cassettes, videos, and devotional songs to his credit. Some of the other notable works include ''Kannile Nalla Gunam'', a video on

diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease) is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries and one of the lead causes of sight loss in the wor ...

, which was produced by

Sankara Nethralaya Sankara Nethralaya is a non-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India. Sankara Nethralaya was rated among the top four ophthalmic institutions worldwide in 2020 by Newsweek. Nani A. Palkivala, former ...

, Chennai, and ''Sattam, Sathyam, Samudhyam'', a video on legal matters, was produced by the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

. He has also written comedy tracks, dialogues and lyrics for various films in India. Arumugam performed Villu Paatu professionally for about 40 years from the 1930s up to the 1950s in various temples, schools, colleges, factories, corporate offices and media broadcasts. Arumugam was awarded the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

title in 1975 by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram for excellence in the field of art and literature. Subbu Arumugam was honored with the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

for his contribution to the practice of Villu Paatu.

Awards and recognition

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, 2021 *

by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

Award by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, 1975

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arumugam, Subbu 1928 births 2022 deaths Hindustani instrumentalists Musicians from Tamil Nadu Tamil musicians People from Tirunelveli Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian male musicians 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian musicians 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian male musicians 21st-century Indian male writers Writers from Tamil Nadu Tamil writers