This is a list of Carnatic instrumentalists: musicians famous for playing the

carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

. Musicians are listed by the instrument they have played.

Bowed strings

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Lalgudi Jayaraman Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Musi ...

* Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan * Tirumakudalu Chowdiah * Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu *

M. S. Gopalakrishnan M.S. Gopalakrishnan, a.k.a. MSG, (10 June 1931 – 3 January 2013) was a violinist in the field of Carnatic music. He is commonly grouped with Lalgudi Jayaraman and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded ...

* T. N. Krishnan *

H.K. Venkatram H. K. Venkatram is an Indian classical music violinist and Philanthropist. Venkatram has been an active violinist for over 30 years in India and abroad. He is known for his classical style of play and maturity on the violin. Career H.K. Venkatra ...

* L. Vaidyanathan *

L. Subramaniam Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music. Early years Subramaniam was born in Madras, Madras Presidency, Brit ...

* L. Shankar * Mysore brothers - Mysore Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore Manjunath * Embar Kannan *

G. J. R. Krishnan Lalgudi Gopala Jayaraman Radhakrishnan, popularly known as G. J. R. Krishnan or Lalgudi Krishnan, is a Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is the son and disciple of the legendary maestro Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. Over the years, Kri ...

and

Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi is a well-known Carnatic music, Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. She was chosen for the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award by Madras Music Academy in 2022. Early life Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi was born in Chennai to violin m ...

Ragini Shankar Ragini Shankar is an Indian violinist who performs Hindustani classical music and fusion. She is the daughter of Dr. Sangeeta Shankar and the granddaughter of the renowned Padmabhushan Dr. N. Rajam. Early life Shankar began her training at t ...

* A. Kanyakumari *

Ganesh and Kumaresh Ganesh and Kumaresh are Indian duo of violin players who are a part of the Carnatic music (South India) fraternity. The brothers are known as modern contemporary artists in "Sastriya Sangitam". They were awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award fo ...

M. Narmadha Dr.M.Narmadha born 11th April is a celebrated popular third generation heritage violinist who performs solo violin concerts in both Carnatic and Hindustani classical systems of Indian Music. She is the Daughter of the legendary violinist Padma ...

* Vittal Ramamurthy * V. V. Ravi * Nedumangad Sivanandan * Avaneeswaram S R Vinu *

Delhi P. Sunder Rajan Delhi P. Sunder Rajan is a violinist- vocalist of India performing South Indian Classical music ( Carnatic music) . He is known for his improvisations and style of playing. References External links Sunder Rajan Official Website. Concert ...

* B. Sasikumar * Gingger Shankar * Jyotsna Srikanth * Balabhaskar * Abhijith P. S. Nair * Ambi Subramaniam

Plucked strings

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

* Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer * Challapally Chitti Babu * Emani Sankara Sastry * S. Balachander * Doraiswamy Iyengar * E. Gayathri *

Jayanthi Kumaresh Jayanthi Kumaresh is an Indian Veena musician. Jayanthi comes from a lineage of musicians who have been practising Carnatic music for six generations and started playing the Saraswati Veena at the age of 3. Her mother, Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, was h ...

* Kalpakam Swaminathan * Ranganayaki Rajagopalan * Rajhesh Vaidhya *

Revathy Krishna Revathy Krishna () is an Indian vainika renowned for her proficiency in both carnatic classical as well as Light music and film music. Early life Revathy Krishna, born as Revathy Chelvakumar, was the daughter of Chelvakumar and Lakshmi. Revat ...

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. Because he was a child prodigy, he was sometimes called the Mozart of classical Indian music. He was awarded th ...

Chitra veena

* N. Ravikiran

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* R. Prasanna * Sukumar Prasad

Winds

Venu The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

* T. R. Mahalingam * N. Ramani *

Prapancham Sitaram Prof Dr. Prapancham Sitaram was a Carnatic flautist from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Prof. Sitaram was a disciple of flautist T.R. Mahalingam and was a top artist in the All India Radio. He served as head of many institutions in And ...

* Shashank * K. Bhaskaran * T. Viswanathan *

B. Shankar Rao B. Shankar Rao (10 May 1922 – 13 September 2020) was an Indian flautist who specialised in classical carnatic music. Biography After obtaining his initial music training from his sister Smt. Balaamba he got the opportunity to learn flute fr ...

Tiruchy L. Saravanan Tiruchy L. Saravanan, also known as Flute Saravanan, is a prime disciple of Dr. N. Ramani, one of India's pioneer Carnatic flautists. Education Saravanan is also a disciple of the late Sri K. S. Narayanan (senior most disciple of Sri Mali), th ...

Nadaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loude ...

* T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai *

Namagiripettai Krishnan Namagiripettai K Krishnan (2 April 1924 – 30 April 2001) was a Carnatic musician who played the Nadaswaram. He was born in Namagiripettai village and lived in Sendamangalam, Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India. He gave many performances acr ...

Sheik Chinna Moulana Sheik Chinna Moulana (12 May 1924, Karavadi Prakasham, Andhra Pradesh – 13 April 1999, Srirangam, Tamil Nadu), popularly known as Sheik, was a legendary nadhaswaram player in the Carnatic tradition. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sa ...

Sheik Mahaboob Subhani Sheik Mahaboob Subhani is an Indian classical music nadaswaram artist. He performs with his wife Kaleeshabi Mahaboob, also a nadaswaram artist. Early life Sheik Mahaboob Subhani was born in Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh. His father Koth ...

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

* Kadri Gopalnath

Percussions

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

Anil Srinivasan Anil Srinivasan (born 3 June 1977) is an Indian pianist. Born in Chennai, India and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University, New York, he is well known for his collaborative work with Carnatic vocalist Sikk ...

Mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is th ...

* Palghat Mani Iyer * Palghat R. Raghu *

Vellore G. Ramabhadran Vellore G. Ramabhadran (4 August 1929 – 27 February 2012) was a Mridangam artiste from Tamil Nadu, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2004. Early years Born in Vellore, he showed interest in Carnatic mus ...

Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair (Malayalam: മാവേലിക്കര വേലുക്കുട്ടി നായർ) was an Indian mridangam player. Life Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair was born on 2 October 1926 in Chettikulangara (near Mavel ...

* Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman *

Trichy Sankaran Trichy Sankaran (born 27 July 1942) is an Indian percussionist, composer, scholar, and educator. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2011. As a mridangam ''vidwan'', he has been called a "doyen among the percussioni ...

Karaikudi Mani Karaikudi Mani (born as Ganapathy Subramanyam on 11 September 1945 in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian percussionist, primarily adept in the mridangam. He is regarded by the vast majority of Carnatic connoisseurs and aficionados as ...

Ramnad V. Raghavan Ramnad V. Raghavan (19 June 1927 – 21 November 2009) was a player of the ''mridangam''. He was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, to P. Vaidyanatha Ayyar of Kooniyur, Tirunelveli district, and Brhannayaki. His elder brother Ramnad Kris ...

T. Ranganathan Tanjore Ranganathan (born Madras, India, 13 March 1925 - died 22 December 1987) was a Carnatic musician specializing in percussion instruments, particularly the ''mridangam'', having studied under Palani Subramaniam Pillai. Ranganathan began p ...

Palani Subramaniam Pillai Pazhani Subramania Pillai (1909–1962) was a well known Carnatic music percussionist. He, along with his contemporaries Palghat Mani Iyer and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are revered as the "Holy Trinity of Mridanga". He was adept i ...

* Mannargudi Easwaran * Guruvayur Dorai * T. V. Gopalakrishnan * Ramesh Srinivasan *

Patri Satish Kumar Patri Satish Kumar is an Indian Carnatic musician and composer, who is an exponent of the Mridangam, an Indian percussion instrument. He has been conferred with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademy award by the Government of India in the year 20 ...

Erickavu N. Sunil Erickavu N Sunil, aka Sunil Narayana, is an 'A Grade' Indian percussion artist in mridangam at All India Radio and author of the book "Resounding Mridangam". Early life and background He started learning the mridangam at the age of four. H ...

* Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam

Ghatam The ghaṭam ( sa, घटं ''ghaṭaṁ'', kan, ಘಟ ''ghaṭah'', ta, கடம் ''ghatam'', te, ఘటం ''ghatam'', ml, ഘടം, ''ghatam'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across India. It's a variant ...

* T. H. "Vikku" Vinayakram *

Ghatam Udupa Ghatam Giridhar Udupa (born 17 November 1979) ( kn, ಘಟಂ ಗಿರಿಧರ್ ಉಡುಪ) is an Indian percussionist and a leading exponent of the ghatam.Namboodiripad, Narayan - ''A Potful Of Music'' in RAVE Magazine, November 2006, Iss ...

Kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic ...

G. Harishankar Govinda Rao Harishankar, (India, June 10, 1958 in Chennai – February 11, 2002 in Chennai) was an Indian player of the ''kanjira'', Khanjira or Khanjari, a tambourine-like frame drum used in the Carnatic music of South India. He is the only kanj ...

* V. Selvaganesh

Thavil A ''thavil'' ( Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, fol ...

Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel (1948 in Tamil Nadu, India) is an artist of the Indian drum thavil. A. K. Palanivel first learnt thavil drumming under the tutelage of his father S. Kumaravel. From 1959 onwards, he was given extensive training ...

Morsing The morsing (also mukharshanku, mourching, morching or morchang; Sanskrit: दंत वाद्यन्तरात्मसत्रस्य, Telugu: మోర్సింగ్, Kannada: ಮೋರ್ಸಿಂಗ್, Rajasthani: मोर� ...
(jaw harp)

* Srirangam Kannan

Other

Idakka

Tripunithura Krishnadas M A Krishnadas, also known as Tripunithura Krishnadas is an Indian musician. He is a well-known edaykkya (or Idakka) and chenda artist from Kerala. He is the best edaykkya player of modern Kerala. Music career Krishnadas was inducted into ...

Jaltarang

Anayampatti S. Ganesan Anayampatti S. Ganesan (born 22 May 1932) is a Carnatic musician from South India. He was born in Chennai. Ganesan, who lives in Chennai, plays the jal tarang or jalatharangam in concerts throughout Southern India, and is also a carnatic vocalist ...

Seethalakshmi Doraiswamy Seethamma Doraiswamy ("Seetha Amma Doraiswamy") or Seetha Doraiswamy ( 27 January 1926 – 14 March 2013), was a renowned Carnatic multi-instrumentalist. She was the last recognised female exponent of a dying Indian instrument, the jal tarang. ...

Santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...

R. Visweswaran R. Visweswaran (1944–2007) was an Indian classical musician who played the santoor. Visweswaran belongs to a family of musicians, and is the nephew of G.N. Balasubramaniam Gudalur Narayanaswamy Balasubramaniam (6 January 1910 – 1 May ...

References

External links

Information on Carnatic music
* (resource for lyrics of a number of Carnatic ''kritis'')

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnatic Instrumentalists * Lists of musicians by genre India music-related lists