Karaikudi Veena Tradition

The Karaikudi Veena Tradition is one of the oldest living musical traditions from South India with a lineage extending to eleven generations. The style of playing is very well known for its clarity of expression, precision in details, and its strong conviction in the fundamentals of music making. As seventh generation Veena players in a family of temple & court musicians in the Pudukkottai kingdom, South India, the legendary “Karaikudi Veena Brothers” Karaikudi Subbarama Iyer (elder) and Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer (younger), established a concert performing style in the early part of the 20th century. In 1952, Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer was the first Veena player to be honored by the first President of India, Sri. Rajendra Prasad, after India gained independence. Dr. Karaikudi Subramanian, a ninth generation musician from this rich tradition founded Brhaddhvani, (http://brhaddhvani.com), a premier world music research and training centre in 1989, in Chennai, South India to disseminate all his knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the public.