Aruna Sairam

2:37 PM Posted by Vijayasri

ARUNA SAIRAM is one of the best voices to emerge from the south Indian musical tradition.

Aruna Sairam was born in Bombay - a city whose rich cultural life embraces the majority of India's artistic fields - into a family with a deep love for music.

Her mother, the singer Smt. Rajalakshmi Sethuraman, was her first teacher in the art of Carnatic music, while her father, a fine and knowledgeable connoisseur established their house in Bombay as a favourite guest home for the greatest musicians and dancers from both Northern and Southern India, such as the dancer Smt. T. Balaraswati, the Khayal singer Ustad Amir Khan and the Carnatic flutist Sri. T. R. Mahalingam, Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi. It was in this propitious atmosphere, which was fundamental to the development of her art, that Aruna Sairam met Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. T. Brinda, who taught her for the next several years, training her in the style of her own mentor, the great Veena Dhanammal, one of the most outstanding figures in Carnatic music, still today a source of profound inspiration for Southern India's leading musicians.

Aruna with her mother

Aruna Sairam has created a large audience for Carnatic Music among the European listeners through her concerts. She also has the distinction of performing Carnatic Music in dialogue with internationally renowned artists of European and African countries.

Aruna Sairam is famous for the oothukadu VenkataSubbier's compositions especially the Kalinga Nartana Tillana in Carnatic Concerts which has become extremely popular with audiences. Her music moves the audience by creating a deep emotional impact.
No concert of Aruna's is complete without her rendering of Abhangs, which have now become a part of Carnatic Music concerts mainly because of her authentic style of rendering this form.

Aruna ji has got an amazing stage presence, fabulous singing, perfect diction and a hit with the audience! The masses both young and old just adore her and she has a magnetic charm which keeps the audience spell bound! She creates an instant rapport with the crowd with small conversations in between songs, may be about explaining a raga or the meaning of a song.

She puts the audience to ease and no wonder, people just feel free and demand her to sing the 'Kalinga narthana thillana' or 'Madu meikkum kanne'. When she sang these songs, the crowd went frenzy and they were clapping and singing along with her. This song has become a nursery rhyme for the kids and the young girl sitting besides us started singing and dancing. That’s the effect of Aruna Sairam.

Recently the Outlook magazine made the following observation : "M S Subbulakshmi is no more. But if there is any singer who comes close to matching such purity of voice, diction, impeccable sruti alignment and frill-free singing, it is Aruna Sairam".

God bless her and give her the power to perform more and more concerts and entertain the music lovers.

Watch and enjoy one of my favorite song by Padmasri Aruna Sairam.