M S Anantharaman

Mylapore Sundaram Anantharaman was a famous Indian musician and violinist of Carnatic and Hindustani styles. Born on 26 August 1924 in a musical background family of Paravur near Aluva, Kingdom of Cochin (Kerala), he was an exponent of the Parur Style of Violin playing. Parur Sundaram Iyer, his father, introduced him to the Violin in Hindusthani music and was a violinist at the royal palace of Travancore. His younger brother, MS Gopalakrishnan, and elder sister Parur Sitalakshmi were also great violinists. He has three children, two sons, MS Sundaresan and MA Krishnaswamy, who are Carnatic violinists, and a daughter MA Bhagirathi, a Carnatic vocalist. Anantharaman, with his sister, played violin duets at several temples like Ramanathaswamy Temple, Subramaniya Swamy Temple, Kanyakumari Temple, and Tiruchender.

He with his brother designed their style of Parur Bani. He has performed in several concerts of his own and as part of the Markazi festival, Chennai. MS Anantharaman worked as a violin professor at Tamil Nadu Government Music College, Chennai, for around 28 years, from 1962 to 1983, and served in the Venkateswara temple in Pittsburg for three months and conducted music classes. MS Anantharaman has been honored with numerous awards for his contribution and excellence in the Indian Music Industry. He got Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1988, the TTK Award for Music Academy in 1996, the Sangeetha Kala Acharya of the Music Academy, and the Kalaimamani Award, the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu. Anantharaman was the Head Scholar or Asthana Vidwan at the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, a Hindu Institute.