Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai

He was born in the small village of Alangudi in a Devadasi family^{[N 1]} near Needamangalam located on the route going from Thanjavur to Tiruvarur. His mother Kamalathammal was keen that he should develop his musical talents.^{[citation needed]}

He commenced his training first as a vocalist under Nadaswaram maestro Kandaswamy Pillai. Later on, he underwent further training from Tiruvisanallur Pallavi Narayanaswamy Iyer and then from Pandanallur Chinnaswamy Pillai. As an instrumentalist he trained in violin for four years under Tirukodikaval Ramaswamy Iyer who was a disciple of violin maestro Tirukodikaval Krishna Iyer. His teachers opined that his music talents were more suited to be a violinist than to be a singer. So, he devoted full concentration as a violinist.^[1]

He concentrated on classical Carnatic music. Most of the time he performed as an accompanist to Carnatic singers rather than giving solo concerts. He accompanied top singers of his time.^[2]

• He was honoured in the Royal Courts of Ramanathapuram, Kochchin, Ettayapuram, Trivandrum and Mysore.^[2]
• He was appointed Asthana Vidhwan in the Courts at Trivancore in 1940 and at Ettayapuram in 1942.^[2]
• Trivandrum Chiththirai Thirunal Maharaja honoured Rajamanickam Pillai and presented an elephant to him.^[3]

• Sangeetha Kalanidhi, 1948 Awarded by Music Academy, Chennai.^[4]
• Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1959^[5]
• Isai Perarignar, 1957 Awarded by Tamil Isai Sangam.^[6]