Today is the 11th death anniversary of Carnatic music’s greatest exponent Damal Krishnaswamy Pattamal or D.K.Pattamal was part of the female trinity of Carnatic music with M. S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasanthakumari . @veejaysai

Pattamal’s son married my grand uncle R.K. Pattabhi’s daughter Shanta. To this day, my wife Rajeshwari talks about the genuine warmth and love that the great singer showered on her during an overnight stay in Chennai.

n an interview Pattamal said:
“I was 10 when my father’s friends approached him to let me sing for a gramophone record company. First, my father refused, fearing that the record will be played at all and sundry places. He did not want the works of great masters like Thyagaraja

Dikshitar and his daughter’s voice to he heard at such places. Then Dr. Srinivasan of Kancheepuram, who is my husband’s uncle (I was not married then), persuaded my father to let me sing. My school headmistress, Ammukutti–amma, also urged my father to let me accept the offer.

After a lot of pressure from a number of his friends, my father finally agreed.” The rest, as they say, is history.

She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1998.