Bombay R. Sakuntala was born as a posthumous child in early 1940 at Kodaganallur, a small village on the banks of River Tamiravarni in Tirunelveli District, in a humble Vedic family. She is distantly related to the great Kodaganallur Subbiah Bhagavathar, a friend of Harikesanallur Muthia Bhagavathar. She had her school education at High School Pattamadai. Even when she was a small child, without any basic training in music, merely by listening to artistes, she was singing very well to the admiration of all.
At the age of 8, she learnt the basics from a local teacher.
Later she migrated to Madras, and took up music as a profession and was a faithful listener of all great artistes, like Shri Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Shri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Shri Madurai Mani Iyer, Shri G.N. Balasubramanian, MLV, MSS, DKP and others. In the music competitions held by Madras Music Academy, Tamil Isai Sangam, Rasika Ranjani Sabha and various other institutions, in which Top Musicians were the judges, she has won many Gold Medals. Subsequently she joined the Government College of Carnatic Music, at Adyar and completed the Vidhwan course in First Class. Her natural devotion and bent of analytical mind later made her create her own style of musical expression. She was awarded Central Government Scholarship under which she took special training under Sri Musiri Subramania Iyer. |
Endowed with a rich golden voice, she has performed in leading Sabhas, viz. Sri Shanmugananda Music & Fine Arts, Bombay, Sri Parthasarathy Sabha, Triplicane, Gana Kala Nikeda Sabha, Goregaon, Bombay, Thyagaraja Sabha and others. Those who listned to her music invited and recommended her performance at the receptions of weddings of prominent persons and at the festivals at Madras and Bombay. Maharaja of Ramnad arranged her special performance at Rameswaram Temple during a Masi Festival. |
