Birth name Jayalakshmi Name Soolamangalam Sisters | Role Musical duo Active until 1992 | |
 | ||
Born 24 April 1937 (age 87) ( 1937-04-24 ) Origin Soolamangalam, Madras presidency, British India Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician Members Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi Albums Thiruneeril Marunthirukku, Devi Stothra Maala Similar | ||
Soolamangalam Sisters - Sree Maha Ganapathim.-Atana
Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi (Tamil: சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi (Tamil: சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters (Tamil: சூலமங்கலம் சகோதரிகள்) were Carnatic music sister-pair vocalists and musicians known for their devotional songs in Tamil. They were early singers in the trend of duo singing in Carnatic music, which started in the 1950s, with performers like Radha Jayalakshmi, and later continued by Bombay Sisters, Ranjani-Gayatri, Mambalam Sisters, Bangalore Sisters and Priya Sisters
Contents
- Soolamangalam Sisters Sree Maha Ganapathim Atana
- Early life and background
- Awards
- Filmography
- Music composers she sang for
- Playback singers she sang with
- Music director
- Deaths
- References
Early life and background
Born in Soolamangalam near Tanjore – a village with musical heritage, of Karnam Ramaswmai Ayyar & Janaki Ammal, the sisters had their training in music from K. G. Murthi of Soolamangalam, Pathamadai S.Krishnan, Mayavaram Venugopalayyar.
The duo-sisters were very popular for their matchless rendition of National and Devotional songs. They had a hectic practice for about three decades and were much sought after for providing background music in films. Their Kanda Shasti Kavasam album is very popular with the Lord Muruga devotees.
Awards
Filmography
Among the two of them, Jayalakshmi had rendered only a few songs in films and most of it would be duets with Rajalakshmi, whereas Rajalakshmi had more chance as a playback singer in films. Her voice suits all the categories of youthful, soft mellifluousness, evocative feelings, perfection of pronunciation and the best in devotional songs.
Music composers she sang for
Many of her songs are under K. V. Mahadevan's music direction all the while. Many of her songs were under T. G. Lingappa. She also sang under G. Ramanathan, Naushad, Letchumanan Kurunath, K. N. Dandayudhapani Pillai, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy, S. Rajeswara Rao, H. R. Padmanabha Sasthri, C. N. Pandurangan, G. K. Venkatesh, T. A. Kalyanam, V. Kumar, T. R. Pappa, M. S. Srikanth, Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, S. Dakshinamurthy, Chittor V. Nagaiah, M. K. Athmanathan, M. S. Viswanathan, T. K. Ramamoorthy, Shankar-Ganesh, Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan, Rajan-Nagendra, Brother Lakshmanan, V. Dakshinamurthy, P. S. Divakar, Pukazhenthi and under her own music compositions. She sang more often in the 1950s while during the 1960s, she was only sought in songs that needed more than one female voice.
Playback singers she sang with
Rajalakshmi sang immemorable duets mostly with T. M. Soundararajan. Other include Seerkazhi Govindarajan, P. B. Sreenivas, S. C. Krishnan, J. P. Chandrababu, K. R. Ramaswamy, M. Balamurali Krishna, A. L. Raghavan and K. J. Yesudas.
She also sang duets with female singers with most notably with her sister Soolamangalam Jajalakshmi, P. Leela and P. Suseela. Others are L. R. Easwari, Radha Jayalakshmi, M. L. Vasanthakumari, T. V. Rathinam, K. Jamuna Rani, S. Janaki, Jikki, B. Vasantha, A. G. Rathnamala, M. R. Vijaya, Sarala and L. R. Anjali.
Music director
Rajalakshmi assisted S. M. Subbaiah Naidu in Konjum Salangai. Both Jayalakshmi and Rajalakshmi as music directors by the name Soolamangalam Sisters, composed music for films like Dharisanam (1970), Tiger Thathachari (1974), Appodhe Sonnene Kettiya (1979) and Pillaiyar (1984). They also sang under their own compositions.
Deaths
Though Jayalakshmi was the elder of the sisters, it was Rajalakshmi who left first. Rajalakshmi died on 1 March 1992, aged only 51. Jayalakshmi was strongly affected by her death, and finally she too left on 29 June 2017, aged 80.