lit a candle 3d ago98 years old and still the voice of December season. That's a long run.
Their story
S. Rangasamy Janakiraman (July 12, 1928, Lalgudi, Madras Presidency; died September 4, 2026, Chennai), known throughout Carnatic circles as S.R.J. or Professor SRJ, was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, teacher and musicologist whose lecture-demonstrations once dominated the December music festival season in Chennai. The Hindu's 2026 obituary called him the last…
S. Rangasamy Janakiraman (July 12, 1928, Lalgudi, Madras Presidency; died September 4, 2026, Chennai), known throughout Carnatic circles as S.R.J. or Professor SRJ, was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, teacher and musicologist whose lecture-demonstrations once dominated the December music festival season in Chennai. The Hindu's 2026 obituary called him the last student of the late Tiger Varadachariar. He received the Padma Shri, the Tamil Nadu Kalaimamani, the Music Academy's Sangita Kala Acharya title, and both the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and later its Fellowship.
Childhood illness shaped the path. Afflicted with smallpox, he lost sight in one eye and could not attend school until he was eleven. He began learning music around age ten in Lalgudi under teachers including Thanneerpalli Krishnamoorthy Iyer, K.R. Saptharishi / Shaptharishi Iyer, and Lalgudi Neelamegham Pillai. After SSLC, his father steered him toward higher studies in music rather than ordinary schooling. Secondary biographies name his parents as Rangaswami Iyer and Gowri Ammal; current English Wikipedia does not list parents, so treat those names as reported in secondary bios, consistent with the birth name S. Rangasamy.
In June 1945 he entered Kalakshetra's four-year Sangita Siromani course, with Tiger Varadachariar as principal. Music historian Lalitharam told The Hindu that Rukmini Devi Arundale spotted his talent, placed him first with a senior student, then under Tiger's direct gurukula care. Janakiraman later recalled that Tiger called him Janaki or kuzhanthai (child), that he shared vocal classes with M.D. Ramanathan though junior to him, and that for about a year and a half Rukmini Devi had him stay in Tiger's house rather than the hostel because of his poor eyesight. Morning alapanas of the day ragas, he said, flowed from Tiger "like a flood." At Kalakshetra he also learned from Budalur Krishnamurthy Sastri, T.K. Ramasami Ayyangar and veena from Kalpagam Swaminathan, and was initiated into musicology by P.K. Rajagopala Iyer.
He finished Sangita Siromani in 1949 as the first student to take a first class, a record he later joked he broke himself as examiner. The same year he joined the first batch of the two-year Sangeetha Vidwan course at the Central College of Carnatic Music. There and around Madras he learned from Musiri Subramania Iyer, Tirupampuram Swaminatha Pillai, T. Brinda, Mayavaram V.V. Krishna Ayyar, and musicologists P. Sambamurthy and Balakrishna Ayya. He performed veedhi bhajanais through Mylapore, Nungambakkam and Triplicane. He dated 1951 to 1955 as a "golden period," with mornings at Musiri's and evenings of mutual learning among batchmates. Public performing is dated from 1951; All India Radio and Doordarshan later rated him a top-ranking artiste.
In 1955 he left Madras to teach at Madanapalle, then at Tirupati Music College / Sri Venkateswara College of Music, where he headed the Department of Musicology and taught advanced, graduate and postgraduate courses for more than thirty years. He returned to live in Madras in 1988, having visited often for concerts and lecdems. At The Music Academy he worked as research scholar and Experts Committee adviser, published raga-lakshana volumes and related Academy books, and retired as Principal of the Teachers' College of Music. His English translation work on Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini (Lakshana Sangraha and Pracina Paddhati sections) appeared in print in 2010. Other titles include Sangita Shastra Saramu (Telugu), Raga Lakshanas, Ragas of Saramrta, Essentials of Musicology in South Indian Music, Lakshana Gitas (editor), Ragas at a Glance, and Miscellany of Essays on South Indian Music and Musicology. Audio-visual work included "Varnas through the ages," a 72-mela ragamalika dissertation, and Brhaddhvani's "Pearls of South Indian Ragas."
Honours stacked across decades: Sangita Kala Acharya from The Music Academy (1997 cohort; conferred on Sadas day January 1, 1998), Kalaimamani (Tamil Nadu), Nadayogi (Parthasarathy Swami Sabha), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2000), Padma Shri (announced January 26, 2011; he dedicated it to parents and gurus), Tyagaraja Anubhava (2012), and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2014; investiture photographed with President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 23, 2015). Students including the Toronto Brothers remembered a disciplinarian of old-school practice who still wanted them to inherit "musical culture," not merely technique.
He died in Chennai on September 4, 2026, at age 98. The Hindu published its obituary on September 6, 2026. Cause of death and resting place were not made public in that report. Family detail in English sources is sparse: a wife was publicly acknowledged at his 2008 satabhishekam, without a verified published name in the sources used for this brief; son Ramji is identified in the rasikas/Carnatica community as Prof. SRJ's son.
Biography adapted from EN Wikipedia S. R. Janakiraman; The Hindu obituary 2026-09-06; The Hindu Memories of Madras 2010-12-14; The Hindu Padma awardees TN 2011-01-26; Toronto Brothers guru page; Carnatica artiste profile; M.
In their own words
“He would wake up early in the morning, sit on his bed and sing the alapanas of the morning ragas; it would flow forth from him like a flood. Those were some of the most beautiful alapanas I've ever heard; I was very lucky to have had that experience.”
On Tiger Varadachariar's morning music; Memories of Madras, 2010
“When I came back in 1988, it was not the Madras of old anymore, but a new city, well-developed in every sense.”
Memories of Madras, 2010
“I was the first to receive a first class in the Sangita Siromani course programme... That record stood for 20 years, until I ended up breaking it myself, as an examiner, that is, when I awarded one of my students a first class!”
Memories of Madras, 2010
“Said the award was due to God's grace for his efforts and hard work in music; he would dedicate it to his parents and teachers Tiger Varadachariar, Musiri Subramania Iyer, Thirupampuram Swaminatha Pillai, T. Brinda, and P.K. Rajagopala Iyer.”
Padma Shri reaction; The Hindu, 2011-01-26
“Music is not merely learning compositions and alapana, neraval, swaram... I want to develop in you a sense of musical culture.”
To students Ashwin and Rohin, rasikas, 2008
“One of the few competent authorities on music and musicology who can keep the lay and professional spellbound for hours with masterly, sometimes devastating exposition and thought-provoking elucidation.”
Carnatica artiste note
“Whenever I needed any clarification in music, I always used to turn to SRJ sir.”
T.S. Narayanaswamy; New Indian Express, 2012; called him a ready reckoner of music
Photos
1President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship to S. R. Janakiraman, Rashtrapati Bhavan, October 23, 2015
by People Forever
His voice never left, even after he stopped performing regularly. Different kind of instrument, I guess.