Tirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer

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Tirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer
Born	1857 Marathurai (near Pandanallur), Tamil Nadu, India
Died	1913 Tirukkodikaval, Tamil Nadu, India

One of the legendary violinists in the history of Carnatic music, he had his training first from his father Kuppuswamy Iyer, and later under Kottavasal Venkatarama Iyer, a renowned composer of Tana Varnams. His violin recitals were marked with masterly touches, full of masculine grandeur. A prodigy, he could play complicated pieces on a single string. Known for his hard work, he was responsible for ushering in many new techniques to the art of violin playing. He could produce ascending and descending glides (Jarus) with remarkable effect. His was a legendary musician among peers that included Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, Patnam Subramaniam Iyer and Sarabha Sastri. His stature and musicianship were such that he could dominate the performance while being an accompanist. He had an awe inspiring and intimidating stature among the musicians of his day.

Krishna Iyer was also functioning as the Village Administrative Officer(then known as Pattamaniar) of Tirukodikaval. Citing his musical career as coming in his way of discharging his official routines, the then revenue authorities removed him from that post.Krishna Iyer's appeals to the then Board of Revenue to reconsider the orders was not obliged by the Government. Krishna Iyer even produced evidence that the Government was fully aware of his musical profession and that he was requested to perform his violin recital before His Excellency the then Governor of Madras during his camp at Vallam in Tanjore District.Subsequently one of his sons T K Srinivasa Iyer was appointed as the Village Administrative Offier.