Chennai: Violin expert T N Krishnan died in Chennai on Monday. He was 92, and is survived by wife Kamala, son Sriram Krishnan and daughter Viji Krishnan, who often accompanied their father.
Krishnan entered the music world as a child prodigy and performed till his last days. According to Ramanathan Iyer, an organiser of musical events, though Krishnan was in good health, he had a ‘sudden uneasiness’ last evening and passed away.
Born in 1928 in Tripunithura in Kerala, Krishnan started as a child prodigy and went on to perform with legends from several generations. Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Alathur Brothers, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, MD Ramanathan and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer were among those whom Krishnan accompanied in performances.
A recipient of the Padmashri (1973) and the Padma Bhushan (1992), Krishnan was also conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1974) and Sangeetha Kalanidhi (1980).
Musicians and fans have been paying tributes to Krishnan. Singers Ranjani-Gayathri in a tweet said the legend strode the world of violin and carnatic music like a colossus.
A Twitter user Aravindan Sudarsan posted, “Lalgudi Jayraman and #TNKrishnan used to have overlapping concerts on every New Year’s day at different venues. The audience never wanted to miss both the performances but always had to make a difficult choice of skipping one in favor of another.”