Influential Carnatic Musician S. R. Janakiraman Passed Away

Key facts

• S. R. Janakiraman, a doyen in the Carnatic music field, passed away on 4th September 2026.
• He was known for giving his knowledge freely to everyone and was compared to Guru Dakshinamurthy for his generosity as a teacher.
• He was regarded as one of the great musicologists and music communicators of the 20th century, alongside Dr. S. Ramanathan.
• He used lecture demonstrations as the medium to communicate his research and ideas to students of music.
• He gave many concerts featuring rarely sung songs and had an extensive repertoire of rare pieces.
• Despite reverence for his gurus, he formed his own conclusions and stated his theories in unambiguous language.