Shyama Shastri Venkatasubramania – Musician
Born in 1762 to a priest in Tiruvarur in Thanjavur came to be known as Shyama Shastri. A great scholar and a composer, his works are intricate and difficult in musical technique, particularly the rhythmic aspect One of the ‘trinity’ of Karnataka music, his songs have the signature ‘Shyamkrishna’. He was a superb master of tala and is said to have defeated the redoubtable Kesavayya in a musical contest by employing the complicated Sarabhanandana tala.
