Born in 1932 in Lakshmi Kudi, Tamil Nadu, Smt. T.R. Kamala Murthy, wife of (late) Shri. T.S. Krishnamurthy Iyer, received her training and good foundation in music and harikatha from eminent persons in the field like Shri. Raja Bhagavathar, Shri. D. Annaswami Bhagavathar, Shri. Embar Vijaya Raghavachariar, Shri. Venkatasubramania Sastrigal, and Shri. Swaminatha Athreyan.
She made her debut as a traditional Harikatha (Sangeetha Upanyasam) Artiste at a very young age of nine. A career spanning over six decades, she has enthralled audiences in all the major cities of not only India, but also other countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and USA.
Her performances are enlivened by renderings of compositions from Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit and Tamil. She is a Top Grad ‘A’ artiste of All India Radio and has rendered harikatha over AIR since 1956. Her harikatha has been broadcast over Singapore Radio also.
Acclaimed as one of the finest women Harikatha Artistes, she has been honoured with several state as well as National level titles and awards for her contribution in the field of harikatha. To mention a few,
1. 19th SIES SRI CHANDRASEKARENDRA SARASWATHI NATIONAL EMINENCE AWARD by Sri Shanmugananda Fine Arts and Sangeeta Saba and South Indian Education Society (SIES) – 18-12-2016
2. BHARATHI THYAGARAJA SAMMAN AWARD by The Sadguru Sri Thyagabrahma Aradhana Kainkarya Trust and Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetam in 2015
3. “TAGORE AKADEMI FELLOW” by Sangeet Natak Akademi (Govt. of India) in 2011
4. Sangeeth Natak Academy Award (Government of India) for the best harikatha artiste in the year 1999-2000.
5. “Kalaimamani” by Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram in 1978.
6. TTK Memorial Award by the Music Academy in the year 1992.
7. “ISai Kadal” by Tamil Isai Sangam, Karaikudi in 1994, etc.
Besides these, she has been a recipient of several certificates of appreciation, mementos, and cash awards from various organizations of repute.
She gratefully remembers and acknowledges the support and encouragement she received throughout from her husband (late) Shri. T.S. Krishnamurthy Iyer for all the achievements made by her.