Till now I have written about or just listed some of my favourite A.R.Rahman’s songs, Mani Ratnam’s movies and even the books I like, but not about my favourite Carnatic songs. So, here goes a post on my favourites sung by TMK.

1. Shankachakra – Poornachandrika

It is because of this song that I became a fan of T.M.Krishna! Thanks to my neighbour who lent me the Kshetra Tirupati CD in 2004, I happened to listen to this song. I listened to the CD once and totally forgot about it. Almost an year later, I remembered that I liked the Poornachandrika krithi in that CD and went back and listened to it. Then, the usual getting hooked onto a single song happened and I started listening to this song like mad. (When I get hooked onto a song, all my other favourites including Rahman’s songs take a back seat at that time 🙂 ) The very first concert of TMK that I went to was only on December 23rd, 2005! The reason behind going to that concert was only because of my liking the way he has sung this song. And one more thing was an interview with him on S.S.Music during the season that year. Though I now don’t remember most of what he spoke in that interview, After attending that concert, I became totally crazy about his singing and the rest as they say, is history.

All right, now time to continue the listing of my other favourites.

2. Alarulu – Sankarabharanam

I am generally not too fond of Sankarabharanam itself, but this song, especially when sung by TMK, is an exception.

3. Raga Sudha Rasa – Andolika

The fast -paced Raga Sudha Rasa is something which I frequently listen to, on a loop. Definitely the song to turn to when you want to drive away boredom.

4. Padavini – Salaka Bhairavi

This is yet another fast-paced rendition by TMK.

5. Vidajaladura – Janaranjani

Set in the best of the Ranjanis, Vidajaladura is a refreshing change from the often sung Pahimam Shri in the same raagam.

6. Elavatara – Mukhari

This one is from the Dasavataram CD. The Mukhari alapana lasts for some 10 minutes or so and its an absolute bliss to listen to it. 🙂

7. Ongi UlagaLandha – Aarabhi

Every other person might sing during the December Season, but TMK’s version is always special.

8. Sri Raamam – Narayanagowlai

This song from the album of the same name is such a classic! A longer

9. Tillana – Hameer Kalyani

A very beautiful tillana with a good mix of swarams and words!

10. Adi Nee Pai – Yamun Kalyani

This short song is such a joyous one!

11. Santana Ramaswaminam – Hindolavasantam 

If Shankachakra was where the fandom started, Santana Ramaswaminam is where it peaked! The lyrics, the raagam Hindolavasantam, TMK’s voice, the kalpana swarams in the end, the percussion matching the pace of the song – I just got hooked to this on the first listen & since then, it has always been there on my playlist.

I strongly feel that currently there is no one who can sing the words as clearly (spashtamaa) as T M Krishna and when it comes to Dikshitar’s kritis, his versions are the best (but only when not sung veryyyy slowly as it started becoming the case with TMK’s singing around the time of exit from the active December Season scene).

Coming back to Santana Ramaswaminam, during the Covid 19 pandemic, my daughter made an observation that every time I was getting impatient, be it even for a simple thing like waiting for a website to load, I used to immediately start humming Santana Ramaswaminam. This is the song that I keep humming all the time till date.