Doraiswamy Iyengar

Doreswamy Iyengar, generally known as Mysore V. Doreswamy Iyengar() (1920–1997), was a famous Carnatic musician and an exponent of the Veena. Born into a family of musicians, His father, Venkatesha Iyengar, was himself a Vainika and a musician in the court of the Maharaja of Mysore.

He started learning the Veena from his father at an early age and soon became the disciple of Veena Venkatagiriyappa one of the foremost Vainikas of the day in Mysore. He performed in the esteemed presence of the then Maharaja of Mysore at the tender age of 12. The Maharaja liked his performance and awarded him a 50 rupee silver coin. The Maharaja also asked Veena Venkatagiriyappa to nurture the boy as he thought Doreswamy Iyengar would bring laurels to the state of Mysore.

He gave his first public performance in 1943, in the Bangalore Gayana Samaja. He participated in music conferences including the one in Shiraz, Iran in 1969. Over the course of his career, accolades poured in. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the Chowdiah National memorial award, the Sangeetha Kalaratna of the Bangalore gayana Samaj, the Sangeetha Kala Shikhamani of the Indian Fine Arts society and the Sangeetha Kalanidhi of the Madras Music academy.

He studied BA in the Maharaja's College in Mysore. He was the music director of the All India Radio in Bangalore. The University of Mysore conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in 1975.

In an age when most of the other Vainikas started using the contact microphone, Doreswamy...
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