TTD, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams of Tirumala Tirupati, has appointed renowned violinist Kalaimamani Kumari Kanyakumari as the Asthana Vidhwan of TTD on honorarium for a period of five years on 15 June 2013.
Kanyakumari is a native of Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh and has been living in Chennai for more than 4 decades.She belongs to a family of musicians.Her parents Sri Avasarala Ramarathnam and Smt.Jayalakshmi encouraged her immensely to pursue music. She was fortunate to be a sishya (disciple) of 3 great legendary gurus, Ivaturi Vijeswara Rao, M. Chandrasekaran and M. L. Vasanthakumari.
Many prestigious awards and titles have been bestowed uon her.Some of them include
Kalaimamani from Govt. of Tamil Nadu
Ugadi Puraskarfrom Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
Top Rank by A.I.R
Honorary citizenship of the state of Maryland,U.S
TTK Award from the Music Academy,Chennai
Asthana Viidushi of Sringeri Sarada Peetam,Ahobila Mutt and Avadhoota Peetam
“Saptagiri sangeetha vidwanmani from Sri Tyagaraja Festival Committee if Tirupathi.
Dhanurveena Praveena, a title bestowed on her by M.S. Subbulakshmi, commemorating Kanyakumari’s 25 years in concerts
Sangeeta Kala Nipuna, from the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, 2002 [1]
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2003
She was selected for Limca Book of Records 2004 for her various achievements in music as a versatile woman violinist.