Ilaiyaraaja,
the
music
maestro
of
Indian
cinema
has
been
nominated
to
the
Rajya
Sabha.
The
veteran
musician
has
been
nominated
to
Rajya
Sabha
in
the
category
of
eminent
personalities
nominated
by
the
honourable
President
of
India.
Along
with
Ilaiyaraaja,
senior
screenwriter
V
Vijayendra
Prasad,
Olympian
PT
Usha,
and
Veerendra
Heggade
of
Dharmasthala
Temple
have
been
nominated
for
Rajya
Sabha
by
the
president.
Narendra
Modi,
the
Prime
Minister
of
India
took
to
his
official
social
media
handles
and
congratulated
the
music
maestro
for
his
Rajya
Sabha
nomination,
with
a
special
post.
The
honourable
Prime
Minister
shared
a
picture
of
Ilaiyaraaja
with
the
President
of
India,
and
wrote:
"The
creative
genius
of
@ilaiyaraaja
Ji
has
enthralled
people
across
generations.
His
works
beautifully
reflect
many
emotions.
What
is
equally
inspiring
is
his
life
journey-
he
rose
from
a
humble
background
and
achieved
so
much.
Glad
that
he
has
been
nominated
to
the
Rajya
Sabha."
Check
out
PM
Narendra
Modi's
Twitter
post
here:
The
creative
genius
of
@ilaiyaraaja
Ji
has
enthralled
people
across
generations.
His
works
beautifully
reflect
many
emotions.
What
is
equally
inspiring
is
his
life
journey-
he
rose
from
a
humble
background
and
achieved
so
much.
Glad
that
he
has
been
nominated
to
the
Rajya
Sabha.
pic.twitter.com/VH6wedLByC
Ilaiyaraaja,
who
is
unarguably
one
of
the
finest
musicians
India
has
ever
seen,
was
born
in
Pannaipuram,
Madurai,
in
1943.
He
was
introduced
to
the
world
of
music
by
his
elder
brother
Pavalar
Varadarajan,
who
was
a
lyricist
and
composer.
The
musician
later
shifted
his
base
to
Madras
in
the
1960s
and
started
learning
music
under
TV
Gopalakrishnan
and
Dhanraj.
Ilaiyaraaja
later
earned
a
gold
medal
in
classical
guitar
from
the
Trinity
College
of
Music
in
London.
Ilaiyaraaja
made
his
debut
in
films
with
the
1975-released
film
Annakkili,
and
has
composed
over
6000
songs
across
languages,
so
far.
Kalaignar
Karunanidhi,
the
former
Tamil
Nadu
Chief
Minister
bestowed
him
with
the
title
'Isaignani'
which
translates
'Musical
Genius'.
The
Government
of
India
honoured
him
with
the
second-highest
civilian
award,
Padma
Vibhushan,
in
2018.