L. Seethalakshmi was born to P.S. Shankaranarayanan (who was born in Perumbaur, close to Palakkad) and Mrs. Subbulakshmi (who was born in Tatthamangalam) in Thripunithra in Nov. 1920. She was the eldest of seven girls (Lakshmi, Ponnamma, Sharadha, Kaveri, Meenakshi, Savitri). She was fondly referred to as “Thangam” (which means gold in Tamil).  

She started learning vocal music and the harmonium (Indian keyboard) from an Embrachi at the tender age of 6. She got married at the age of 13 and shifted with her husband, V. Lakshminarayana to Ramanathapuram where her father-in-law was working as a manager in a Mandapam Camp. 

In 1935, her husband got a job in Sri Lanka, so she moved to Sri Lanka with him. She gave birth to 3 girls and 3 boys (Brahanayaki, Subbulakshmi, Vaidyanathan, Ganasaraswathi, Subramaniam and Shankar). Around 1945, they shifted to India for a short while and then went back to Sri Lanka by 1953. The family finally left Sri Lanka because of the ethnic riots in 1958 and shifted back to India.

Her first trip to the USA was in 1975 for a concert tour with her husband and sons. She shifted to the Los Angeles, USA in July 1982. She then went back to India for a short time in May 1983. She died on April 5^th, 1984. She was a fabulous singer and a great inspiration for her children’s careers.

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