Sundaram Rajam was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n actor, painter and Carnatic

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

 musician from the state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. He was a student of the Carnatic musician Papanasam Sivan

Papanasam Sivan

Papanasam Sivan was a prominent composer of Carnatic music and a singer.A famous composer, Sivan was also known as Tamil Thyagayya. Using Classical South Indian as a base, Sivan created numerous hits popularised by M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. S...

 and the elder brother of Tamil film director and musician Veenai S. Balachander. Rajam made his Tamil film debut in the 1934 film Seetha Kalyanam

Seetha Kalyanam (1934 film)

Seetha Kalyanam is a 1934 Tamil film produced by Prabhat Film Company. It was the first film for musicians Papanasam Sivan and Veenai S. Balachander. The film was remade in Telugu in the same year.-Plot:...

. He acted in a few more films in the lead role, before becoming a full time musician and painter. He worked as a staff artiste and music supervisor at the All India Radio

All India Radio

All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...

. He is known for his series of portraits of the Trinity of Carnatic music

Trinity of Carnatic music

The outstanding group of composer-musicians of Carnatic music which included Tyāgarāja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, are commonly referred to as the Trinity of Carnatic music....

. He is also known for popularising Koteeswara Iyer

Koteeswara Iyer

Koteeswara Iyer , was a composer of Carnatic music. He was a grandson of Kavi Kunjara Bharati. Koteeswara Iyer studied music under Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar and Patnam Subramania Iyer...

's musical compositions. He was a member of expert committee of the Madras Music Academy

Madras Music Academy

Madras Music Academy, or simply Music Academy, is one of the premier and early Music Academies in the South Indian city of Madras, now Chennai. It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Carnatic Music south Indian art form. It also played an important role in revival of...

 and a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...

 (in 1991). He was also a recipient of the Music Academy's "Sangita Kala Acharya" Award.

Filmography

• Seetha Kalyanam
  Seetha Kalyanam (1934 film)
  Seetha Kalyanam is a 1934 Tamil film produced by Prabhat Film Company. It was the first film for musicians Papanasam Sivan and Veenai S. Balachander. The film was remade in Telugu in the same year.-Plot:...
  
  (1934)
• Radha Kalyanam (1935)
• Rukmini Kalyanam (1936)
• Sivakavi
  Sivakavi
  Sivakavi was a 1943 Tamil-language film directed, initially, by Raja Sandow and later, S. M. Sreeramulu Naidu. It starred M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, S. Jayalakshmi, Serukalathur Sama, Thripuramba, T. R. Rajakumari, N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Madhuram...
  
  (1943)