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Glittering rendition, emphasis on Laya, a full bench of accompanists were the hallmarks Naina Pillai;s concerts. These included the violinist, the mridangam vidwan and a konnakkol artist besides others on the ghatam, the morsing, the kanjira, the dholak and the gettu vadyam.
Naina Pillai belonged to a family dedicated to Music. His mother and aunt Dhanakoti of Conjeevaram, a great artiste of her time and among the first musicians to record their voices for the gramophone. were disciples of Kasi Sastri, a great grandson of Syama Sastri. During his childhood, he was boisterous in the extreme until he met a mendicant from the Upanishad Brahmam Mutt who was good in Music. Since this meeting, Naina Pillai took Music lessons under him at the Pallava-built Kailasanatha Temple. The silence here, broken only by the steady intoning of mantras by the priests, was perhaps the greatest attraction the place had for Naina Pillai. He probably practised in the numerous sub shrines that dot the outer periphery of the temple. In his early years he came under the influence of Ramachandra Bhagavatar of Ettayapuram and was able to learn a good deal about many rare ragas.
Through his own family lineage, he knew several songs of Syama Sastry, his ancestor ‘Mettu’ Kamakshi having learnt them directly from the descendants of the great composer. His aunt Dhanakoti was a treasure-house of several Tamil compositions. In addition he acquired several Tyagaraja kritis from ‘Jalatarangam’ Ramaniah Chetty, a businessman of George Town whose mother had learnt music from Wallajahpet Krishnaswami Bhagavatar. Naina also benefited from ‘Veena’ Dhanam’s tutelage.
The real turning point in his life was at the concert of Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer. The concert was so inspiring that the irrepressible Naina became the most ardent devotee of music to blossom into one of the stalwarts of Carnatic Music of everlasting fame. His biggest asset was the way in which he could handle Kritis, full of crispness and vigour.
Naina Pillai’s debut concert was at the Sri Anekadhangavadeswarar Temple (Kachi Anekatangapadam). He never recorded his music and so that is lost and what we can glean of that style is chiefly from the music of his disciples though it is said none of them really were true representatives of the way he performed.
An authority on Tyagaraja's compositions, he was also responsible for setting to tune many Tiruppugazhs. An expert in Pallavi-singing, he trained several disciples like T Brinda, Chittoor Subramanyam etc, who later became musicians to reckon with.
For one who didn't exhibit much interest in music as a youngster, Naina Pillai's achievement is indeed great. Evidently, music was in his blood.
The SVN Road at Kanchipuram is named after him and the letters SVN stands for Sangeeta Vidwan Naina, the Pillai was removed after Tamil Nadu abolished caste names from public thoroughfares.
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