There is no end to the list of the titles and awards she won. She was the first woman musician to be honoured with the Sangeeta Kalanidhi title by the Music Academy in Chennai. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1954, the Padma Vibhushan in 1975, the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974, the Kalidas Samman in 1988 and the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1998.
Other than performing in places like Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore and some places in Malaysia, she also had the distinction of performing the inaugural concert at the India Festival in London in 1982. She introduced Carnatic music to the Western world at the Edinburgh Festival (1963) and at the United Nations (1966).
She was conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters by many universities, including the Sri Venkateswara University in 1971, Delhi University in 1973, Benaras Hindu University in 1980 and the University of Madras in 1987. The Viswa-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, conferred on her the Desihothama doctoral degree.
On MS' first death anniversary, rediff.com pays tribute to her by talking to Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, famous Bharata Natyam dancer and daughter of director Subrahmanyam who introduced MS to the world of films, Lakshmi Viswanathan, another well known Bharata Natyam dancer and author of the book on MS, Kunjamma -- Ode to a Nightingale, and R K Shriram Kumar, who played the violin for MS for more than a decade.
Also Read: Requiem for the Nightingale