Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (b. 1935) is a violinist from south India. He plays South Indian Classical Music on his violin. Kunnakudi is his place of origin. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri and is considered by many to be an arresting and innovative violinist in the Carnatic Genre. Born in 1935 to Sri Ramaswamy Sastri and Smt. Meenakshi at Kunnakudi, an important Lord Muruga Kshetram of Tamil Nadu, his father was an erudite scholar in Sanskrit, Tamil and Carnatic Music as well as a great composer and exponent of Carnatic Music and Kathakalakshepam. So, for the young Vaidyanathan, Veda Sastram and Sangeetam were the main disciplines besides schooling, his father being his first teacher. At the young age of 12, because of his sound knowledge, he was allowed to accompany great stalwarts like Shri Ariyakudi, Shri Semmangudi and Shri Maharajapuram. Known for his dexterity and subtlety in handling the violin, he caters his art not only to a scholar of mu