Dr Tiruvengadu Subramania Pillai was born on April 26th 1906 at Tirunangur near Sirkali. He was the only son of nadhaswara vidwan Paramanatha Pillai and Sundarambal. Both parents were from sound musical lineages – Paramanatha Pillai was the son of renowned nadhaswara artist Tiruvengadu Muthuveeru Pillai and Sundarambal hailed from Tiruvalampuram where Appar Swamigal had a vision of Siva as a veena wielding and performing “Bhikshantana”. Within a few years of his birth, Pillai had the misfortune to lose both his parents. He was taken care of by his father’s younger brother Samidurai Pillai and his wife. Pillai was sent to a conventional school till he was in the 5th grade. He appears to have been tutored in Sanskrit and Telugu as well. But it was in music that he received his real education.

Samidurai Pillai was also a performing nadhaswara artist. The presence of several nadhaswarms in the house aroused the curiosity of the young Pillai who began blowing into them to see what kind of sound he could produce. The tonal purity of his blowing was enough to convince his uncle that here was a boy who was worthy of being trained on the instrument. He began his training under his uncle and at the age of 12, he was performing in public with his uncle. Nadhaswaram music being essentially raga music, Pillai’s tutelage under his uncle was largely on raga delineation. He learnt sahityams by observation and over the years built up a good repertoire of songs as well. Samidurai Pillai passed away and Pillai became the solo artist from then on. He took good care of Samidurai Pillai’s family and fulfilled all his filial obligations to his uncle and guru.

Besides his uncle, Pillai, according to a write up in The Hindu on 24th May 1996, also acknowledged that his music had been influenced by stalwarts such as Manpoondia Pillai, Umayalpuram “Ghatam” Sundaram Iyer, Kanchipuram Naina Pillai, Kumbakonam Azhagianambi Pillai, Palani Muthiah Pillai and Pandanainallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai. He also honed his performing skills by listening to Koorainadu Natesa Pillai, Sembanarkoil Ramaswami Pillai, Chidambaram Vaidyanatha Pillai and Nagore Subbiah Pillai.

By the time he was 17, Pillai was a very popular performer in that region. He was known as TPS – short for Tiruvengadu Paramanatha Subramania Pillai. He had also grown up to be an exceedingly handsome young man. Of a clear complexion, possessing a slim frame, a thick mane of hair and large expressive eyes, he made a striking presence whenever he appeared in public. Recalling this many years later, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer was to speak of Pillai as an “Aann Mohini” (a male enchantress). His long and slim fingers, ideally suited for playing on the nadhaswaram, were decked with rings that shone as he performed. In those years, he swathe himself in silks and many were those who flocked to his performances simply to see him. Artist Gopulu’s sketchof Shanmugasundaram bear a marked resemblance to Pillai.