The major composers Thyagaraja, Syama Sastri, Muthuswami Dikshitar,Annamacharya and Badhrachala Ramadas are legends in the field of Carnatic music. In the area of instrumental music, giants such as Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu (violin), Emani Sankara Sastry (veena) and Chitti Babu (veena) are famous. Contemporary stalwarts of Vocal music includeMangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, S.P.Balasubramanyam, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, Srirangam Gopalaratnam, Sripada Pinakapani, Sarangapaniand Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana. Yella Venkatesara Rao (mridangam) and U. Srinivas (mandolin) have also earned fame.
