Ilaiyaraaja

He won a gold medal from London's Trinity College in the guitar category. His notable works include Nayakan (1987) (his 400th film) and Anjali (1990) (his 500th film). His other musical works include "Nothing But the Wind," "How to Name It," and "Singing Skylarks." He also invented a new Carnatic raga known as Panchamukhi.

About 10 years ago I undertook to construct the principal towers of the Siva temple at Thiruvanamalai and the Vaishnavite temple at Srirangam; I spent my own money on the projects - I did not collect money from others. I could have completed Thiruvasagam also without financial assistance from others, but did not wish to do so. Because, when the project was conceived, I was reminded of a remark made by the late Kanchi Senior Acharya. He said that in the olden days, even if a king wanted to construct a temple tower, he would not do it with his own money, but collected finds from the people for the purpose. The idea was that there should be participation by the people. That was why I was keen that others should also join in this venture.