Rajarathnam Pillai was a recipient of many titles, none of them official or academic. He was popularly known as
Nadaswara Chakravarthi meaning Emperor of Nagaswaram. He is believed to have promoted nadaswaram and tavil players for recognition as musicians in their own right and it is thought that his lead was recognised when the
Madras Music Academy conferred the title of
Sangeetha Kalanidhi (doctor of music) on fellow
nagaswaram exponent
Thiruvizhimizhalai Subramania Pillai in 1956. In spite of his fame and following, there is no formal or official account of his life readily available in Tamil or another language. == References ==