Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963) is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician.

[5][6] Chithra, renowned for her extraordinary vocal talent, is widely recognised as the Golden Voice of India, a title bestowed upon her by the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London in 2001.

[7][8][9] The Times Group has honoured her as the Melody Queen of Indian Cinema in 2016,[2][10][11][8] reflecting her immense contribution to the industry.

She is also celebrated as the Little Nightingale of Indian Cinema,[12] Nightingale of South India,[13][7] and in different regions, she is known by various affectionate titles: Piya Basanti in North India,[13] Vanambadi in Kerala,[14] Chinna Kuyil in Tamil Nadu,[15][16] Kannada Kogile in Karnataka[6] and Sangeeta Saraswathi in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.

[13] She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration with music composers like A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha,[17] and with the playback singers K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam over the years.

[26][27][28] In 2009, she became the first Indian artist to be honoured by Government of China while performing live at the Qinghai International river festival.

Since then, she has earned wide recognition by singing popular songs under the compositions of Raveendran, Shyam, S. P. Venkitesh, Mohan Sithara, Salil Chowdhury, Kannur Rajan, Ilaiyaraaja, Johnson, Ouseppachan, M. K. Arjunan, A. T. Ummer, Berny Ignatius, M. B. Sreenivasan, Mohan Sithara, Vidyasagar, Ramesh Narayan, Sharreth, M. Jayachandran and Deepak Dev.

Later went on to sing songs to many Telugu composers like Sathyam, Raj-Koti, Ilaiyaraja, K. V. Mahadevan & K. Chakravarthy for the years 1986–88, but she gained initial recognition/break-through for compositions by Ilaiyaraja like "Jallanta Kavvinta" from Geethanjali (1989) & "Ninnukori Varnam" from Gharshana( 1988) and then went onto sing several songs to many composers in Telugu.

It was the moment where she established herself as a well recognised singer and strengthening her position in Telugu films by almost taking the place of S. Janaki from 1990.

[42] Chithra received her first Nandi Award, presented by Government of Andhra Pradesh for "Kalika Chilakala Koliki" from Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu (1991).

[44] Apart from film songs, Chithra recorded for many private albums of which Piya Basanti and Sunset Point became hugely popular and went on to win several laurels including the MTV Music Video Awards.

On 6 June 2009, she performed in Qinghai International Musical Journey on Water and Life concert with a rendition of "Tunga Tarange Gange" alongside other singers from nations located around various major rivers such as the Ganges, Volga, Rhine, Danube, Mississippi, and Amazon.

Organised by Kalalaya sponsored by Nambiar Builders, the event featured her signature melodies across multiple Indian languages, with support from musicians such as Sharreth and K. K. Nishad.

[60] Chithra, along with a Kerala-based satellite channel, Asianet Cable Vision (ACV), jointly launched a fundraising organisation, Sneha Nandana, to raise funds for the welfare of retired musicians who have lost their careers due to changes in the music industry.

[citation needed] A cultural event called Chithra Pournami was held on 15 February 2011 at Thiruvananthapuram to celebrate the 30th year of her career and also to launch this organisation.

[7] In 2009, She became the first Indian artist to be honoured by Government of China while performing live at the Qinghai International river festival.