Ilaiyaraaja discography



Upcoming projects

The below list gives the upcoming/announced films composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Albums (instrumental, non-film)

YearAlbumNotes
1992Honnina TherinaliFirst devotional album of Ilaiyaraaja in Kannada
1992Geetha VazhipaaduFirst devotional album of Ilaiyaraaja in Tamil, also written by him, with 9 songs on the major Hindu deities
1981-82GeethanjaliDevotional album on the major Hindu deities, written by Ilaiyaraaja and Vaali, with 9 songs
1986How to Name It?A crossover album fusing the sensibilities of Western classical music's Baroque music style, mastered by Johann Sebastian Bach and Carnatic classical music's raga virtuosity, mastered by Tyagaraja, into a collection of 10 mesmeric tracks
1988Nothing but WindA crossover album featuring the famed Hindustani flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia playing the flute to Ilaiyaraaja's compositions combining the finer sensibilities of the Classical period of Western classical music mastered by Mozart and Indian folk, Hindustani, Carnatic and light music for some meditative, playful, reflective tracks
1992Vedic ChantingProduced by Ilaiyaraaja with selected hymns from the Rig Veda and Purusha Sukta
1992The Secret of RamayanaSelect verses from Valmiki and Kamban's Ramayana tuned and produced by Ilaiyaraaja, in addition to verses from the Vedas and Upanishads
1993Symphonic Work in 5 movements with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, LondonConducted by John Scott. Recorded by Tony Faulkner at the Walthomstow Town Hall, London in June 1993. Produced by Mike Townend.
1994Ilaiyaraaja's Classicals on the MandolinCarnatic classical music album with four krithis and a varnam, all written and composed by Ilaiyaraaja, including one Sanskrit krithi in a raga discovered by Ilaiyaraaja himself, Raajalahiri, with a forward speech by the Carnatic music legend Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, played on the Mandolin by the late Mandolin legend, U. Srinivas.
1995RAID-Music for dance production of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Co., LondonBased on the Indian game of kabaddi
1995India 24 HoursDocumentary on India, filmed by 18 famed photojournalists, who selected a spot each across the length and breadth of India, and filmed the passions and dreams of Indians across 100 hours. The two-hour documentary has a musical score by Ilaiyaraaja.
2000Raajavin RamanamalaiFirst devotional album on Ramana Maharishi, also written by Ilaiyaraaja, with 10 songs
2002Amma PaamaalaiDevotional album on the goddess Parvathi
2005ThiruvasagamSymphonic oratorio on Manickavasagar's Thiruvasagam, a crossover album that seeks to blend Thiruvasagam's bhakti with the finer elements of Western classical music's symphonic movements. Conducted by Laszlo Kovacs, performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and recorded in Budapest.
2006Guru Ramana GeetamSecond devotional album on Ramana Maharishi, with two krithis, one in Sanskrit and dedicated to Ramanar's mother, also written by Ilaiyaraaja, among 10 songs
2007The Music MessiahCollection of background scores from his landmark score for the Malayalam film Guru
2007Sri Ramana Naadha AmudhamThird album on Ramana Maharishi, with 10 songs, with 6 songs written by Vaali (poet) and 4 songs written by Ilaiyaraaja, and composed by the veteran composer M.S. Viswanathan.
2008Manikantan Geet MalaDevotional album on Swami Ayyappa, in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam
2009Annamalai RamanaandiDevotional album on Ramana Maharishi. Songs written by Muruganaar and Sadhu Om. Rendered by Ramananjali group led by Sulochana Natarajan and Ilaiyaraaja.
2009Namratha Ke SagarSingle song, composed by Ilaiyaraaja for a bhajan written by Mahatma Gandhi, sung by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and recited on screen by Amitabh Bachchan
2010Ramana SaranamFourth devotional album on Ramana Maharishi, with a krithi in Telugu among 10 songs, all written and composed by Ilaiyaraaja
2010Baba Pugazh MaalaiDevotional album on Shirdi Sai Baba
2011AkkahShort film in Kannada on the Kannada poetess-saint Akka Mahadevi with songs rendered by Bombay Jayashri
2013Ramana AaramFifth devotional album on Ramana Maharishi, also written by Ilaiyaraaja, with 16 songs
2015SwappnamClassical album composed for a dance drama on Lord Shiva choreographed by dancer Krithika Subramaniam, with 10 songs on the CD, collected from Thiruvasagam, Thevaram, Nandanar Charitham, Adi Sankara's Ardhanarishwara Ashtakam among other devotional hymns dedicated to Shiva. Sudha Raghunathan, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, Rajhesh Vaidhya, Abhishek Raghuram, Bharath Sundar, composer Sharreth, A. K. Palanivel, Palaghat Sreeram, Embar Kannan were among the musicians who were part of the project.
2016Thaarai Thappattai Collection of background scores from his National Award-winning score for his 1000th milestone film Tharai Thappattai. Contains 19 songs.
2017Raaja's RamanamalaiSixth devotional album on Ramana Maharishi, brought by Sri Thenandal Films, also written by Ilaiyaraaja, with 10 songs
2020Bharath BhoomiTribute to COVID-19 warriors
2024Divya PasuramsSeventh devotional album, Eight pasurams have been chosen for the album from the 4,000 verses of the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, written by the 12 Alwars.

Television

Books

  • Sangeethakkanavukal
  • Gyanaganga
  • Yaarukku Yaar Ezhudhuvadhu
  • Paal Nilaa Paadhai
  • ''Enaku Ethuvo Unakum Athuve''

Ad jingles

Hindustan Coca-Cola collaborated with Ilaiyaraaja for its ad jingles. This is the first time Raja has done a commercial jingle.
Country Delight collaborated with Ilaiyaraaja for an ad.
Many of Ilaiyaraaja's songs were used as jingles in advertisements. Filmmaker R Balki has used them in many of his ads either as a musical note or a jingle composed to the same tune.

Reused tracks

Remake films

Most are Telugu remakes of Tamil films.

Other films

Apart from remake films, Ilaiyaraaja has reused the following tracks: