The great saint Thyagaraja trained several disciples during his time in the Tanjaore district and made them into musicians. He passed away in 1847 leaving behind a wealth of compositions that his students had learnt. Among his disciples, one such composer was Sri Akumalla Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayya. He was the guru to the great composer Sri Patnam Subramanya Iyer. He lived between 1803- 1862 and among his students, one was Sri Susarla Dakshinamurthy Sastry (1860-1917).

Sri Susarla Dakshinamurthy had travelled all the way to Tamilnadu by foot from Andhra Pradesh just to learn music from his guru. After he learnt under him, he returned to Andhra pradesh to spread his knowledge in music. He was the first person to have bought the tradition of Saint Thyagaraja to Andhra Pradesh. It was from him that Sri Parupalli Ramakrishnayya panthulu (1883-1951) had learnt music. After that, the great Dr. Mangalampally Balamuralikrishna had trained under him since he was a child. Not only was Sri Ramakrishnayya Pantulu adept in vocal music, but he also taught his students music on the violin simultaneously. It is here from where Dr. Balamuralikrishna learnt the violin, along with his classmates Sri Annavarapuu Ramaswamy and Sri Neti Srirama Sarma.

Our principal, Dr. Padma Govardhan had the chance to learn from all three of these gurus. This rich style of music formed the roots of her learning, along with experience learning under Sri Gadde Ramakumari, who was also a disciple of Sri Annavarapu Ramaswamy. Today, she continues to impart this knowledge to her students and turn them into musicians that can continue this heritage.

Dr Padma evinced interest in Carnatic music even during her formative years but it was when she was 12 years old that she began learning the art in her native Vijayawada, from Annavarapu Ramaswamy and Ramakumari. Years later, moving to Chennai, she completed the ‘Sangeetha Ratna’ course from the Music Academy, under the guidance of Sangeetha Kalanidhi B Rajam Iyer and S R Janakiraman. It was during this time that she also trained under Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna. Relocating to Hyderabad, she learnt Carnatic Music from Sri Neti Rama Sharma and she and completed her post-graduation in Music from University of Madras throuch distance education, all while teaching and attending to her family. She is also a graduate in Science with Botany as a major subject and a postgraduate in Public Administration. But this deeply-rooted thirst for music did not end there.

Dr. Padma received her Doctorate in Carnatic music from Mother Theresa University, Kodaikanal in 2014 on her topic of research, "An in-depth analysis of Shankarabharam and its Janya Ragas" under the guidance of Dr. Radha Venkatachalam, retired professor of Delhi University.

Even as she pursued her own educational pathway as a doctorate student, Dr Padma has been imparting her knowledge to hundreds of students, with fifteen of them completing their graduation in Carnatic Music examinations conducted by the London based Academy of Fine Arts and the New Zealand Carnatic Music Society (Auckland), recognised by the University of Madras.