Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Ramanarayanaswamy (15 November 1923 – 1 April 2002), often referred to as K. V. Narayanaswamy or KVN was an Indian musician, widely considered to be among the finest Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century.He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1986.He was described as the "Gentle Perfect Knight" of Carnatic music, a phrase from Geoffrey Chaucer, by V. K. Narayana Menon, prominent art critic of India and recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship.