Raman was born to Tamil Brahmin parents and attended St Aloysius' Anglo-Indian High School for his secondary and further secondary schooling. He graduated from Presidency College with honors in physics and cleared the University of Madras bachelor's degree examinations at the age of 16. In 1906, he released his first journal article on light diffraction while still an undergraduate candidate. He obtained his master's degree the following year. He entered the Indian Finance Service in Calcutta as an Assistant Accountant General at the age of 19. He was introduced to the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India's first scientific organization, where he was allowed to undertake an independent investigation and produce key acoustic and photonic findings.
Also Read: Who is the father of physics in India?
In 1917, Ashutosh Mukherjee designated him the first Palit Professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta's Rajabazar Science College. During his first trip to Europe, he saw the Mediterranean Sea and realized that the popularly believed theory for the blue shade of the river at the period, specifically reflecting Rayleigh-scattered light from the heavens, was incorrect. In 1926, he established the Indian Physics. He arrived in Bangalore in 1933 to become the first Indian director of the Indian Institute of Science. He founded the Indian Academy of Sciences that year. He started the Raman Research Institute in 1948 and remained there till his departure.
The Raman phenomenon was observed on February 28, 1928. Each year, the Indian government acknowledges the day as National Science Day. The first Bharat Ratna, India's prestigious award distinction, was presented by the authorities in 1954. He afterward smashed the medallion in outrage of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's policies on scientific development.
