Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963) is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning around five decades, she has recorded over 25,000 Songs in various Indian languages languages such as Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Odia, Bengali, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Marathi, Tulu, Badaga, Banjara, Urdu, Assamese, Gujarati and Sanskrit as well as foreign languages such as Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, Urdu (Pakistan), English and French.

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. The Times Group has honoured her as the Melody Queen of Indian Cinema in 2016, reflecting her immense contribution to the industry. She is also celebrated as the Little Nightingale of Indian Cinema, Nightingale of South India, and in different regions, she is known by various affectionate titles: Piya Basanti in North India, Vanambadi in Kerala, Chinna Kuyil in Tamil Nadu, Kannada Kogile in Karnataka and Sangeeta Saraswathi in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. She is also known for her extensive history of collaboration with music composers like A. R. Rahman, Ilaiyaraja, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, and with the playback singers K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam over the years.

Chithra is a recipient of 6 National Film Awards, 10 Filmfare Awards South and 43 State Government awards from 8 states of India including 18 from Kerala, 12 from United Andhra Pradesh, 5 from Tamil Nadu, 4 from Karnataka, and 1 each from Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments. She was awarded India's third-highest civilian honours Padma Bhushan in 2021 and Padma Shri in 2005 for her valuable contributions towards the Indian musical fraternity.

She is honoured with the title First Ladies by the President of India in 2018 for being the first Indian woman to be honoured by British Parliament at House of Commons, United Kingdom in 2003. In 2009, she became the first Indian artist to be honoured by Government of China while performing live at the Qinghai International river festival. Barring Lata Mangeshkar, she also remains the second female playback singer from India to have performed at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London in 2001 and her Performance was applauded with much appreciation by a roomful of an international audience. Her song "Kannalane/Kehna Hi Kya" from the film Bombay (1995) was included in United Kingdom The Guardian's "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear Before You Die" list.