Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram

Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (also known affectionately as Vikku Vinayakram) excelled in the field of Carnatic music, as an exponent of the "ghatam", an Indian percussion instrument. Essentially a hardened earthen pot, the ghatam is capable of making high as well as bass tones depending on the pressure of the strike and the percentage of the mouth of the pot that is covered.

Vinayakram is responsible for the progress and development as well as popularizing of the ghatam. Born to Kalaimani T. R. Harihara Sharma, a talented musician and superlative teacher, "Vikku" took up playing at a very young age.

He was a child prodigy, with his concert career beginning at the age of 13. He established his right to be on the stage by playing with such dexterity that he was soon accompanying many famous vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including G. N. Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, M. S. Subbulakshmi and Maharajapuram Santhanam, among others. His brother, T. H. Subhashchandran, also excelled in the field. The Ghatam followed the master by rising to fame as a percussion instrument that required nimble fingers and strong stomach muscles to control the mouth of the pot.

Vikku's tryst with the international music platform came in the early 70's when he joined Shakti to play along with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. The showman that he is, his long hair and nimble fingers had Shakti catapult to fame.

Vikku Vinayakram was conferred the Hafiz Ali Khan Award for “unmatched contribution in the field of music” in the year 2000. T. H. Vinakayaram is also the first South Indian musician to be awarded the grammy for Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart's "Planet Drum" in which he played ghatam and morsing. He donated all the proceeds from the award to a charity organization in south India. He was also nominated for the 1996 Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for his participation in 'Raga Aberi' along with L. Shankar on the ten string double violin and Zakir Hussain on the tabla (the piece is set in the tala cycle of 4 3/4 beats). The Indian Government decorated him with the Padma Shri award.

He has also performed at Basant Utsav, the annual fund raiser for the Banyan.

Vikku Vinayakram is Principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai, India - the academy established by his late father and teacher in 1958. It continues to produce new stars of Carnatic percussion. Vinayakram's son V. Selvaganesh is a world-famous percussionist in his own right.

References

* [http://www.ultimateguru.net Indian Music Guru, South Indian Percussion] - Bringing the Art and Technology of Indian Music to the World.
* [http://www.musicalnirvana.com/carnatic/vikku_vinayakaram.html Musical Nirvana biography]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Stage/2225/articles/vinayakram.html Master of the Ghatam]
* [http://www.nscottrobinson.com/southindiaperc.php South India Percussionist Page] by N. Scott Robinson
* [http://www.ghatamsukanyaramgopal.com/profile.php His students] by Sivakumar Davamani