Palghat Mani Iyer

Palghat Mani Iyer (1912 - 1981) was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmabhushan awards.

He was a legend even in his lifetime, one of the all-time greats, a genius at innovation. His scintillating performances were an unforgettable treat to the audience. 'Palghat' on a poster or just a 'Mani' was sufficient to attract the crowds in droves. It would be no exaggeration to say that Palghat Mani Iyer raised the status of the mridangam and the mridangist to dizzy heights. An artiste of few words, he would sit on the dais all attention to the vocalist or violinist, a picture of dignity and composure. He had his initial training from Chattapuram Subba Iyer and advanced training under the renowned vidwan, Tanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer.

He first studied with Palghat Subba Iyer and Kalpathy Viswanatha Iyer. Later with Thanjavur Vaidanatha Iyer. Mani came into prominence after accompanying Chembai Vaidanatha Bagavathar in a music concert at Madras (now called Chennai).

Mani Iyer accompanied all the leading vocal artists of his era. He was also the guru for later mridangam vidwans such as Palghat R. Raghu, Palghat Suresh and Sivaraman. He also taught mridangam to children at the Rishi Valley School started by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Before Mani Iyer’s arrival in the music scene, the two mridangists Alaganambi Pillai and Dakshinamurthy Pillai (also a kanjirist), dominated the art of percussion playing. The innovations of Mani changed the style of mridangam playing as Y. G. Doraisamy points out: "It was Mani Iyer who started the now prevalent trend of the mridangam, not just keeping the time with tekkas and moras, but actively accompanying the musical phrasing, so as to be a rhythmic running commentary, reproducing on the drum all the subtleties and rhythmic complexities of the musical composition."

Palghat R. Raghu, a disciple of Mani Iyer, describes his guru as a genius in that he showed music followers the manner of blending with the music of the main artist in handling the kritis of every conceivable mood and tempo. By his consistent excellence he could raise the concert to thrilling heights.

External links

* [http://www.nscottrobinson.com/southindiaperc.php South Indian Percussionist page]