The birth centenary of mridangam wizard Palghat Mani Iyer was celebrated here on Sunday by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha.
Former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy, who released a commemorative journal on Iyer, said this year was the centenary of another equally eminent stalwart Madurai Mani Iyer.
He stressed the need for recording the greatness of these maestros for posterity.
Quoting the doyen of Carnatic music Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Mr. Krishnamurthy said, “the most striking feature of Mani's playing was his unerring instinct for choosing the appropriate part of kriti or neraval to highlight it, with a series of strokes of magnificent lift and melody.”
The first copy of the commemorative journal was received by K. Balaji, Director, Kasturi & Sons Ltd. Sabha general secretary Y. Prabhu was present on the occasion.
Mridangam maestro guru Karaikudi R. Mani, who was the chief guest during the morning session, said it was Palghat Mani Iyer who gave the status to mridangam. There was a time when eminent vocalists would check Mani Iyer's dates before committing for concerts. This was largely due to his professionalism and the mutual respect they maintained.
An exhibition of photographs was part of the centenary celebrations of Palghat Mani Iyer. The evening concluded with a Carnatic vocal duet by Nithyasree Mahadevan and Palghat R. Ramprasad.
