A special postal cover to mark the centenary celebrations of Carnatic vocalist Vidwan T.M. Thyagarajan, popularly known as TMT, was released here on May 27.
J. Charukesi, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, who released the cover, said the occasion was being marked to the artiste’s unwavering commitment to preserve the rich Carnatic tradition through his Bhani. The special cover carries a picture of the late T.M. Thyagarajan and a ₹5 stamp.
Carnatic vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyan, who said he used to collect special post covers, thanked the Postal Department for bringing out the cover on TMT. He recalled how TMT used to organise a two-day long Thanjavur music tradition festival in which his students would be asked to perform. He would give them a list of songs to render and it would be an opportunity for the audience to listen to new kritis and chitta swaras.
N. Murali, president The Music Academy Madras, and Director, The Hindu Group, said TMT’s first concert was when he was just 8 at Tiruvarur. All the great vidwans of that time had predicted a great future for him. TMT, he said, had helped notate Swathi Thirunal kritis.
Earlier, a documentary about TMT was screened. The vidwan had been asked to notate Swathi Thirunal kritis by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and one of the famous songs is Bhavayami Raghuramam. Other songs that he set tune to included Karpooram Naarumo and Muruganin Marupeyar Azhagu.
The event concluded with group singing by students of TMT and a concert by Mr. Subrahmanyan.
