Veteran artiste Malaikottai R. Thayumanavan was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award instituted by Tiruchi Carnatic Musicians — a facebook group promoting interaction among musicians, at a function held here on Saturday.
A citation presented on the occasion referred to Mr. Thayumanavan’s hard practise during his “gurukulam” system of learning and his contribution to the music concerts and programmes in the Tiruchi station of Akashvani (now All India Radio).
Listing out his achievements, the citation said that Mr. Thayumanavan was a master in multiple percussion instruments. He started learning mridangam at the age of 7 under Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer. Attracted by his knowledge, Dakshinamurthy Acharyar of Pudukottai took him to Pudukottai to teach him the nuances of mridangam.
Mr. Thayumanavan had worked as a Top Grade artiste in mridangam in the Akashvani (AIR) of Tiruchi. He later mastered ganjira and kunnakol and became ‘A’ Grade artiste for those instruments too. He was a recipient of several awards,including the ‘Kalaimamani’ award instituted by the State government. A.K.C. Natarajan, artiste, referred to Mr. Thayumanavan’s respect for mentor (guru bhakthi) which was instrumental for his achievement. Mr. Natarajan said that he encouraged disciples to understand and learn the nuances of music. Karaikudi M.S. Mani, a vocalist, said that Mr. Thayumanavan was a role model for young and upcoming musicians.
He advised the musicians to listen to music and attend concerts to understand the handling of ragam by senior artistes.
T.V. Ramanujarcharyalu, a violinist, N. Sekar, honorary secretary of Rasika Ranjana Sabha and S. Gopalakrishnan, from Agasthiar Publications, spoke. They referred to the support his disciples got from Mr. Thayumanavan and his wife Kanakambujam.
Replying to the felicitations, Mr. Thayumanavan dedicated all his achievements to his mentor Dakshinamurthy Acharyar and the Acharyar’s mentor Dakshinamurthy Pillai. “But for the efforts by Pillai and Acharyar, I would not have become what I am today,” he said. He gave a concert on ganjira for a while and explained the nuances of the instrument.
