Nagaswaram wizard Thiruvavaduthurai N. Rajarathinam Pillai, whose 125th birth anniversary was observed on Sunday, August 27, 2023 was a trend setter and a pioneer in using tambura instead of otthu or shruti box for concerts.
Interestingly, a tambura used by him is preserved by a family of musicians in Nagercoil. “The tambura was given to my uncle Eraniel Chellappa, a nagaswaram player, by Rajarathinam Pillai,” said S. Sreekumar, former head of the department of Tamil, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil.
One could come across photographs of Rajarathinam Pillai performing with a tambura. An advertisement in 1939 for a concert in Indian Fine Arts Society, Madras, says: “Nadaswaram with Thamburasruthi, violin and Mrudhangam by T.N. Rajarathnam and Party.”What is in the possession of Mr. Sreekumar is a beautifully decorated tambura used by Rajarathinam Pillai, who used to perform regularly at Suchindram temple in Kanniyakumari district and palace festivals in Thiruvananthapuram.“
He needed some money and borrowed it from my uncle. But he did not want the money as charity.... “Though my uncle protested, Rajarathinam Pillai left the tambura at his residence,”said Mr. Sreekumar, whose father Sivaramakrishnan, was also a nagaswaram player-turned-music teacher.
Eraniel Chellappa, also a popular nagaswaram artiste in Kanniyakumari district and Kerala, presented the tambura to Sivaramakrishnan. “When he asked my father to take something in his possession, he only wanted the tambura of Rajarathinam Pillai and we have preserved it so far,” said Mr. Sreekumar.
