Palghat Mani Iyer Biography In English Life Story 1912-1981

• Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Tiruvilvamalai Ramaswamy was one of the foremost mridangam maestros in the field of Carnatic music.
• He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C.S. Murugabhupathi, are revered as the “Holy Trinity of Mridangam”.

Palghat Mani Iyer Biography In English

Birth Details –

Place- Pazhayanoor

Date of Birth – 12 June 1912

Nationality -Indian

Early Life And Background

• He was born in a Palakkad Brahmin family on 12 June 1912 at Pazhayanoor, then in Tiruvilvamala taluk of Palghat district of Kerala (now located in Thrissur district) to Sesham Bhagavathar and Anandambaal as their second son.
• Mani was named Ramaswamy at birth – after his grandfather who was a good singer as well as a school teacher.
• Mani Iyer learned his music from his parents in his native Pazhayyanur. His first public performance was at the age of 10 in Sivaramakrishna Bhagavatar’s Harikatha Pravachan. The mridangam player who was supposed to play failed to turn up and Mani Iyer was substituted.
• He later attracted the attention of Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer who taught him the intricacies that invested his singing with remarkable precision.
• Mani Iyer came to prominence in 1924, after appearing with the Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatara at a concert at the Jagannatha Bhakta Sabha in Madras (now called Chennai).

Career

• Mani Iyer was accompanied by all the leading singers of his era. He was late Palghat R. Raghu, Late Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair, Umayalpuram K.K. Sivaraman, Thanjavur R. Ramdas, Kamlakar Rao, Late G. Later mridangam players like Harishankar (Kanjira), etc. were also gurus.
• Before Mani Iyer entered the music scene, three mridangam maestros Nagercoil S.Ganesh Iyer, Alagnambi Pillai and Dakshinamurthy Pillai dominated the percussion scene.
• The way Mani Iyer played changed the style of playing the mridangam, from just keeping the beat to the music of the main artist to being an instrument in its own right.
• Palghat R. Raghu, a disciple of Mani Iyer, describes his guru as a genius in that he showed music followers the way of blending with the music of the lead artist in handling creations of every conceivable mood and tempo. With his consistent excellence, he has been able to take the music program to thrilling heights.
• He had his own eccentricities, and refused to accompany female artists for long periods of time. Take
• When his daughter married DK Pattammal’s son, he accompanied Pattammal , who is considered one of the three singers who form the trinity of female Carnatic music singers in the 20th c. Later he also accompanied ML Vasanthakumari.
• When Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer was asked to pick the talents of Carnatic music, he gave only three names – T.R. Mahalingam, T.N. Rajaratnam Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer.

Awards

1966 – Sangeet Kalanidhi

1967 – Padma Bhushan

1957 – Sangeet Natak Akademi

Other Information –

Date of Death – 30 May 1981

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