Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Percussion exponent honoured

Staff Reporter

TRIBUTE TO EXCELLENCE: Former judge S. Rathinavel Pandian presents the Rasika Kala Bharati to mridangam vidwan Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman at Rasika Fine Arts music festival on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Art must be marketed or it will not have any value. If the mridangam is not popular it is because it has not been marketed well, said percussion exponent Umalypuram Sivaraman.

He was speaking after receiving the Rasika Kala Barathi title at the third annual music festival of Rasika Fine Arts, inaugurated on Saturday at Jaigopal Garodia Hindu Vidyalaya at the Postal Colony in West Mambalam.

The veteran mridangam vidwan was presented with a shawl, a gold medal, a citation and Rs. 5,000 cash. The citation read that the award was "a tribute to the excellence and virtuosity on laya." Retired Judge of the Supreme Court, S. Ratnavel Pandian, who presented the award, said that in Carnatic music, particularly Tamil music, the vibration of words are set in such a way that they entice listeners.

Vocalist G.S. Mani said Mr. Sivaraman ``is a unique, brilliant and one in a century" artist, who had attained fullness in every department of mridangam. He said only a singer would know the nuances that Mr. Sivaraman had mastered as a mridangam player.

A singer could synchronise with the tala of Mr. Sivaraman, he said.

Mr. Sivaraman said the award came as a service to an artiste by his rasikas. He dedicated the award to his parents, teachers and elders who had shaped him and his career.

He said: "I consider the mridangam the king of percussion and queen of melody." Even jazz exponents from the West came to South India to learn the nuances of Carnatic music, he noted. S. Dinakar, field general manager, Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai, S. Vedantham, general secretary, Vishva Hindu Vidya Kendra, and A. Natarajan, former director of Doordarshan Kendra, Chennai spoke.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Demand for houses extends to the suburbs
Training for elected representatives in urban local body governance
DMK regime will not "deviate" from Periyar path
Time to get real with computer animation
Now, marks for police performance
Delay in launch of Tiruvanmiyur-Velachery MRTS service
Percussion exponent honoured
Joint effort needed to check violence in classrooms: SFI
Bala Mandir resource centre opened
Awards for ITC, Abhishek Industries
CB CID transfers question paper leak case to CBI
MV inspectors to check touts at Koyambedu bus terminal
"People must work for country's progress"
Aim of new initiative is to make students "more employable"
Fernandes calls for mass movement
Plan to develop Tambaram station as hub
Gopalaswami reviews photo poll roll work
Audience vote on `Jodi No.1' awaited
A golden moment
Allay traders' apprehensions on VAT, says Jayalalithaa
Book exhibition
Portuguese film festival
A police affair all the way
Naadhalaya Sironmani Award for Sudha Ragunathan
New aircraft parking stands inaugurated
Medical camp for school students
Luxurious ride assured
Interior roads to be re-laid: Mayor
For the love of the game
Gita recitation contest
Pension fund scheme grant
`Swift train' rally
Around the City
In Chennai Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu