ENCORE
Black day for the Carnatic world
SRIRAM VENKATKRISHNAN
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It was perhaps appropriate that having had so much in common, Muthiah Bhagavatar and Ponniah Pillai departed the world on the same day.
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STALWARTS TWO: L. Muthiah Bhagavathar.
June 30, 1945, will always remain a black day in the history of Carnatic music, for it was on that day that two stalwarts passed away within a few hours of each other. They were L. Muthiah Bhagavatar (b. 1877) and Thanjavur K. Ponniah Pillai (b. 1889).
Both men traced their origins to Tirunelveli district, for while Muthiah Bhagavatar hailed from Harikesanallur, which village he placed on the musical map of India, Ponniah Pillai could trace his ancestry to Senthil Annavi, a veena player in the Tirunelveli Nellaiyappar temple. Senthil Annavi's son Mahadeva Annavi was brought to Thanjavur by the then ruler, Tulaja II. Mahadeva's four sons were the famed Tanjore Quartet and K. Ponniah Pillai was their descendant.
Family background
While Ponniah Pillai trained under his own father and also from his father-in-law, the well-known dance teacher Pandanainallur Meenakshisundaram Pillai, Muthiah Bhagavatar hailing from a family known more for its Sanskrit and literary background travelled to Tiruvaiyyaru to learn music from T. S. Sambasiva Iyer, a descendant of Pallavi Doraiswami Iyer.
Both Pillai and Bhagavatar traced their musical lineage to Tyagaraja for T. S. Sambasiva Iyer's father Sabhapati Iyer was the great bard's disciple and Tiruvottiyur Tyagier from whom Ponniah Pillai also learnt, was a son of Veenai Kuppier, a disciple of Tyagaraja. Besides, Pillai also traced his lineage to Muthuswami Dikshitar for, the Tanjore Quartet had been his disciples.
Both Bhagavatar and Pillai were to leave their mark in the field of composing of which Bhagavatar's output is perhaps better known today. They were both pioneers in making music a college and university discipline.
Pillai had served as teacher in the Music departments of Annamalai and Madras Universities and was a member of the Board of Studies in both.
Muthiah Bhagavatar had served the Teacher's College of Carnatic Music set up by the Madras Music Academy and had also been actively involved in setting up course curricula. He was also the first musician to earn a doctorate by writing a thesis. The two stalwarts had served as presidents of the Music Academy's annual conferences, Bhagavatar in 1930 and Ponniah Pillai in 1933.
Thanjavur K. Ponniah Pillai.
When the award of Sangita Kalanidhi was instituted by the Academy in 1942, both received the honour. They had both contributed to the resuscitation of the works of earlier composers, Ponniah Pillai in propagating the songs of his ancestors and Muthiah Bhagavatar in tuning some and publicising several of Swati Tirunal's creations. Besides all this the musically hyperactive Bhagavatar was also an acknowledged Harikatha artiste and had also found time to compose music for films. It was perhaps appropriate that having had so much in common, the two of them departed this world on the same day.
The news first broke in The Hindu dt. July 1 when the Mysore and Thanjavur correspondents reported the passing of Bhagavatar and Pillai respectively.
Both artistes had been ailing for some time. On July 5, 1945, tributes appeared in The Hindu from Professor P. Sambamoorthy, who as Head of the Department of Music, Madras University, was closely associated with both of them. His statement highlighted the contrasting temperaments of the two men, even as it threw light on their contributions. He referred to Bhagavatar as "a powerful and magnificent personality — endowed with versatile talents (who) attracted the attention of his brilliant contemporaries early in life.
He was one of the few professional musicians of front rank to take interest in musical research."
Writing on Pillai, the professor traced his illustrious lineage and said that "he was an unostentatious person with a genial temperament and was ever anxious to preserve the highest standards in the realm of art". The Hindu also carried a tribute to Muthiah Bhagavatar from the first "Lady Bhagavatar," C. Saraswathi Bai on the same date, where she stated that the field of Harikatha "had suffered by his death".
On July 6, tributes came in from K. V. Krishnaswami Iyer, president of the Music Academy, Madras. He recalled their "services to the cause of Sangita and the Music Academy in particular". Reports were also published the same day of condolence resolutions passed at Kalakshetra and the Madras University on July 4. The Kalakshetra meeting was chaired by Tiger Varadachariar and presided over by Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhagavatar.
On July 9, a letter from E. Krishna Iyer, the stalwart who did immense work in restoring south Indian classical dance to its former glory, was published in The Hindu. He recalled his association with both musicians. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who succeeded Muthiah Bhagavatar at the Swati Tirunal Music Academy, Trivandrum, also sent in his tribute to the two great exponents on the same day. Letters continued to come in till late in the month of July, the tributes of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar (dated July 10) and Dwaram Venkatasami Naidu (July 12) being particularly moving.
(The author can be contacted at srirambts@gmail.com)
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