A small compilation of Palakkad iyer contributors to Carnatic music

A small  compilation of   Palakkad  iyer  contributors  to Carnatic music

 

(This collection was  done   some 20  years back  and since I do not belong to field of music, there may be very many omissions .Please excuse  me  for short comings and suggest   whom I should include)

 

The three major centers of development of Carnatic Music in South India are the Tanjore District of Tamil Nadu, the areas surrounding Mysore state, and Kerala. The major part of the development of music in Kerala is due to the Kerala Iyers. This may be due to the possible fact that most of the Kerala Iyers trace their origin to Tanjore district. Some of the great musicians among Kerala Iyers are:-

 

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar who has been called the Gana Gandharvan of Kerala. It was this great musician who gave a fillip to Singing of Malayalam songs in concerts. He has a very large disciple following including the famous Jesudas.

 

Palakkad Mani Iyer, understandably an emperor of percussion instrument called Mridangam. His amazing mastery used to dumbfound connoisseurs.

 

Nurani Parameswara Bhagavathar who lived in the 19th century who was with Swati Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore.

 

Thondikkulam Anantharama Bhagavathar who was an acknowledged exponent of Harikatha style of music.

Mundai Rama Bhagavathar who was an acknowledged leader in pure classical music.

 

Parur Sundram Iyer and his sons M.S.Gopala Krishnan, M.S.Anantharaman and daughter M.S. Rajam. This school of violin music is considered by many as the innovators in mixing Hindustani and Carnatic Music. They were possibly the forerunners of the modern day Jugalbandhi.

Jaya Shree  Parur  Belonging to the family is Head of the department of music in queen mary’s college

Other noted musicians from that village are  Parur Narmadha

 

Palakkad Narayanaswamy possibly the greats musician of musicians.

Palakkad K.V.Gopalakrishnan known for his mastery of Mridangam and Vocal style of music .He also delved in to Hindustani classical music.

 

M.D.Ramanathan was known for his pure rendering of the classical style of Carnatic Music. He was the well-known teacher of music in Kalakshetra of Madras.

 

Bomba;s  Angethay sisters who used to thrall their listeners by mellifluous rendering of famous Kritis and Slokas.

 

Sri.M.A.Kalyanakrishna Bhagavathar who was well known for his rendering of classical music and his son

 Sri  Palakkad  C,S.Krishna iyer , well known perfomer  and  founder principal , Chembai  Memorial  music college

Palakkad T. S. Anantharama Bhagavathar (5 August 1942 – 6 May 2025) was an eminent Carnatic music vocalist, composer, and esteemed teacher who played an influential role in preserving and propagating the rich classical music heritage of Palakkad across India, particularly through his teaching in Mumbai

Sri.M.K.Kalyanakrishna Bhagavatar who was known for his proficiency on Veena

 

Gurvayur Dorai and Palakkad Raghu both well known for their proficiency in Mridangam

 

Ayilur Krishnan, Chalakudy Narayanaswamy and Puducode Krishnamurthy well known vocalists.

 

Sri.T.N.Krishnan who is a great player on violin

 

Trichur Ramachandran one of the present day Greats in music.

 

One of the other ancient great contributors to the music was Ennapadam Venkatrama Bhagavathar.Also  Ennapdam  Vishwantha  Bhagawathar Was another  composer  and musician

 

Sri.Thiruvarpu Krishna Bhagavathar (1860-1945) was considered as a great authority in singing                        Muthuswami Iyer Kritis.

 

Sri. T.V. Gopalakrishnan (Very famous Mridangist and Vocalist) and his brother Sri. T.V. Vasan (Ghatam vidhwan) - both belong to Tripunithura.

 

Sri. V.V. Subramaniam and his brother Sri. V.V. Ravi (famous Violin Vidhwans), Wadakkancheri

 Melarkode Vaidhyanatha  Bhagawather  was  a great  exponent  of caenatic  devotional music

Late Sri. Thiruvilamalai Vilwadri Iyer (Very famous Ghatam Vidhwan)

 

Late Sri. Chathapuram Subba Iyer (Mridanga Vidwan)and the first Guru of Late Sri. Palghat Mani Iyer.

 

Kunisseri Sri. Mani Iyer (Mridanga Vidwan)

 

Late Sri. Thiruvilmalai Kondhai (the only Iyer to play leading role in Chandamelam and Guru of Stalwart, Pallavoor Appu Marar)

 

Another great in his own right is Mr.Dakshinamurthy who attained lot of fame as music Director in Malayalam and Tamil films.

Late  Parassala  ponnama  was  another  of those  greats

 

The Gazal singer Hariharan, the great  Shankar  Mahadevan , the light music queen Mrs.Usha Uthup and Smt Anuradha Sriram , Bombay Jayashree and present light music mastero Manohar Iyer also belong to the group of Kerala Iyers.

Sri Mohan Iyer who has collected remarkable information on all aspects of Carnatic Music as well Dr.P.P.Bharata Iyer an authority on Kathakali again are Kerala Iyers.

 

These are but a few of the real top ranking musicians of Palakkad. Their contribution to the development of this school is really great by any standards.