Mridangam maestro Karaikudi Mani no more

CHENNAI: Renonwed Mridangam maestro Karaikudi R Mani, who has played for legendary Carnatic vocalists like MS Subbulakshmi, DK Pattammal, ML Vasantha Kumari and Lalgudi Jayaraman, passed away on Thursday.

He was 77 and a bachelor. Mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. Apart from Carnatic music doyens of yesteryears, Karaikudi Mani, who has won several awards, has also played for present-day artistes like TM Krishna.

Regarded by the vast majority of Carnatic connoisseurs and aficionados as one of the greatest mridangam players ever, Karaikudi Mani, who dominated Carnatic music for over five decades, and had trained a number of students, received his first National award at the young age of 18 from former President Radhakrishnan.

Karaikudi Mani was born on September 11, 1945 in Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu to T Ramanatha Iyer and Pattammal. He became involved with Carnatic music at the tender age of three and soon abandoned his vocal training in favour of learning the mridangam.

Mani began performing regularly at a time when another player of the mridangam, his idol Palghat Mani Iyer, was in his prime. He received his first national award at the age of 18.

In 1999 he accepted the national award from “Sangeeth Natak Academy” from President KR Narayanan. In 1986, he started an ensemble, called Sruthi Laya, that combined melody and percussion.