Nidumolu Sumathi (born October 16, 1950), also known as Dandamudi Sumathi is an Indian percussionist, primarily playing the mridangam. She is married to "Mridangam Maestro" Sri Dandamudi Ram Mohan Rao. She is one of the first female mridangam players in India, and the first female Laya Vinyasam artist. Sumathi received India's fourth-highest civilian award,
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
, in 2021.
Early life
Dandamudi Sumathi Ram Mohan Rao was born on October 16, 1950 in Eluru, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Her parents were Sri Nidumolu Raghavaiah and Smt.Nidumolu Venkataratnamma. At age six Sumathi started learning mridangam from her father who was a mridangam
vidwan
In Hindu philosophy ''vidvān'' alludes to an expert in discrimination, to the one who is an expert in the Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu ...
. He took her to concerts and supported her interest in percussion. She gave her first performance at age 10. In 1964, after completing a certificate and diploma course in mridangam, she studied under Sri Dandamudi Ram Mohan Rao. She learned many intricate techniques from her guru and started giving performances.
In 2003, she became an "A-TOP" grade artist of
All India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All ...
. She was the first female mridangist to achieve this grade. She and her spouse became the only A-TOP grade mridangam duo and gave laya vinyasam concerts. She rose from an accompanying artist to become a solo performer. Many of her programmes were broadcast/telecast. Synchronizing left and right, she plays with mellifluous melody with excellent balance in sruthi and laya.
She accompanied artists including M.S.Subbalakshmi,
Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai
Chittoor Subramanyam (22 June 1898 – 18 Oct 1975) was an Indian carnatic musician.M.Balamurali Krishna, Pt.
Bhimsen Joshi
Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' khay ...
, M.Chandrasekaran, Emani Sankara Sastri, Chitti Babu, N. Ramani, and U.Srinivas.
In 2000, she established Laya Vedika, an organization promoting the mridangam, conducting competitions for students, and conferring the title "Laya Praveena" to accomplished vidwans. In 2011, Nidumolu and her organization unveiled a bronze statue of Sri Ram Mohan Rao in Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kalakshetram,
Vijayawada
Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...
on the first anniversary of his death. In
2015, she conducted a program named Satha Mridanga Vadya Nivali, as a tribute to her guru/husband with a group of 100 mridangam artists for the first time. This program appeared in records of Telugu Book of Records.
Personal life
She married her guru Sri Dandamudi Rama Mohan Rao.
Recognition
She received many awards and was celebrated in many sabhas. She received the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi award from the
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
in 2010—the only lady mridangam artist to receive it. She was honoured with "Ugadi Puraskaram" from the government of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
in 2015.
The Government of India awarded her the "Padma Shri", India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2021.
Awards and honours
*Best Mridangist Award from
Madras Music Academy
Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called (and is still more ...
, twice in 1974,1976
*Palani Subramania Pillai Memorial Prize from Music Academy in 1985
*Best Mridangist Award from Indian Fine Arts Society,Chennai in 2005
*Best Citizens of India Award from International Publishing House,New Delhi in 2008
*Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for the year 2009
*Guruvayur Dorai Trust Award from Guruvayur Dorai Trust,Chennai in 2013
*Ugadi Puraskaram from the government of Andhra Pradesh in 2015
*Palani Subramanya Pillai Memorial Award in 2016 from Percussive Arts Centre,Bangalore in 2016
*
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...