Pithukuli Murugadas (25 January 1920 – 17 November 2015) was a religious singer from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. He was best known for his compositions on the Hindu deity

Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

Life

Pithukuli Murugadas was born as Balasubramanian in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

to Alamelu and Sundaram Iyer in a devout

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in addition to other regions of India, as wel ...

family. At the age of seven, he went to practice

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Palani Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...

under the tutelage of Nadayogi Brahmananda Paradesiar. He was also called "Pittukuli" by his teacher. In 1931, at the age of eleven, he participated in the

Salt Satyagraha The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

campaign and spent some days in prison. During 1936, while participating in the nationwide Satyagraha to protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre, he was imprisoned for six months. He lost his vision in one eye due to severe police atrocities. He was released later, as a governmental gesture on the occasion of the wedding of Mysore Maharaja

Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (18 July 1919 – 23 September 1974) was the 25th Maharaja of Mysore from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore and Madras states. Early life Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar was born on 18 July 1919 at ...

. In 1935, at the age of 15, he relinquished his house and started his pilgrimage. He began wandering around the country. In 1939, he visited

Swami Ramdas Swami Ramdas (; sa, स्वामी रामदास, Svāmī Rāmadāsa, born Vittal Rao on 10 April 1884) was an Indian saint, philosopher, philanthropist and pilgrim. Swami Ramdas became a wandering ascetic in his late 30s and later es ...

and Mata Krishnabai of

Anandashram Anandashram (English translation = "Abode of Bliss") is a spiritual retreat located in Kanhangad, a city and a municipality in Kasaragod district in the Indian state of Kerala. Anandashram was founded by Swami Ramdas and Mother Krishnabai, als ...

. He was named as Murugadas by Swami Ramdas as he sang to Lord Murugan. In 1940, he spent a few days with Avadhudha Swami Swayam Prakash at Sendhamangalam and then went on a pilgrimage by foot and traveled throughout India. He learnt various renderings of Brahmananda Paradesiar and

Ramana Maharishi Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and '' jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, T ...

. In 1946, he joined Thirupugazh Mani in popularizing bhajans praising Muruga. After the

Indian Independence Act 1947 The Indian Independence Act 1947 947 CHAPTER 30 10 and 11 Geo 6is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 J ...

, he became the patron of the orphanage known as Dhinabandhu Ashram at

Walajapet Walajapet is a town or municipality and a part of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu. The streets in the town form a square shape which is a unique feature of the town. It will be easy for you to reach any part of the town with this ki ...

. Remaining a bachelor until the age of 58 in 1978, he married Devi Saroja (b. 1936), who was an accomplished artiste in dance, music, Tala Vadya, and painting. Saroja used to accompany his concerts for a long period, and predeceased him in 2011. Murugadas died on Kanda Sashti Day, 17 November 2015, aged 95.

Awards

*Sangeetha Samrat (1956) by

Swami Sivananda Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He stu ...

*Kalaimamani (1984) by Government of Tamil Nadu *Guru Surajananda Award (1989) *Madhura Gana Mamani (1994) *Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award (1998) *Thiagarajar Award by The National Cultural Organization of New Delhi

References

Links

Murugadas - Hinduism Today

Pithukuli Murugadas website
1920 births 2015 deaths People from Coimbatore Tamil singers Blind musicians Singers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian male classical singers {{India-singer-stub