Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan is a Ghatam exponent from Kerala, India. He is the first artist to receive the noted Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship for Ghatam. He has played the Ghatam in tens of thousands of venues across hundreds of countries.

Biography

N. Radhakrishnan is the youngest of four children of Alamelu Ammal and Poonithura Valiya Parambu Meethil house G. Narayanaswamy, a renowned musician fondly called as ''Achasamy'' by the people in music field in the region. It was his father who taught him the first lessons in mridangam. Thrippunithura Mahadevan, the son of his father's sister, was a Ghatam scholar. Many of the relatives were also percussion instrument artists. He started practicing the Ghatam from a young age, and made his debut at the age of ten. Later he got expert training from Parassala Ravi and his cousin Padmabhushan T. V. Gopalakrishnan. He passed ''Gana Bhushan'' from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Thripunithura in 1982. Then he passed ''Gana Praveena'' from Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram and later a master's degree in Mridangam from Mahatma Gandhi University. He later became a teacher in the college where he studied. Radhakrishnan has been running the GN Swamy Memorial Music School near the Poornathrayesa Temple in Thripunithura for 21 years. During his fifty years as a Ghatam teacher, he was able to impart lessons to many. Many of these are now professional artists. He also leads a fusion band named ''Ghatalayatarangam'', which includes Ghatam, Chenda and Tabla.

Personal life

He and his wife Lalithambika have 2 children, singer Renjith and a daughter. He now resides at Vikram Sarabhai Road, Poonithura.

Musical career

Radhakrishnan was one of those who sought to give due recognition to the Ghatam which was known only as a supporting instrument in

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

. His first stage performance was on January 16, 1967. He has played the Ghatam in tens of thousands of venues across hundreds of countries. Radhakrishnan has played the Ghatam in concerts by famous musicians like Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar,

M. D. Ramanathan Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan (20 May 1923 – 27 April 1984) was a Carnatic music composer and vocalist who created a distinctive style of singing rich in Bhava and Laya. He was considered for the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Ka ...

, Maharajapuram Santhanam, Madurai Somasundaram, Dr.

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and Dr.

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. In instrumental music, he has performed with noted artists like Lalgudi Jayaraman,

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, Kadri Gopalnath,

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, N. Ravikiran and Shashank. Radhakrishnan started playing Ghatam for Yesudas 'concert on March 31, 1976, and has been performing at Yesudas' concerts for the last forty one years. He was also involved in the background music of Malayalam films such as Pooram,

Rakkuyilin Ragasadassil ''Rakkuyilin Ragasadassil'' is a 1986 Malayalam-language Indian family drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan, starring Mammootty, Suhasini, Adoor Bhasi, Jagathi Sreekumar and Lissy (actress), Lissy in lead roles. Plot The film starts ...

, Sriragam, Padamudra and Devaasuram.

Awards and honours

* Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship 2020 *

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award is an award given by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous organisation for the encouragement, preservation, and documentation of the performing arts of Kerala, set up by the Department of Cultu ...

1997 *Vasai Fine Arts Society's Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 *Parakkadathu Koyickal Trust's Tripunithura Asthana Vidwan Puraskaram

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radhakrishnan, Tripunithura N. Living people Ghatam players Indian percussionists Malayali people People from Ernakulam district 20th-century Indian musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award