Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan (20 May 1923 – 27 April 1984) was a

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

who created a distinctive style of singing rich in Bhava and Laya. He was considered for the

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 ...

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangeeta Kalanidhi (Tamil: சங்கீத கலாநிதி, Sanskrit : संगीत-कला-निधि) (''sangeetha'' = music, ''kala'' = art, ''nidhi'' = treasure or ocean) is the title awarded yearly to ...

award in 1983.

Biography

Manjapara Devesa Bhagavathar Ramanathan was born in Manjapra,

Palakkad District Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...

Madras Province The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

(now

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

), India on 20 May 1923, as the son of Devesa Bhagavathar and Seethalakshmi Ammal. His father Devesa Bhagavathar was a music teacher by profession. Ramanathan did his schooling in Palakkad and graduated with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from Victoria College, Palakkad. On completion of his studies, he traveled to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

along with his father to improve his musical talents. During the same time,

Rukmini Devi Arundale Rukmini Devi Arundale (née Shastri; 29 February 1904 – 24 February 1986)Sharma, Shoba and Gangadean, Ashok (January 31, 2004 Naatya.org. Retrieved on 10 December 2018. was an Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian cl ...

initiated a new course on ''Sangeeta Siromani'' at

Kalakshetra Kalakshetra Foundation, formerly simply Kalakshetra, is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. Based in ...

. Ramanathan auditioned for the course and was the only student to be selected for the first batch commencing in 1944. Soon, he emerged as

Tiger Varadachariar Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950) was a Carnatic music vocalist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. M. D. Ramanathan was his student. Early life Varadachariar was born on 1 August 1876 in Kolathur, Chingleput district. Masilamani and Pedd ...

's favorite and was his closest disciple when the latter died in 1950. After his graduation, Ramanathan continued as an assistant to his guru and later became Professor of Music at Kalakshetra. He also served as the Principal of the College of Fine Arts at Kalakshetra.

Music career

Renderings

Ramanathan was known for his unique style of singing. In addition to having an extremely deep, booming voice, he rendered songs at an extremely slow pace, thereby allowing ample time for the listener to catch every phrase of a composition and gauge its meaning. He also sang with adequate ''bhava'' or expression. Ramanathan has sung in most Carnatic music

ragas A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

such as '' Sahana, Sri,

Anandabhairavi Anandabhairavi or Ananda Bhairavi (pronounced ānandabhairavi) is a very old melodious rāgam (musical scale) of Carnatic music (South Indian classical music). This rāgam also used in Indian traditional and regional musics. ''Ānandam'' (San ...

, Reethigowla'' and '' Yadukula Kambhoji''. Other favorite ragas of his include ''

Kedaram Kedaram (pronounced kēdāram) is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a derived scale (''janya'' rāgam) from '' Shankarabharanam'', the 29th ''Melakarta'' rāgam.''Ragas in Carnatic music'' by Dr. ...

Kambhoji Kambhoji or Kambodhi is a popular Raga in Carnatic Music. It is classified as a derived raga from 28th Melakartha, Harikambhoji. Scale The scale of Kambhoji is Ascending: S R2 G3 M1 P D2 S Descending: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S (N3 P D2 S) ...

'' and ''

Hamsadhwani Hamsadhvani (meaning "the cry of the swan"), is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of Carnatic tradition of Indian classical music). It is an ''audava'' rāgam (or ''owdava'' rāga, meaning pentatonic scale). It is a ''janya'' rāga of th ...

''. As he himself once admitted, his ''Vilambita Kaala Gaanam'' renderings during

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

dances had influenced his music and style of singing. Though Ramanathan is identified with his "trademark" slow pace of singing, he did include a few relatively brisk renderings in his concerts off and on. His style of rendering was very different from the rather brisk style of rendering that had become quite popular then. Due to this, he also received a fair share of criticism from some music critics. During the rendering of krithis, he sometimes made alterations and embellishments to the lyrics. One highlight that his rasikas would always remember is starting the krithi from the ''anupallavi'' and then going to the ''pallavi''.

Compositions

Ramanathan composed more than 300 songs in carnatic music in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He used the word ''Varadadasa'' as his

mudra A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers. As wel ...

, in respect for Tiger Varadachariar, his teacher. Some of his famous compositions are:

Awards

For his contributions to music, Ramanathan was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

by the Government of India in 1974 and the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in 1975. He received the

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 Cultur ...

in 1966. The Indian Fine Arts Society bestowed upon him the title of ' Sangeetha Kalasigamani' in 1976. He also served as a member of the

's Experts Committee. He was also considered for the Academy's

award in the 1983–84 season though he did not get the award.

Death

Ramanathan died after a long illness on 27 April 1984 at the age of 61.

Legacy

Ramanathan's legacy has been kept alive through his albums and private recordings. ''M.D. Ramanathan, A Unique Octave in Music'' by Madhu Vasudevan, which was released in 2003, is a fitting tribute to the legend.

References

''Unsung Genius'' Hindu May 2008

* * * Kuppuswamy, Gowri and Hariharan, M. (1981), Index of Songs in South Indian Music, B. R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi. * Rajagopalan, N. (1991), A Garland, Bharitiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay.

Clips of M.D.Ramanathan

External links

Website of M.D.Ramanathan
*
Growing in stature

Article on Ramanathan
(Word document) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramanathan, M D Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Carnatic composers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1923 births 1984 deaths Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni Kalakshetra Foundation alumni 20th-century Indian male classical singers Indian male composers 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Kerala People from Palakkad district Indian music educators Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award