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flow of "Nadais", "Sollus", and "Sollukkatus" rather than any patternised formats. The
Sarvalaghu used to be "Amorphous" rather than "Crystalline". Occasionally when certain arithmetic combinations arose, they too were spontaneous and blended seamlessly into the scheme of things. He specialized in "Vallinam" and "Mellinam" strokes in even the smallest passages. In layman's language these are Hard and Soft Strokes. His playing gave the effect of his indulging in a musical conversation with the main artist throughout the tenure of the concert. In his Solo interludes-"Thani Avarthanams"- he displayed both intellectual and aesthetic aspects in equal measure which pleased all sections of the audience but he never played to the gallery. The vocalist had to remain very alert during the "Thanis" to ensure that he did not miss out on the "
414:. His Khanjira performances were fewer (compared to Mridangam) and listeners thronged to these concerts whenever they occurred. Compared to the double headed Mridangam with its rich tonal quality, the single headed Kanjira with its limited tonal quality is more difficult to handle but Palani equaled or even excelled in duets with the best mridangists. Some of Palani's disciples have emerged as vidwans proficient with both instruments ( among them M.N.Kandaswamy and Palattur Lakshmanan).
402:. Palani took him under his wings when he was a child; Even at the tender of twelve Palani enabled him to play with him (double mridangam) in concerts of Ariyakudi, GNB, Madurai Mani Iyer and others. Among his later disciples were Erode Gururajan, Madirimangalam Swaminathan, K.S.Kalidas, Cuddapah Krishnamoorthy, A.V.Ragguprasad, T.V.Gurumoorthy and many others. In turn, his disciples have trained many others and the Palani School is now well represented in India and abroad.
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renowned mridangist at the time, Dakshinamurthy Pillai. Pillai in return showered great love and affection on young Palani, whom he looked upon as his own son. Before he turned twenty, Palani had the good fortune to accompany stalwarts like
Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Mudicondon Venkatarama Iyer. In the next decade others who preferred his accompaniment were Chittoor Subramanya Pillai and importantly
351:. While playing for younger artists he was never condescending but was always supportive and never tried to show off or intimidate. In fact although he possessed talents of gigantic proportions, he never indulged in exhibitionism and his only aim was to enhance the total appeal of the concert. Madurai Mani Iyer used to call him "THYAGI"- one who would efface himself so that the overall effect was sparkling rather focus on himself.
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The founder of the 'Pudukkottai School of
Percussion', Mamundia Pillai introduced Kanjira as an instrument in concerts; His disciples Dakshinamoorthy Pillai and Muthiah Pillai could play a large number of instruments like Mridangam, Kanjira, Thavil, and Ghatam. In their steps, Palani was also a GREAT
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with sufficient emphasis, he would rather follow the mood and trend of the song rather play the "Prayogas" of the songs themselves. This mode of playing gave a wholesomeness to the song renderings rather than the "Starts and stops" that would otherwise have arisen. His
Sarvalaghu was the spontaneous
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Subramania Pillai was born on 20 April 1908. His mother was
Unnamulai Ammal, and his father, Muthaiah Pillai, who was also a mridangist. He learned mridangam under the tutelage of his father and also had the friendship of ‘Thavil Panchami’ Malikkottai Panchapakesa Pillai. He was also influenced by a
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At the behest of his father Palani erected a shrine on the
Samathi of Mamundia Pillai at Pudukkottai in 1945. Till he died in 1962, Palani performed Gurupooja each year at this Samadhi on Mamundia Pillai's death anniversary. This is the day preceding the Aradhana of Saint Thyagaraja (which falls on
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Palani's partner in life was
Rajammal (who along with her sister constituted a popular singing duo called 'Kolar Sisters' in her younger days). The pair had a daughter named Vimala. She married Srinivasan and they had five daughters named Banu, Malathi, Meera, Geetha and Vasanthi. They were brought
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he asked Palani to play in each of the five nadais, Chatusram, Tisram, Misram, Kandam and
Sankeernam. It was he who also persuaded Palani to tone down on the laya intricacies and increased the "sowkya" or aesthetic content in his playing. Palani, probably with considerable regret in having to shed
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for the brothers including their tempo and nadai variations. Later the team broke up (due to personal misunderstandings) much to the grief of a large number of listeners and especially
Venkatesa Iyer. Iyer managed to effect a reconciliation after a decade of extensive effort and Palani did team up
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As Palani's playing in the early part of his career was robust and laya-oriented with extensive calculations, many vocalists of the time did not feel comfortable with him except for the few mentioned earlier. It was one of the most popular among the dozens of yesteryears,
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his specialization and scholarship abided by his mentor's suggestion, not only because of the practicality but also because of his great respect for
Chembai who was his elder by several years. Bhavagathar's advice stood Palani in good stead.
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His lifestyle in the 1940s and 1950s was the envy of other musicians. Always dressed in white muslin shirts and snow white Khadi Dhoti - carefully and painstakingly groomed - he was among the handsomest among musicians (others being GNB and
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At any given time at least three to four students resided in Palani's house undergoing Gurukula system; with passage of time there were day-scholars also. Among the earliest disciple of Palani were
394:) along with Ramanathapuram M.N.Kandaswami, Poovalur Venkataraman, Dandamudi Rammohan Rao, Pallathur C.T.Lakshmanan, Udumalai T.Mayilswamy, T.S Janakiraman among others.
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Bagulapanchami day). After Palani's death his disciples took this over and also initiated the Gurupooja for Palani across different places in
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who lives in Toronto, Canada. He retired as a Professor in the Music Department of York University
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clamored to have him accompany him in their concerts. Of course senior vidwans of that era like
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was a great admirer of Palani. It was because of Palani that the brothers shifted base from
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and they made a great team. Palani is credited with composing a larger number of major
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Kanjira vidwan besides being a master of Mridangam. He has played with vidwans like
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While Palani would highlight the different parts of the song such as "Eduppus" of
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Palani ‘s disciples are KNS Namboodri, Karunakaran Pillai, and Thankappan.
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with the brothers but the old camaraderie was gone.
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383:up by Rajammal after the death of Srinivasan.
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
257:whose Guru (father of Alathur Subbier),
441:considered him as his 'Manasa Guru'.
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412:Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy
396:The most famous of his disciples is
224:Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy
44:adding citations to reliable sources
377:Mayavaram V. R. Govindaraja Pillai
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456:A site dedicated to the maestro
285:Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar
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491:20th-century Indian musicians
321:Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer
214:(1909–1962) was a well known
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55:"Palani Subramaniam Pillai"
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317:Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
303:Eminently popular vidwans
325:Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu
313:Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
212:Pazhani Subramania Pillai
329:Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna
124:Palani Subramania Pillai
259:Alathur Venkatesa Iyer
181:Indian classical music
496:20th-century drummers
305:G. N. Balasubramaniam
40:improve this article
422:(M.N.Kandaswamy in
341:K. V. Narayanaswamy
481:Mridangam players
408:Palghat Mani Iyer
392:T. Balasaraswathi
345:Lalgudi Jayaraman
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476:1962 deaths
168:27 May 1962
465:Categories
428:Coimbatore
420:Tamil Nadu
360:Anupallavi
248:Early life
197:Instrument
187:Occupation
146:1908-04-20
66:newspapers
451:Carnatica
430:, etc.).
229:mridangam
96:July 2020
364:Charanam
271:pallavis
201:Mridanga
424:Chennai
356:Pallavi
235:kanjira
80:scholar
435:Kerala
362:, and
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278:Career
267:Madras
263:Trichy
241:sishya
177:Genres
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