Thrissur C. Narendran is a

Mridangam The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

(,,,,) artiste from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His intricate rhythmic patterns, sense of proportion, sharp anticipation, short & carefully thought out phases of silence, and the ability to give the

the much-needed soft touch sets Trichur C. Narendran a apart. Narendran has also accompanied more than five generations of musicians.

Early life

Narendran was born to Late Venugopala Raja of Manakulam Palace (the royal family of

Thalapilly Thalapilly is one of the Tehsil, Taluks in Thrissur District of Kerala state, south India. Before AD 1860 the headquarters of the taluk was in Kunnamkulam. At present the headquarters of the Taluk is Wadakanchery. Kunnamkulam municipality, the Pa ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

, Kerala,

and Late Sarojini.V.Raja on 15 December 1951 . Narendran inherits a legacy of performing art. Manakulam Late Valiya Kunhunni Raja "Kakkad Karanavarppad", the progenitor of the Temple of performing Art of Kerala – "

Kerala Kalamandalam Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed-to-be-University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the country's southern states, with special emphasis on tho ...

" was his maternal grandfather. He grew up with his elder brother (violinist Thrissur C. Rajendran) and sister (vocalist Prema Balachandran) in an ambience of Music and Art.

Musical training

Born in a family of musicians and scholars, Narendran was initiated into an early training in Mridangam by Sri Kongorppilly Parameswaran Namboodiri who spotted his talent during a dance rehearsal at an annual family get together at Manakkulam Palace, and started teaching Narendran the basics of Mridangam when he was just seven. It was David Bhagavathar of Kunnamkulam who instilled in him the interest in music and inspired him to seriously take up the Mridangam. Later it was Sri E P Narayana Pisharodi and Koduvayur Radhakrishnan who trained him further. Narendran had the rarest privileges to be one of the early disciples of Palghat R Raghu from 1973. It was the scholarship awarded by the Government of India that provided the fecundity for him to learn the finer and the most intricate techniques of mridangam playing from Mridangam Maestro Padmashri Palghat R. Raghu.

Career

Narendran has been exposed to the concert platform from a very early age of 10. *He has played for Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and K.J. Yesudas at Peringode at the age of 15 along with his elder brother Thrissur.C.Rajendran. *Narendran had the rare privilege of performing together with his guru Palghat R Raghu in the Jass Yatra Festival in Bombay in the year 1978. *From a very young age, Narendran has been accompanying throughout India with maestros like Semmangudi Srinivsa Iyer, M S Subbulakshmi, Palghat

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, Palakkad R Ramaprasad,TNS Krishna, Sankaran Namboothiri,Abshek Raghuraman,Sikkil Gurucharan and so on. He also has many foreign concerts to his credit :- *1982– USA With K S Narayanaswami *1982– JAPAN with Dr L Subramanyam *1983– USA – CANADA– England with

*1984 TO 1986 - Taught Mridangam in SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA,USA as a visiting professor and provided Mridangam accompaniment to the visiting artistes Sri RK srikantan and Veena Gayathri *1987– DUBAI – MUSCAT- with

*1989– USA - DUBAI- ABUDHABI with

*1995– USA - CANADA with Padmavathi and Jayanthi *1996– He was a part of the 50th year celebration of UNESCO in France *1997– USA - CANADA with Bombay Jayasri *2001– USA - CANADA With

*2008– GERMANY & FINLAND With Dr. Karaikudi S Subramanian & Shankari Krishnan *2015- USA Concerts with Palakkad R Ramprasad *2017- USA Concerts with Palakkad R Ramprasad *2018- USA Concerts with Palakkad R Ramprasad *2019- USA Concerts with Palakkad R Ramprasad

Stint with A.I.R

It was at the age of 17 that he won first prize in A I R Music competition. In the Commercial CD released by A I R of Palghat K V Narayanaswami, with M S G on the violin, Narendran has provided mridangam accompaniment. He was a staff at All India Radio from 1992 to 2011. He is a Top rank artiste of All India Radio.

Awards and Accolades

*Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer award by Sri Ragam Fine Arts *NADAKKANAL in 1999 * Maharajapuram Santhanam Foundation Meritorious award in 1999 *VANI KALA SUDHAKARA by Thyagabrahma Gana Sabha in 2000 *ASTHANA VIDWAN OF

KANCHI MUTT Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, also called the Sri Kanchi Matham or the Moolamnaya Sarvagnya Peetham, is a Hindu religious center of Vedic learning, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is located near the Kamakshi Amman Temple of the Shaktism ...

in 2001 *LAYAVADHYA CHATHURA BY ANNA NAGAR MUSIC CIRCLE TRUST & SADGURU SANGITA VIDYALAYA IN 2010 *LAYA VIDHYADHARA by IRAIPANI MANDRUM Kottivakkam in 2011 *LAYA KALAVIPANCHI From Dr

on 31 December 2011 *MADHURA MURALI PURASKAR from legend Dr M balamuralikrishna on his 82nd birthday in 2012. *SANGEETHA THILAKAM from Thiruvambadi Devaswom in December 2012 *LAYAPRATHIBHA - HARMONIAM CHAKRAVARTHY KOTTARA SANKUNNY NAIR MEMORIAL AWARD 2013 – EDAPPALLY. *DASA KALA RATHNA BY SHRI PRANDARADAASAR TRUST CHENNAI ON 1-3-2015 *Dr. UMAYALPURAM SIVARAMAN AWARD FOR THE "BEST MRUDANGA VIDWAN" for the year 2014-15 on 17.12.2015. *"VALAYAPATTI" AWARD ON 24-12-2016 *KALASEVA NIRATHA From Thyagaraja Vidwath Samajam on 02-05-2017 *MAHARAJAPURAM MEMORIAL AWARD 2018 ON 01-01-2019 *"MRIDANGA KALA SHIROMANI" PALGHAT MANI IYER MEMORIAL AWARD FROM PERCUSSIVE ARTS CENTRE PLGHAT MANI IYER ATRS CENTRE ON 14-07-2019 Narendran moved to Chennai in 1973. He is now retired from

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

and settled in Chennai.

References

Sources

– ''KutcheriBuzz.com''

– ''The Hindu''

-''carnatica.net''

-''carnaticcorner.com''

-''indianewengland.com''

-''Mysoorunews.com''

External links

– ''The Hindu'' * * *

– ''Starclinch''

– ''Veethi'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Narendran, Trichur C. 1951 births Living people Mridangam players All India Radio people San Diego State University faculty Indian percussionists Musicians from Thrissur 20th-century Indian musicians