Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan is a

Ghatam The ''ghaṭam'' (Sanskrit: घटm ''ghaṭ''; Kannada: ಘಟ ''ghaṭa''; Tamil: கடம் ''ghatam''; Telugu: ఘటం ''ghataṃ''; Malayalam: ഘടം ''ghataṃ'') is a percussion instrument used in various repertoires across the ...

exponent 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 ...

. He is the first artist to receive the noted

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship is an honour presented 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 Depar ...

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 Poonithura is a ward of Kochi, Kerala. It features one of the popular temples in Ernakulam and it has historical links to the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Tripunithura. As per the mythology it is referred in Mahabaratha as the place whe ...

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 A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

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 Tripunithura Viswanathan Gopalakrishnan (born 11 June 1932 in Tripunithura, Kerala), known as TVG, is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Cochin, Kerala, India. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2014. ...

. He passed ''Gana Bhushan'' from

RLV College of Music and Fine Arts RLV College of Music and Fine Arts is an academic institution situated in Thripunithura, Kochi in the state of Kerala, India. It is affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University and offers graduate and postgraduate courses in music, performing ...

, Thripunithura in 1982. Then he passed ''Gana Praveena'' from

Swathi Thirunal College of Music Swathi Thirunal College of Music is a music college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was founded in 1939. It was first named as "The Music Academy". The name was renamed as Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. The founder of this ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

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 The Chenda (, ) is a cylindrical percussion instrument originating in the state of Kerala and widely used in Tulu Nadu of Karnataka in India. In Tulu Nadu (Coastal Karnataka), it is known as ''chende''. The instrument is strongly associat ...

and

Tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

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 art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. His first stage performance was on 16 January 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 Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (born Vaidyanatha Iyer, 28 August 1896 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian Carnatic music singer from Kerala. He was born in Vatakara, Kerala, and moved to Palakkad along with his family during his childhood.L. R. ...

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 Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928 – 24 June 1992) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989. Early life Santhanam was born on 20 May 1928 at Sirunangur, a village in the Tanj ...

, Madurai Somasundaram, Dr. M. L. Vasanthakumari,

K. V. Narayanaswamy Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Narayanaswamy (15 November 1923 – 1 April 2002), often referred to as K. V. Narayanaswamy was an Indian musician, widely considered to be among the finest Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century. He was award ...

and Dr.

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (né Muralikrishna; 6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sa ...

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

Lalgudi Jayaraman Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin trinity of Carnatic mu ...

, T. N. Krishnan,

Kadri Gopalnath Kadri Gopalnath (6 December 1949 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian alto saxophonist and one of the pioneers of Carnatic music for that instrument. Early life Born in a Tulu speaking Jogi community of Sajeepa Mooda village in Bantwal taluk ...

U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. U. Srinivas was called the Mozart of classical Indian music and he was a child prodigy. He was awarded the Padma ...

, L. Subramaniam,

N. Ravikiran Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan and the grandson of Narayan Iyen ...

and Shashank. Radhakrishnan started playing Ghatam for

Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas ( /jeːʃud̪aːs/; born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian m ...

' concert on 31 March 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, Sriragam, Padamudra and

Devaasuram ''Devaasuram'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by Ranjith. It stars Mohanlal, Revathi, and Napoleon, with Innocent, V. K. Sreeraman, Maniyanpilla Raju, and Augustine in supporting ...

Awards and honours

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