In the great ocean of karnatak music there are thousands of compositions in hundreds of ragas and encompassing many languages. While there are many composers whose songs are popular, there is one select group of vaggeyakaras who occupy a special place in the world of karnatak music. They have composed and tuned songs in all the 72 parent scales (melakartas). Here is a brief description about each one of them.
1. Kotishvara Iyer (1870-1936) also belonged to a musical family from Tamil Nadu. His grandfather
was the famous Kavi Kunjara Bharati who composed a large number of songs. He was a disciple of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar. The first one to compose the 72 melakarta songs in
Tamil, all these songs are in praise of Subrahmanya. The songs were published in the book titled Kanda Ganamudam. He used the mudra kunjaradasan as a tribute to his grandfather.
2. Muttusvami Dikshitar is the elder statesman within this group. He lived from 1775 to 1835. He was a prolific composer with about 500 kritis to his credit, most of them in samskrt. His 72 melakarta
songs are all in asampurna mela system which was prevalent during his time. He was essentially a
veena maestro and his songs are noted for their contemplative nature and are sung at a slower pace. A special feature in many of his songs is the madhyamakala aspect. His songs are mostly devotional in nature and are in praise of various deities and temples that he visited. His mudra was Guruguha.
3. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (1930 - 2016) hailed from Andhra Pradesh and was born in a family steeped in music. He is a child prodigy and started learning music from Parupalli Ramakrishna Pantulu. By the age of 15 he had mastered enough knowledge to compose songs in all the melakartas. The book, Janaka Raga Kriti Manjari, was published in 1952. The writer regrets his passing away at the time of writing this article. His concerts are in the hundreds. He is also adept in playing the kanjira, viola and mrdangam. Apart from his melakarta compositions, he has published a second book titled Suryakanti. His compositions include varnas, kritis and tillAanas and javalis in tamil, telugu and samskrt. Besides this he has recorded songs in malayalam, hindi, bengali, kannada and punjabi. He has devised some new ragas like Mahati and Lavangi. He uses the mudra "Murali".
4. Yazhpanam (Jaffna)Viramani Iyer was the grandson of another 72 melakarta composer Kotishvara Iyer. He spent much of his life in Jaffna, Sri Lanka where he taught music and he has composed over 850 songs. His melakatra songs are in tamil. The book is titled 72 Melakarta Raga Tirumayilai Karpakambal KirtanaigaL published in 2000. All of the songs are in praise of the Goddess Karpakambal. His songs have been popularized by vidvan Maharajapuram Santhanam who also taught music in Jaffna.
List of his compositions:
5. D.Pattammal (1933-2004) had a long career as a radio artist in Tamil Nadu and has written several
books on music and has translated Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda in Tamil and converted it into a dance
drama. With her brother, she has published a compendium of raga scales titled Ragapravaham. She is another author whose melakarta songs are all in Tamil. Beside this, she has composed over 800 songs, some in very rare ragas. She received several awards during her illustrious career, the most notable of which is the Kalaimamani award given by the state of Tamil Nadu. Her mudra is "Arul".
6. R.K.Suryanarayana was one of the several and well known members of the Rudrapatnam family and was a child prodigy. Rudrapatnam (in Karnataka) has produced a long list of renowned artists that include R.K.Srikanthan, Rudrapatnam Brothers, R.S.Kesavamurthy, R.K.Padmanabha, among
others. Suryanarayana was an expert veena artist and has performed on the concert stage in several
countries. During his relatively short life of 66 years, he composed songs in all the melakartas, most of them in samskrt. He passed away in 2003.
7. Ashok R.Madhav is a contemporary composer living in Pittsburgh, USA. His 72 melakarta compositions include songs in Samskrt, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil and published in the book
Melakarta Ganamalika. He has also composed other kritis, tillanas and varnas. Some of his songs
have been rendered by prominent musicians. He has devised two new ragas called Hamsakalyani
and Hamsangi. His mudra is "Bharani".
8. C.Rangiah (1901-1984) of Mysore was a disciple of Veena Shivaramiah, Mysore Venkatagiriappa and Mysore Vasudevachar. His musical compositions consisting of svarajatis, varnams, kritis etc. exceed 500. He has also composed 72 melakarta kritis besides some operas. Some of his compositions are set in rare ragas like Chandrarekha, Shankarasarupya, Ssukumari, Shankaramohana,
Jayashanmukhi, Kanakangada, Bilvadala, Gaulishvari, Navasutika, Dvimadhyamagaula, Madhuralapa and Sayujyasadhini. Many of these are his own creations.
9. Dokka Sriramamurti is from Andra Pradesh. All of his 72 melakarta songs are varnas which is unique. The book is titled "Ashtottara Shata RagangadiVarnamala" published in 1982. Little is known
about this composer. He is in the field of education and is a professor in an educational institution in
Andhra Pradesh.
10. Nallan Chakravarthy Murthy is also from Andhra Pradesh and is a composer of classical, devotional and light music. He too has composed in all 72 melakartas and all of them are varNas as well. They have been published in the book titled Janaka Raga Varna Manjari. He has studied under vidvans M.Balamuralikrishna, Nooka Chinna Satyanarayana, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and vidushi Parveen Sultana. Beside the melakarta book he has also composed varnas in the ghanaragas of Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Shri. He resides in Hyderabad.
11. Bangalore.S.Mukund is from the state of Karnataka. He holds the distinction of having composed two complete sets of 72 melakarta songs among his torrent of 4,500 compositions. Some of his songs are listed in his book Sangita Lalitya Lahari. Many have been used in dance performances. He passed away a few years ago. His melakarta songs have not yet been published. Also not much is known if his other compositions are still with the family or have been passed on to some institution. He has devised new ragas like Mukundabhai Rava, Mukundamani Rangu, Mukundanantini, Mukundashri, Mukundavasanta and Mukundavasantini.
12. Veena Shivaramaiah (1886-1946) initially learnt music from his father Padmanabhaiah, who was
also a veena vidvan, and later from Mysore Karigiri Rao and Mysore Vasudevachar. His musical
output is around 100 songs that include tillanas, jatisvaras, varnas and kritis. Shivarama was not his only mudra. In some songs he used Nalvadi and in others krishnarajendra. His varna in the raga Lalitasimharava is a rare one. The 72 melakarta kritis were composed as per the wishes of Maharaja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
14. Belakavadi Srinivasa Iyengar (1888-1936) is the composer who tuned Purandaradasa’s very
popular jagadoddharana in kapi. His advanced studies in music were under Veena Bakshi Subbanna. He is said to have learnt gottuvadyam in a very short time in order to take part in a competition arranged by Muttiah Bhagavatar and won the contest. Besides being a composer he acted in many dramas in his home town and in Mysore. His 72 melakarta kritis were composed in response to a challenge by the then popular nadasvara vidvan Ponnusamy Pillai who claimed that most of the melakarta ragas were redundant. This comment annoyed the king Krishnaraja Wodeyar who then asked Srinivas Iyengar to prove the Nadasvara vidvan wrong by composing songs in all the melas.
15. Kadalur Subramaniam (1920-1997) is a modern day composer and a longtime AIR artist who has
published, apart from the 72 melakarta kritis book, a second book of kritis and tillanas titled Isai
Tenral. Other published books are Varnams in Rare Ragas and Kritis in Rare Ragas. He composed
in tamil and samskrt. His name became better known to the rasikas after vidushi Nityashri
Mahadevan popularized his ragamalika song ragattil siranda ragamedu. Some of his songs include Janani Janani in Revati and the Tillana in Dvijavanti.
16. Venuganam K.Hariharan is also a contemporary composer. He comes from a musical family. His
father, an advocate, was also a flautist. His grandfather was a bhagavatar. He took to fulltime music after his retirement from a career unrelated to music. His melakarta book is titled 72 Mela Ragas-Sampoorna Sampoornam. All these songs are in tamil. He has also published a second book of 20 Tamil kritis titled Spectrum Ragas. His mudra is Sivadasan. He has given lec-dems in rare ragas at various centers in India.
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17. Shuddhananda Bharati - (1897-1990) was an author who wrote several books on philosophy besides composing songs. He spent over 25 years at Arabindo ashram in Pondicherry. His 72 melakarta book is titled Shuddhananda Melarnavam. Dr.Balamuralikrishna has recorded these songs on CDs. His songs were popularized by N.C.Vasantakokilam and the music trio of M.S.Subbulakshmi, D.K.Pattammal and M.L.Vasantakumari.
18. Lavani Venkata Rao of the Tanjavur court is said to have composed songs in 72 melakartas eulogizing the Marattha rulers of the time.
19. Madokaram Prashanth Iyengar is a vainika from Bangalore and his mELa raga kritis are in Kannada and Samskrt. His book is Titled Varna Lakshna Ranjani.
20. Rukmini Sivakumar lives in Chennai and is a veena artiste. She has not only composed varnas in 72 melakarta ragas but also in the 35 talas. All these varnas are in Tamil. The books are titled Isai
Tamizh Varnangal.
21. Subbarama Dikshitar has composed a rAgamAlikA that uses all the 72 mELakartA rAgAs of the
asampUrNa system.
22. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer (1844-93). His work was unique because he composed, in addition to the sahitya, a cittasvara for each of the 72 ragas. The cittasvara at the end of each raga seamlessly blends onto the next one. The entire song takes about 45 minutes to an hour to render. Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi has recorded this magnum opus for posterity.
23. Ravikiran has over 750 classical Indian compositions to his credit which include musical forms such as varnam, krti, javali, tillana and padam. He discovered a raga at the age of two and named it Choodamani after his mother. He also discovered other new ragas such as Keshavapriya, Snehapriya, Andhakarini and Mohini.He is the first composer to have created pieces in each of the 35-talas of Carnatic Music. He is also the only composer to have created the 72-mela ragamalika geetam, a 13-part piece that spans over all the 72-parent ragas of Carnatic music in only 7 minutes. His compositions span over five languages – Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
24. Vidwan Rudrapatnam K Padmanabha (RKP): Amazingly gifted vocalist,Ganakalabushana Vidwan R K Padmanabha , who traces his roots back to the town of Rudrapatna,undoubtedly has emerged as one of the most sort after musicians today.Having blessed by the great Vadiraja Swami,he stands as a musician with a unique persona.His exceptional music talents and extraordinary acumen has sweeped all his fellow musicians and critics off their feet .His vibrant and mesmarizing voice,unrivalled rendition of ragas and pallavis,swara sancharas add to the beauty of his music.His music is a perfect blend of emotive appeal,incredible virtuosity,technical mastery,sophistication and divinity.He has mesmerized music lovers across the state by his musicianship.
The grandeur of anything is best felt when there is an element of on’s individuality in it.This has been proven time and again by Ganakalabushana Vidwan R K Padmanabha.And no,its not just his music that he is passionate about,but every other project that he ventures into.He has carved a niche for himself in all the possible domains including theatre, literature, teaching, lecture demonstrations and promotion of music.He is truly a multi faceted personality.
As an Innovative composer: RKP has gained popularity as an innovative composer with more than 350 kritis in his name.Added to this,he holds the credit for composing kritis in all the 72 melakarta ragas.The substance and quality of his works are held in great regard across the state.His core objective is to propagate music philosophy and to instil the essence of carnatic music in the heart of every common man.RKP has been actively involved in theatre and in the dramatisation of his own plays;featuring as purandaradasa,vadiraja and a few others in the same. His mudra is"Padmanabha Dasa".
1. Kotishvara Iyer (1870-1936) also belonged to a musical family from Tamil Nadu. His grandfather
was the famous Kavi Kunjara Bharati who composed a large number of songs. He was a disciple of Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar. The first one to compose the 72 melakarta songs in
Tamil, all these songs are in praise of Subrahmanya. The songs were published in the book titled Kanda Ganamudam. He used the mudra kunjaradasan as a tribute to his grandfather.
2. Muttusvami Dikshitar is the elder statesman within this group. He lived from 1775 to 1835. He was a prolific composer with about 500 kritis to his credit, most of them in samskrt. His 72 melakarta
songs are all in asampurna mela system which was prevalent during his time. He was essentially a
veena maestro and his songs are noted for their contemplative nature and are sung at a slower pace. A special feature in many of his songs is the madhyamakala aspect. His songs are mostly devotional in nature and are in praise of various deities and temples that he visited. His mudra was Guruguha.
3. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (1930 - 2016) hailed from Andhra Pradesh and was born in a family steeped in music. He is a child prodigy and started learning music from Parupalli Ramakrishna Pantulu. By the age of 15 he had mastered enough knowledge to compose songs in all the melakartas. The book, Janaka Raga Kriti Manjari, was published in 1952. The writer regrets his passing away at the time of writing this article. His concerts are in the hundreds. He is also adept in playing the kanjira, viola and mrdangam. Apart from his melakarta compositions, he has published a second book titled Suryakanti. His compositions include varnas, kritis and tillAanas and javalis in tamil, telugu and samskrt. Besides this he has recorded songs in malayalam, hindi, bengali, kannada and punjabi. He has devised some new ragas like Mahati and Lavangi. He uses the mudra "Murali".
4. Yazhpanam (Jaffna)Viramani Iyer was the grandson of another 72 melakarta composer Kotishvara Iyer. He spent much of his life in Jaffna, Sri Lanka where he taught music and he has composed over 850 songs. His melakatra songs are in tamil. The book is titled 72 Melakarta Raga Tirumayilai Karpakambal KirtanaigaL published in 2000. All of the songs are in praise of the Goddess Karpakambal. His songs have been popularized by vidvan Maharajapuram Santhanam who also taught music in Jaffna.
List of his compositions:
Koothaadum
Ganapathiye - Nattai - Adi (Koothaadum Vinayagar Sthuthi) |
1. karpagaambikaye kanakangi neeye -
kanakangi - adi |
2. ittanai azhage amma - rathangi - adi |
3. venu ganamoorthi - ganamoorthi - adi |
4. munnai vanaspathi - vanaspathi - adi |
5. manamirangavillaya - maanavathi - adi |
6. thaanaroopi neeye - thaanaroopi - adi |
7. sokkanudan perudum - senavathi - adi |
8. paritodi vanden - hanumathodi - adi |
9. kaama dhenu karpagame - dhenuka - adi |
10. ambalaga suttanin - natakapriya - adi |
11. maanguyil soovidum - kokilapriya -
adi |
12. ati roopavathi neeya - roopavathi -
adi |
13. kaana gayakapriya karpagame -
gayakapriya - adi |
14. vakulabharanam ani vadivaambike -
vakulabharanam |
15. thaayaana karpagame dhaarani -
mayamalavagowla -adi |
16. maranduyir vaalvene - chakravakam -
adi |
17. kodanokodi sooryakantham -
sooryakantham - adi |
18. poompadum ponpaavaadai - hatakambari
- adi |
19. singaara bhavani vandaal -
jhankaradwani - adi |
20. ananda natanam aadum - natabharavi -
adi |
21. thanjamadaindene thaaye - keeravani -
adi |
22. harahara mahadevan - karaharapriya -
adi |
23. mangala gowri manohari -
gowrimanohari - adi |
24. tharunamiduve arul - varunapriya -
adi |
25. mararanjani neeyumallvo - maranjani -
adi |
26. yaarumilen chaarukesi - chaarukesi -
adi |
27. sarasam puriyum sarasangi - sarasangi
- adi |
28. karpoora aarathiyin - harikambhoji -
adi |
29. tirumayile valarum - shankarabharanam
- adi |
30. bhaagaya manam - naganandini - adi |
31. paada pankaja malar nee - yagapriya -
adi |
32. inniasi poo ragam - ragavardhini -
adi |
33. kanthanukku vel kodutha -
gangeyabhooshini - adi |
34. vaakkarul vaai - vaagadeeshwari - adi |
35. tiru mayilai valarum - shoolini - adi |
36. parvathaa chalanatan pudalvi -
chalanatai - adi |
37. arumbu malar eduthhu - salagam - adi |
38. karunai kadale abhiraami -
jhalarnavam - adi |
39. mayajalavarali mayilai - jalavarali -
adi |
40. vennaipoll manam - navaneetham - adi |
41. natanam aadidum - bhavani - adi |
42. sooriyan thuditthidum - raghupriya -
adi |
43. saantha nayakiye sharanam -
gavambhodi - adi |
44. samabhavapriya manoharini - bhapriya
- adi |
45. dheenabandu neeye - subhapantuvarali
- adi |
46. thattuvamaanavale - shadvidamargini -
adi |
47. suvarnamayaman - suvarnangi - adi |
48. tiru mayilai kabali - divyamani - adi |
49. thaaye dhavalambari - dhavalambari -
adi |
50. maamayilaapuri poorani - namanarayani
- adi |
51. kamavardhini karpagambike -
kamavardhini - adi |
52. seturamapriya madhu - ramapriya - adi |
53. enaikkakka gamanashramama -
gamanashrama - adi |
54. akilanda kodiye - vishwambari - adi |
55. maa mayilai shyamalangi - shyamalangi
- adi |
56. kanthanukku vel kodutha -
shanmugapriya - adi |
57. simmendramadyama vaahini -
simmendramadyamam - adi |
58. imayamalai padi arasan - hemavathi -
adi |
59. dharvasamvardhini dharmavathi -
dharmavathi - adi |
60. neethimathi maa mayilai - neethimathi
- adi |
61. kanthamani harani narani - kanthamani
- adi |
62. nandi rishabhapriya - rishabhapriya -
adi |
63. kapaaliyai taluvum - lathangi - adi |
64. mayilaapuri vachaspathi - vachaspathi
- adi |
65. mayilai kapali - kalyani - adi |
66. chittira poombhaavastha - chitrambari
- adi |
67. sundari karpaga sucharitra -
sucharitra - adi |
68. arul jyothiswaroopini -
jypthiswaroopini - adi |
69. madhu karpaga dhatu vardhini - dhatu
vardhini - adi |
70. muthu mookkuthi alankari -
nasikabhushani - adi |
71. kosalm aandidum - kosalam - adi |
72. gana rasikapriya mana - rasikapriya -
adi |
5. D.Pattammal (1933-2004) had a long career as a radio artist in Tamil Nadu and has written several
books on music and has translated Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda in Tamil and converted it into a dance
drama. With her brother, she has published a compendium of raga scales titled Ragapravaham. She is another author whose melakarta songs are all in Tamil. Beside this, she has composed over 800 songs, some in very rare ragas. She received several awards during her illustrious career, the most notable of which is the Kalaimamani award given by the state of Tamil Nadu. Her mudra is "Arul".
6. R.K.Suryanarayana was one of the several and well known members of the Rudrapatnam family and was a child prodigy. Rudrapatnam (in Karnataka) has produced a long list of renowned artists that include R.K.Srikanthan, Rudrapatnam Brothers, R.S.Kesavamurthy, R.K.Padmanabha, among
others. Suryanarayana was an expert veena artist and has performed on the concert stage in several
countries. During his relatively short life of 66 years, he composed songs in all the melakartas, most of them in samskrt. He passed away in 2003.
7. Ashok R.Madhav is a contemporary composer living in Pittsburgh, USA. His 72 melakarta compositions include songs in Samskrt, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil and published in the book
Melakarta Ganamalika. He has also composed other kritis, tillanas and varnas. Some of his songs
have been rendered by prominent musicians. He has devised two new ragas called Hamsakalyani
and Hamsangi. His mudra is "Bharani".
8. C.Rangiah (1901-1984) of Mysore was a disciple of Veena Shivaramiah, Mysore Venkatagiriappa and Mysore Vasudevachar. His musical compositions consisting of svarajatis, varnams, kritis etc. exceed 500. He has also composed 72 melakarta kritis besides some operas. Some of his compositions are set in rare ragas like Chandrarekha, Shankarasarupya, Ssukumari, Shankaramohana,
Jayashanmukhi, Kanakangada, Bilvadala, Gaulishvari, Navasutika, Dvimadhyamagaula, Madhuralapa and Sayujyasadhini. Many of these are his own creations.
9. Dokka Sriramamurti is from Andra Pradesh. All of his 72 melakarta songs are varnas which is unique. The book is titled "Ashtottara Shata RagangadiVarnamala" published in 1982. Little is known
about this composer. He is in the field of education and is a professor in an educational institution in
Andhra Pradesh.
10. Nallan Chakravarthy Murthy is also from Andhra Pradesh and is a composer of classical, devotional and light music. He too has composed in all 72 melakartas and all of them are varNas as well. They have been published in the book titled Janaka Raga Varna Manjari. He has studied under vidvans M.Balamuralikrishna, Nooka Chinna Satyanarayana, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and vidushi Parveen Sultana. Beside the melakarta book he has also composed varnas in the ghanaragas of Nata, Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Shri. He resides in Hyderabad.
11. Bangalore.S.Mukund is from the state of Karnataka. He holds the distinction of having composed two complete sets of 72 melakarta songs among his torrent of 4,500 compositions. Some of his songs are listed in his book Sangita Lalitya Lahari. Many have been used in dance performances. He passed away a few years ago. His melakarta songs have not yet been published. Also not much is known if his other compositions are still with the family or have been passed on to some institution. He has devised new ragas like Mukundabhai Rava, Mukundamani Rangu, Mukundanantini, Mukundashri, Mukundavasanta and Mukundavasantini.
12. Veena Shivaramaiah (1886-1946) initially learnt music from his father Padmanabhaiah, who was
also a veena vidvan, and later from Mysore Karigiri Rao and Mysore Vasudevachar. His musical
output is around 100 songs that include tillanas, jatisvaras, varnas and kritis. Shivarama was not his only mudra. In some songs he used Nalvadi and in others krishnarajendra. His varna in the raga Lalitasimharava is a rare one. The 72 melakarta kritis were composed as per the wishes of Maharaja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
14. Belakavadi Srinivasa Iyengar (1888-1936) is the composer who tuned Purandaradasa’s very
popular jagadoddharana in kapi. His advanced studies in music were under Veena Bakshi Subbanna. He is said to have learnt gottuvadyam in a very short time in order to take part in a competition arranged by Muttiah Bhagavatar and won the contest. Besides being a composer he acted in many dramas in his home town and in Mysore. His 72 melakarta kritis were composed in response to a challenge by the then popular nadasvara vidvan Ponnusamy Pillai who claimed that most of the melakarta ragas were redundant. This comment annoyed the king Krishnaraja Wodeyar who then asked Srinivas Iyengar to prove the Nadasvara vidvan wrong by composing songs in all the melas.
15. Kadalur Subramaniam (1920-1997) is a modern day composer and a longtime AIR artist who has
published, apart from the 72 melakarta kritis book, a second book of kritis and tillanas titled Isai
Tenral. Other published books are Varnams in Rare Ragas and Kritis in Rare Ragas. He composed
in tamil and samskrt. His name became better known to the rasikas after vidushi Nityashri
Mahadevan popularized his ragamalika song ragattil siranda ragamedu. Some of his songs include Janani Janani in Revati and the Tillana in Dvijavanti.
16. Venuganam K.Hariharan is also a contemporary composer. He comes from a musical family. His
father, an advocate, was also a flautist. His grandfather was a bhagavatar. He took to fulltime music after his retirement from a career unrelated to music. His melakarta book is titled 72 Mela Ragas-Sampoorna Sampoornam. All these songs are in tamil. He has also published a second book of 20 Tamil kritis titled Spectrum Ragas. His mudra is Sivadasan. He has given lec-dems in rare ragas at various centers in India.
18. Lavani Venkata Rao of the Tanjavur court is said to have composed songs in 72 melakartas eulogizing the Marattha rulers of the time.
19. Madokaram Prashanth Iyengar is a vainika from Bangalore and his mELa raga kritis are in Kannada and Samskrt. His book is Titled Varna Lakshna Ranjani.
20. Rukmini Sivakumar lives in Chennai and is a veena artiste. She has not only composed varnas in 72 melakarta ragas but also in the 35 talas. All these varnas are in Tamil. The books are titled Isai
Tamizh Varnangal.
21. Subbarama Dikshitar has composed a rAgamAlikA that uses all the 72 mELakartA rAgAs of the
asampUrNa system.
22. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer (1844-93). His work was unique because he composed, in addition to the sahitya, a cittasvara for each of the 72 ragas. The cittasvara at the end of each raga seamlessly blends onto the next one. The entire song takes about 45 minutes to an hour to render. Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi has recorded this magnum opus for posterity.
24. Vidwan Rudrapatnam K Padmanabha (RKP): Amazingly gifted vocalist,Ganakalabushana Vidwan R K Padmanabha , who traces his roots back to the town of Rudrapatna,undoubtedly has emerged as one of the most sort after musicians today.Having blessed by the great Vadiraja Swami,he stands as a musician with a unique persona.His exceptional music talents and extraordinary acumen has sweeped all his fellow musicians and critics off their feet .His vibrant and mesmarizing voice,unrivalled rendition of ragas and pallavis,swara sancharas add to the beauty of his music.His music is a perfect blend of emotive appeal,incredible virtuosity,technical mastery,sophistication and divinity.He has mesmerized music lovers across the state by his musicianship.
The grandeur of anything is best felt when there is an element of on’s individuality in it.This has been proven time and again by Ganakalabushana Vidwan R K Padmanabha.And no,its not just his music that he is passionate about,but every other project that he ventures into.He has carved a niche for himself in all the possible domains including theatre, literature, teaching, lecture demonstrations and promotion of music.He is truly a multi faceted personality.
As an Innovative composer: RKP has gained popularity as an innovative composer with more than 350 kritis in his name.Added to this,he holds the credit for composing kritis in all the 72 melakarta ragas.The substance and quality of his works are held in great regard across the state.His core objective is to propagate music philosophy and to instil the essence of carnatic music in the heart of every common man.RKP has been actively involved in theatre and in the dramatisation of his own plays;featuring as purandaradasa,vadiraja and a few others in the same. His mudra is"Padmanabha Dasa".