(Journal of the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha)

July 1981 - Vol VII Number 3
 
 
 
 

T H E M I R A C U L O U S

M A N I I Y E R

B Y

K . S . M A H A D E V A N
 
 

Appreciation of the charisma of Palghat Mani Iyer and the mystique of his unique Mridangam playing seems to have actually increased after his demise at Cochin on 30th May 1981. Such was the incandescent glow which the public associated with his legendary artistry that a series of tapes played at a Memorial function held at Srinivasa Sastry Hall on 30th July 1981 ( including one in which he has played on the Kanjira ) elicited prolonged cheers. The nostalgia of those who had assembled to pay homage to this Titan was so strong that they felt he was playing his historic "thanis" actually before them.

Emerson has said that "an institution is to be regarded as the lengthened shadow of great man". It would be no hyperbole to say that the institution of Mridangam playing everywhere today is but the long shadow of Mani Iyer. Certain artists, without perhaps ever intending it, become institutions and once institutionalized, they enjoy the indestructibility of a legend. Mani Iyer undoubtedly belonged to that great breed.

Boyhood:

He was born in September 1912 at Thiruvilwamalai to T.R.Sesha Bagavathar, a Harikatha exponent. His precocity in percussion came to light quite soon and after taking training in Mridangam from Sathapuram Subbier, he had his maiden performance at the age of 8. the generous Chembai Vaidyanatha Bagavathar took the young colt in hand and made him play for him. In Palghat Rama Bagavathar's concerts too, young Mani supplied Mridangam accompaniment. It was at this stage that the kind fairies took a hand in Mani's development and he was sent to Thanjavur, to be under the tutelage of Vaidyanatha Iyer, reputed to be known not only as an accomplished Mridangist but a very willing, dedicated and intelligent tutor to all learners of promise. Mr. Iyer, for instance, had then already started coaching a little boy of eight years hailing from Trivandrum who showed a strong knack for Mridangam playing. This was T.K.Murthy who owes everything to this ardent teacher.

Formative years :

The years Mani Iyer spent under the unselfish guidance of Vaidyanatha Iyer were the most formative period of his life. the striking intellect of Mani grasped the most complex patterns and varieties of thala with profound ease and the guru revelled in teaching him within a short time all that had to be taught. The intensity of the teacher was a match for the precocity of the young learner and they made an ideal combination. To Vaidyanatha Iyer goes the credit of stimulating and feeding Mani's insatiable appetite for analysis and research into the science of laya. It was this phase of his apprenticeship that enabled Mani Iyer in later years to develop into one of the most original percussionists, to dominate the concert platform for decades afterwards with amazing steadiness. As has been said "the geniuses somehow absorb the amount of culture they need and discover the adequate techniques of expression". And Mani Iyer was relentless in his pursuit of perfection.

The Debut :

When he had completed his training at Tanjore, Mani Iyer was all set to conquer the world. The early thirties were a period when the top percussionists were past their best. Azhaganambi Pillai, the ace Mridangist, was getting on in years. He and Dakshinamurthy Pillai who bestrode the platform like a colossus for years accompanying giants like "Puchi" Srinivasa Iyengar, Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer, Pushpavanam Iyer and veena Karaikudy brothers, were almost resting on their oars. Chembai had just started coming up, Palladam Sanjiva Rao (flute) had taken the mantle from Saraba Sastrigal. this was the musical context in which Mani Iyer was to make his "big time" debut. Goethe has said that even if you are a genius, it will make all the difference to your fame if you were born 10 years earlier or later and that a great man has to be born at the right time and in right epoch.
 
 

The Test :

Mani Iyer could not have chosen a more opportune time to bid for the championships. The moment he had emerged from his chrysalis, he had to cross swords with a veteran like Iluppur "Panchami", a great Kanjira player,

Tavil Vidwan and all-rounder, but Mani's courage and brilliance of man oeuvre, stood him well and when he triumphed over his senior, the ranks of Tuscany could scarce forbear to cheer. Mani's fame spread like wild fire. Later, he and Dakshinamurthy Pillai came together and had their famous laya duels. It was not long before the latter realised that Mani was endowed with both genius and luck and he warmly spoke his praises. Henceforth, the pair (Mani on Mridangam and Dakshinamurthy on Kanjira) were a regular feature of all topnotch concerts.

The New Era :

The music world thus was faced with a genius who bade fair to revamp and revolutionise the very art of Mridangam playing. Tours de force had just become a way of life for Mani Iyer. His percipience, amazingly swift comprehension and ability to translate his teeming ideas into lightning strokes of ineffable beauty proved more than equal to the challenge of any vidwan. The great era had dawned for the prodigy before he was thirty and the red carpet of success lay spread out before him.

The instinct of self preservation made Mani Iyer realise quite early in his career the changed ethos and environment of musical life. He felt that he had to evolve a new style of percussion altogether. God had endowed him with the vision and the foresight to anticipate the future changes in the cutchery format and especially the shift of patronage for music from the kings and durbars and temples to the modern urban Sabhas with their rising membership avid for sheer entertainment , in which art, more than mere science, was the key factor. Mani Iyer's sharp intelligence comprehended what Menuhin has stated so succinctly; "The conditions of the Age influence the artist creator, but it is the geniuses that mould the epoch rather than the epoch shapes them".
 
 
 
 

The Zeit Geist :

Our hero had decided straightaway that he would have to evolve a new style of Mridangam playing to suit the zeit geist in which the art of percussion should be more than mere rhythm, "sollukkattus" and formulae - just as a

beautiful rose is more than the stem, pollen and petals. and as all geniuses know, style in Art is a relation between Form and Content and a balanced relationship it would have to be. Otherwise, where the content is less than form, the language would seem flamboyant and the reputation transient.

Melody on Mridangam :

The twin planks on which Mani Iyer based his new mode of playing were first, the manner of playing for the Kritis (more and more Kritis of the Trinity were being sung in concerts); and secondly , the "Thaniavarthanam" (Solo Mridangam Playing) had to be remoulded from the traditional presentation of dry technique to an organic instrumental tissue, with transitions and contrast of rhythms related to a strictly rhythmic logic. Further, in the new style, the melody had a pure, soaring quality, supple and flawlessly on Sruthi, while deft fingers encompassed intricacies so delicate and subtle, so exact and compact, and so full of knots and links, that dazzled the listeners with their sheer power and virtuosity.

A New Art Form :

As Hazlitt said, Mani Iyer had "the genius to adorn the beautiful" and his thanis became a new art form that often took us half way to the stars, the empyrean of sublime. Compared to his solos, those of his contemporaries seemed just joinery and carpentry. Even when playing for a kriti or a Thillana or a Jawali, each stroke of his was as individual as a star and yet related to a whole constellation. No wonder all the maestros - Ariyakudy, Maharajapuram, Semmangudy, G.N.B., Alathoor Brothers, Madurai Mani etc., - who dominated Carnatic Music (1928 - 1970) - keenly sought Mani Iyer's accompaniment. To have Mani accompany, was to have full insurance for the success of a concert.
 
 
 
 

Evening Shadows :

After the demise of the above stalwarts (excepting Semmangudy) Mani Iyer's approach to his role as accompanist gradually underwent a radical change. this metamorphosis took a particular form and his refusal to play before a mike was perhaps only a reflexion of his general chagrin at the decline of standards in vocal music. Even so, his occasional appearances in chamber concerts (without mike) showed him to be in full possession of the old, compelling charisma. With one stroke, he could bring a concert alive and even arthritis of limbs did not bring about much fading of his wonted prowess. with so much physical disability to reckon with, his intellectual honesty, however, would not let him continue to perform and he announced his retirement from the concert scene in mid 1980. Thereafter his public appearances almost stopped.

But Mani Iyer hors de combat was Mani Iyer half dead. To him, his Mridangam was a "total expression and embodiment of being", (to use George Steiner's description of Menuhin). It had fused with his anatomy. When he could not play, Mani Iyer's will to live became steadily eroded.

It seemed only a question of time before the abhorred shears slit his weakened web of life. That mighty heart lay still on 30th May 1981. In Aeschylean phrase, the President of the immortals had ended his sport with the greatest genius of Mridangam ever to be born. And a whole world wept. A great epoch had ended. Only great men end epochs.

Poise :

Geniuses are sometimes unsteady and even eccentric. what endeared Mani Iyer to the expert and the lay man was his superhuman poise at all times. He had the quality of "high seriousness" which Mathew Arnold attributed to great people. to flatter him was to throw a rose at a stone idol. He was equally unmoved by criticism, fair or foul. His rocklike steadiness of temperament seemed to partake of the character of a great Rishi. In personal appearance, he did indeed resemble one. He was totally unmoved by President's Award and other honours. He was the only percussionist to preside at the Music Academy Conference and get the accolade of "Sangitha Kalanidhi". Yet it mattered no more to him than the artificial message of congratulation one sends for a party celebration.

What really mattered to Mani Iyer was, first and last, Mani Iyer the artist. He bestowed infinite care on his instrument, to make goat and calf leather yield the fruitiest of tones, manna to the ear. His artistic credo was to bring happiness to the millions - in which he succeeded as none else before him did, even vocalists included. If it had been possible for the millions of his admirers to be present at his cremation, the flood of their welling tears might have put out his funeral pyre, so universally loved and admired was Mani Iyer. When shall we see the like of him again ? Like jesting Pilate one does not wait for an answer.
 
 

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