Source : SRI PALGHAT MANI IYER TRUST SOUVENIR 1985.

Homage to Immortal Percussionist

BY

N.R.BHUVARAHAN

For more than five decades, Sri Palghat Mani Iyer, was astride the Carnatic Music platform, as a matchless accompanist on the mridangam as well as a brilliant soloist. He could also play on the kanjira with great dexterity and skill. He was so soaked in the music of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and sometimes he simply listened to the music without playing. This had happened several times when he accompanied him especially at the Perambur Sangeetha sabha in the company of Sri Papa Venkatramiah, Sri Rajamanikkam Pillai, or Sri Chowdiah on the violin. To my mind, he was a great worshipper of Naadha, a "Naadhatma laya Yogi", as the great Mysore Vasudevachar put it.

Even while I was serving as a music critic on "The Indian Express" during 1938 - 1941, he became friendly with me, as I was a close friend of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and never missed his concerts in the city. a man of few words, he was the personification of integrated silence, who deeply absorbed the musical atmosphere. Of the hundreds of musicians whom he had accompanied from his 12th year to 70, he told me there was none like Iyengar, who was a compound of several excellences and a performer of peerless quality.

What delighted him Iyengar’s concert was the tempo or Kalapramana, which was a middle one, neither too fast nor too slow. While he ideally followed the musical tradition whether vocal or instrumental, his "thani avarthanams" (solos) in the middle of a concert were scintillating, revealing his limitless manodharma in laya. They were rhythmic treats , drenched in melody, with intelligent improvisation culminating in a mukthaippu.

I have witnessed at least two occasions at which Iyengar sought Mani Iyer’s view for neraval and swaras for the kritis he was to sing at a concert for the first time. After listening to the rendering not once but thrice by the master, Mani Iyer instantly said : "Oh ! Aravinda pathra Nayanam Govinda muraga sayanam" for "Seshachalanayakam" in varali "Kumara guru guha mahitham" for "Ramanatham" by Dikshithar again. They became patents for succeeding generations of musicians, who greatly admired his style, notably Mr. G.N.B.

Hailing from a family of musicians where music was the first love, and fascinated by the drum even as a teenager, Mani Iyer had his initial lessons from Chathapuram Subbier for a few years. Later, he came under the tutelage of Tanjore Vaidyanatha Iyer who shaped him as a concert artiste. He made his mark as a mridangam accompanist to Sri Chembai Vaidyanatha Bagavathar in Madras in his first concert when he was 12 and remained at the top till his end. He was much sought after by young and old musicians and instrumentalists (vainikas and violinists), for they were quite sure that the concert would be a success with his percussion support. He had a magic quality to lift even a dull and drab concert to a high level of excellence, which made the drowsy to sit up and listen.

A percussionist par excellence, Mani Iyer got the highest tribute from the G.O.M. of music, Mysore Vasudevachariar at a concert of Ariyakudi, which I reported for "The Hindu", nearly 40 years ago. Listening to a superb solo (thaniavarthanam) of Palghat Mani Iyer during a concert by Ramanuja Iyengar, Mysore Vasudevachariar, who was visibly moved by the master’s "Nadatmalaya" as he termed it, paid a tribute to his genius, saying, "Mani Iyer is undoubtedly the most outstanding Mridangam Vidwan of all time. I have had the good fortune to listen to Narayanaswamy Appa, Dakshinamoorthy Pillai, Alaganambia Pillai, Das Swamigal and other great stalwarts for over seventy years and can say without hesitation that Mani Iyer has dwarfed them all by his astonishing skill and astounding originality.

Unveiling a portrait of the venerable Dakshinamoorthy Pillai at the Perambur Sangeetha Sabha in June 1962, he paid him a great tribute and said that Pillai was largely responsible for shaping him taking a back seat with the kanjira, allowing him to play the mridangam. "He was God-intoxicated soul and a ‘layabrahmam’," he added. It was my great privilege to move with him very closely and occasionally get his views on music and musicians, the style of play, the scholarships for promotion of talent and general katcheri manners. He was very frank and forthright in his views and never compromised on any account. He generally preferred musicians with a traditional background and classical values with a middle tempo and gave all out help to promote their music. A rich and mellow voice captivated him. Then, he was in his element. He has also accompanied musicians with very low ‘sruthi’ ie. below one, even 0.5 as he used to say. He liked sarvalaghu in swaraprashara for kritis, rather than arithmetical permutations in which he finished a split second before the main musician. He even asked Subbu of Alathoor Brothers to follow the sarvalaghu pattern, on one occasion instead of the mathematical formula. Once, while accompanying a top musician (who is no more) he was visibly angry for changing the kalapramana of the Devagandhari kriti "Ksheera sagara" from two to four kalai. He threw up his hands in gesticulation, exclaiming, "Only Lord Brahma could tie the leather fasteners to the mridangam". An unseemly situation arose when he refused to play the ‘thani ‘ and the musician continued and ended his concert. He paid me a high compliment for my review of the concert in the "Mail" and wrote a letter which I still preserve. " I do not generally read newspapers or journals. I got your ‘Mail" cutting. It was a brilliant review of the concert and I thank you for a faithful and knowledgeable review".

Of all the honours and titles bestowed on him during his long and eventful career, he valued most the "Navarathna malai" with gold pendant with an image of Goddess Kamakshi given by the Kanchi Acharya Swami.

Sri Mani Iyer had many endearing traits which won him thousands of admirers. He was camera-shy and never liked pressmen, interviews or write-ups. A dedicated and devoted artiste, he revolutionised the art of mridangam play and evolved a new pattern in tune with the melody of the kriti and the suitability of its tala or rhythm. He was plain, honest and simple in his habits and austere in many of his traits. He was a great artiste and a great character.

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