A function marking the release of the book Kalpathy Tyagabrahmam Palghat Rama Bhagavatar – Life Sketch of a Nadopasaka was held at SunaadaLahari, Chennai, on the evening of 23 February 2025.

The descendants of the Bhagavatar, notably his grandson Sriram Hari, have shown great enthusiasm and effort in bringing his legacy to a wider audience and highlighting his contributions to the world of Carnatic music. This effort has culminated in a biographical account of the dedicated musician. Sivapriya Krishnan, whose interests include music, was entrusted with authoring the book, a task she gladly accepted.

Renowned vidwan Alepey Venkatesan was the Chief Guest for the function. K. Harishankar, Secretary of Narada Gana Sabha and the Federation of City Sabhas, Chennai, and vidushi G. Baby Sreeram, senior Carnatic vocalist, were the guests of honour and received copies of the book from the Chief Guest.

The event began with a prayer song by Meenakshi, a disciple of Neyveli Santhanagopalan—a composition by Puducode Krishnamurthy in tribute to his guru, Palghat Rama Bhagavatar, making for a fitting start. Sivapriya Krishnan spoke about her journey in writing the book.

Vidwan Alepey Venkatesan praised the author for her lucid presentation and commended the publishers and printer for the book’s attractive design. In his address, laced with amusing anecdotes, he recalled his visits to Kalpathy in Palghat at the insistence of the redoubtable Palghat Mani Iyer to participate in the annual Kalpathy Tyagaraja Aradhana, initiated by Bhagavatar in 1924, which celebrated its centenary last year. He emphasised the Aradhana’s role in fostering Carnatic music in Kerala and reminisced about the many leading musicians who had participated in its early years.

K. Harishankar stressed the importance of passing on the legacy of one’s ancestors, as exemplified by Lakshminarayan, son of Rama Bhagavatar, in ensuring this biography came to fruition. He also highlighted the significance of musicians reaching out to society, as Rama Bhagavatar did through the Tyagaraja Aradhana in Kalpathy and his dedication to teaching music in and around Palghat. He commended the book’s engaging and authentic narrative.

Dr Baby Sreeram spoke about the compositions of Puducode Krishnamurthy, a distinguished disciple of Bhagavatar. She expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to arrange and refine the notations of his compositions to popularise them. She recalled how Puducode Krishnamurthy had spoken of Rama Bhagavatar’s generosity in imparting music to students without any monetary expectation, a reflection of his simple, unostentatious life despite the responsibility of a large family.

The Chief Guest presented copies of the book to Harishankar, Baby Sreeram, and Krishnan, son of Rama Bhagavatar, who was seated alongside the guests on stage.

The book release was followed by a vocal concert by Vidushi H. Ratnaprabha, featuring compositions of Puducode Krishnamurthy. She was accompanied by VSP Gayatri Shivani on the violin and Aduthurai Guruprasad on the mridangam. The event was compered by Radha Ranganathan and was well attended by artists, rasikas, and family members of Rama Bhagavatar.

By

Swaminathan Raman