News & Notes
T.M. Thiagarajan Centenary Celebrations

The birth centenary of vidwan T.M. Thiagarajan
(TMT) (b- 28 May 1923) was celebrated with much respect and affection by his
disciples. The centenary celebrations at Narada Gana Sabha on 27 May 2023
commenced with a video presentation on TMT. From tracing his modest home in
Chennai, the video showcased a galaxy of artists who recalled their association
with TMT. He
was a rare gem, an ‘epitome’ of sampradaya, a colossus in the field of Carnatic
music, echoed several musicians.
T.M. Thiagarajan was a proud descendant of the Tanjavur
Music Tradition lineage. His forefathers were experts in the field of music and
dance. His great-grandfather and grandfather were both Asthana vidvans of the
Baroda court. TMT
learnt vocal music from his father and joined Jagannatha Iyer’s drama troupe
and Nawab Rajamanikkam Pillai’s company on a monthly emolument of seven rupees.
He bade farewell to drama at the age of 12. Though he was proficient in the
art, Tanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer felt that the boy should have a ‘brand’ as the
disciple of a prominent vidwan. Vaidyanatha Iyer was serving the State Radio of
Travancore at that time. He took Thiagarajan with him and entrusted him to the
tutelage of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
On his return to
Tanjavur, TMT started giving vocal concerts. Many used to spend time with him
for practice — Tanjavur Lakshminarayana Bhagavatar (Nanu), and mridanga maestro
T.K. Murthy were among them.
After his
migration to Chennai, and appointment in the Central College of Music, a number
of disciples came under him for training, like Subhashini Parthasarathy, Lakshmi
Rangarajan, Lakshmi Poduval of Madurai, Raji Gopalakrishnan, Nirmala
Sunderarajan, amongst several others. TMT also served as the principal
of the Teachers College, The Music Academy, Madras.
The centenary
celebrations also marked the release of a special postal cover by the
Indian Postal Department. J. Charukesi, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, released
the cover and guests of honour N. Murali, President, The Music Academy, Madras
and Sangita Kalanidhi, vidwan Sanjay Subrahmanyan received the first copies.
An aspiring philatelist in his younger
days, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, thanked the Postal Department for bringing out the
cover on TMT. Sanjay talked about how TMT has inspired him and many other artists. He
recounted his experience hearing at least 150 kritis performed by TMT’s students
at the two-day Tanjavur Music Tradition festival that TMT hosted at Sastry Hall in
the 1980s. N. Murali, President, The Music Academy Madras, remembered the multifaceted
vidwan as a performer, guru, composer, tunesmith, and administrator. J.
Charukesi, Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu, iterated on TMT’s commitment to
preserving the Carnatic music tradition and his bani.
Following this, the disciples of TMT
rendered a group performance, and the event concluded with a concert by vidwan
Sanjay Subrahmanyan.