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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. 

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