Mayavaram Saraswati Ammal’s disciples remember his visit during his centenary celebrations
The students of Mayavaram Saravati Ammal, popularly known as Mayavaram Papa, organized some special events in association with the Bilvamusic Academy and a few other organizations to mark the birth centenary of their guru.
Born on September 3, 1921 at Mannargudi near Tiruvarur, Saraswati Ammal’s family had a deep love for music. At the age of seven, he started learning to play the flute from Peruncheri Muthu. He later trained under Cholavaram Subbaiah Pillai and Tirupambaram Swaminatha Pillai. Saraswati Ammal also took singing lessons from Mayavaram Venugopala Iyer. By 16, she started performing in public.
training under giants
A top-ranked singer of All India Radio, she moved to Chennai in 1942 and lived in Mylapore. Here, he enhanced his musical skills by further training under Patamadai Sundaram, Patamadai Krishnan, Thanjavur Shankar Iyer and Ramnad Krishnan. In addition to playing the flute in temples and assemblies, she began to accompany veterans. He also played the flute for the famous dancers Padma Subrahmanyam and Vyjayanthimala Balik.
Along with his love for the veena, Saraswati Ammal learned to play the instrument from the legendary Pichumani Iyer and later from MA Kalyanakrishna Bhagavatar. Eager to share his scholarship with young enthusiasts, he began teaching vocal music, the flute and the veena. She realized that she enjoys teaching more than performing.
He also started composing and has many devotional songs to his name. His songs were released in two CDs titled, ‘Divega Pamalai’ and ‘Baba Nin Karunai Vendam’.
Her many awards include a citation from Ramani’s Flute Academy, Chennai and a title of ‘Sangeet Seva Nirta’ by the Sri Thyagaraja Sangeeta Vidvat Samaj, Mylapore, with whom she was associated since its inception. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Vijay TV’s Women’s Day celebrations in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Award in 2012.
Saraswati Ammal passed away on August 17, 2013, a few days before her 93rd birthday.
The writer is a disciple of Saraswati Ammal.
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