Mridangam exponent Karaikudi Mani passes away at 77
By Aishwarya Nair | First Published May 4, 2023, 4:41 PM ISTKaraikudi Mani, one of the greatest mridangam players, passed away in Chennai.
Chennai: Mridangam player Karaikudi R. Mani, who ruled the world of Carnatic music for more than 50 years, passed away on Thursday in Chennai. He was 77.
He was recognized as one of the all-time greatest mridangam musicians by the vast majority of Carnatic experts and connoisseurs.
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Mani started giving regular performances while his idol and fellow mridangam player Palghat Mani Iyer was at the height of his powers. After relocating to Chennai, he continued his studies under the guidance of Harihara Sharma, and at the age of 18, the then-President of India, Radhakrishnan, presented him with his first national award. He stated in an interview from 2015 that winning accolades and titles was never on his plan. He received the national award from the "Sangeeth Natak Academy" in 1999. K. R. Narayanan, the president of India at the time, presented this.
He founded the Sruthi Laya group in 1986, which featured both melody and percussion. He established the Sruthi Laya Seva School three years later, and it currently has locations in Chennai, Bangalore, Australia, London, the United States, and Canada.
In 1993, Karaikudi Mani and the late Kanjira master G Harishankar performed the inaugural Thani Avarthanam concert. This outstanding performance is recognised as a turning point in the history of classical percussion. It has transformed the mridangam's function and demonstrated that South Indian percussion instruments may be performed as solo instruments independently of themselves. Many renowned mridangists who have also performed Thani Avarthanam concerts have since taken on a concept that Mani first proposed. Since then, Mani has led a number of "Thani Avarthanam" duet performances with top players of the ghatam, thavil, chendai, etc.
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