Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani
Into the Fire
Guru Kaaraikkudi Mani is one of the cultural ambassadors of India, as a Mridangam player and an innovator in the field of Rhythm in South Indian Classic music.
Kaaraikkudi Mani was born on September 11th, 1945 at Karaikudi, Tamilnadu. He is the son of Late Shri. T. Ramanatha Iyer and Smt. Pattammal. He stepped into carnatic music at the tender age of 3. Although he commenced with vocal training, he very soon realized that his special interest lay in percussion and switched over to Mridangam.
His gurus were Karaikudi Sri Rangu Iyengar, Sri T.R. Harihara Sarma and Sri. K.M. Vaidyanathan. His first stage performance took place when he was 8 years old in Karaikudi. Thereafter his dedication and hard work to excel in the chosen field resulted in a Karaikudi Mani Bhani style, which won the hearts of many young percussionists and musicians all over the world.
He was well known as ‘Master Mani’ throughout Southern India, where he has performed with many local artists and won many awards and gold medals.
Kaaraikkudi Mani received his first national award when he was 18 from Dr. Radhakrishnan, then the President of India. He had been keeping himself away from various awards, titles and honours, however in 1999 the national award from Sangeeth Natak Academy was offered to him. This was presented by another former President of India, Mr K.R. Narayanan. Kaaraikkudi Mani accepted this offer after almost 4 decades.
In 1986, he started a unique ensemble combining melody and percussion - Sruthi Laya. He gave importance to talavadya concerts and released CD’s including Sruthi Laya Volume I and II, Laya Chitra, Laya Priya, Pushkaram and Melodyssey. These unique ensembles gained much respect , the tala vadya instruments and thani avarthanam concerts and inspired many contemporary artists to release their own music.
Kaaraikkudi Mani was the pioneer in bringing Mridangam to the centre stage. He also gave new dimension through combining Mridangam with other traditional instruments such as Thavil and Chendai. Students and enthusiasts all over the world have greatly benefitted from these concerts.
In 1989, Sruthi Laya Seva School opened in a small room in Chennai. With gurujis blessing, the school now has centers in Chennain, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chalakudi (Kerala), Australia, London and Germany. Over 1000 students learn Mridangham through this school either directly or indirectly.
Kaaraikkudi Mani has performed with many international artists including Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra and Euro Haemmeneimi and the Finland Naada Group. He has given many fusion concerts with musicians of different cultures all over the world. The Australian Art Orchestra arranged his Bahudari and Ranjani compositions with jazz elements and presented it as ‘Into the Fire’. The Naada Group from Finland arranged the Behag composition again with jazz elements and released this as ‘Twins’. It is his greatness as a percussion maestro that prompted Haemmeneimi to dedicate 4 compositions in his name – ‘Music for Mani 1-4’.
Kaaraikkudi Mani is the first percussionist to start a music magazine – Layamani Layam – that has been running successfully since 1994.
Kaaraikkudi Mani has innovated a new dimension of presenting rhythm in a visual form on the dais through Bharathanatyam (a dance form). He has founded an institution Sruthi Laya Kendra Natarajaalaya at Hyderabad. With his niece, Smt. Rajeswari Sainath, a leading Bharathanatyam performer, he produces ensembles that combine melody, rhythm and dance. They also introduce new concepts in the bharathanatyam field like rare varnams, rare jathis in rare talams.
For the last 15 years, Sruthi Laya Kendra, Chennai has held a winter music festival dedicated to Guru Surajananda. At the Hyderabad Center an annual festival of music and dance has been held for the last 3 years.
Kaaraikkudi Mani’s involvement in the development of the Mridangam in the last 50 years has been exclusive and innovative. To mark this occasion, a group of students presented him with a luxury car. An effort such as this has not attempted before, in any part of the world or any kind of music.
Kaaraikkudi Mani is continuing on his mission of promoting the role of the Mridangam and the importance of rhythm on a global scale.
Kaaraikkudi Mani, a veteran of fifty years in the field of Carnatic music is not just a great performer, but a dedicated teacher too. With a zest and passion rarely found elsewhere, he has created a veritable generation of musicians and artists to sustain his style into the next millennium. A composer of considerable acclaim, he has wowed audiences the world over with his carnatic and jazz ensembles. To truly take Carnatic Music to the masses, he has single-handedly edited and published a bimonthly magazine – ‘Layamani Layam’ for the past nine years. His unique organizing and coordinating skills (as exemplified by the many percussion schools he runs worldwide and the annual music festival he conducts at Chennai, India) makes for a really multi-faceted personality. Quite interestingly though, it is not the above qualities that set him apart. His humility, down-to-earthness, dedication, discipline and honesty are what set him apart as a shining sun in this constellation of lesser stars.
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