I first came across Anand's CD entitled "Sound of the beats" and was really astonished at the adi talam presentation by the then 16-year old. The pharans, the korvais along with the control that he exercised in that CD was very original and exceptional. His hand speed is amazing. I attended his live performance with Ravi Kiran in a jugalbandhi concert and the tani he played as a 19-year old still reverberates in my mind.
He played on the occasion of Palghat Raghu Sir's Sangeetha Kalanaidhi award at MA and his presentation of misra chapu was simply out of this world. Playing on the Kappi mridangam, made it even more amazing. He has been recognized by MA as the best mridangist on couple of occasions and other awards.
For a sampling of his tani, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPCcyyzrKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwzSMTCW ... re=related
Incidentally, he is the cousin of Abhishek Raghuram and together they make a terrific team. Most recently, he accompanied Unnikrishnan in the US concert circuit.
Anand is a mridangam prodigy!