Madurai Mani Iyer

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 31 Jul 2009, 17:14

Dear Perarulalan,
Thank U for uploading RTP Begada . But the vol. is very low when I played it in my Music Match Juke Box . But it doesn't matter as I am having the original recording since 1975. Can U or anybody enlighten me when this piece was sung? and in what concert . The accompanists are Thiruvalangadu Sundaresa Iyer and TK Murthy. I am told it was part of a Music Academy concert before 1960 ! MMI 's early 1950s concerts wee recorded by Sri J Sadagopan ( Mic amplifier provider for his concerts) in what was known as "wire Recording". These were transfered to tapes, then cassettes and now digitalised. These Nangavaram concerts contain Rama Neepai ( Kedaram ) Rama Ninne ( Huseni ) etc . The swara sequences in these recordings were simply excellent. You will be forced to dance while listening to Kedaram Swaras as was sometimes exhibited by Sri MDR . I am happy that Sri Ramasubramaniam had brought out the difficulties experienced by Sri Palghat Mani Iyer in accompanying MMI . Sri MMI had sung for more than an hour in the wedding function of Palghat Mani Iyer's daughter though he had a scheduled concert after that. Incidentally Sri Palghat Mani Iyer's auditor in Tanjore was my father in law, Chartered Accountant Sri R. Venkatraman.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 31 Jul 2009, 18:33

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: With MMI this was impossible as he would be so engrossed in the concert and also he was so loyal to his audience that he could not dream of disappointing them.,with anything less than a 4 hour concert-whether it is free concert in the Kapaleeswarar Temple or a paid concert at the RR Sabha or Gokhale Hall in Chennai.
.

Shri M.K.Ramasubramanian
The above phrase is very very moving, for the last 6 years I was wondering as to why I was born only after Post Madura mani era . Apart from your stated facts/conclusions about MMI -PMI combination, I am assuming that PMI's accompaniment was not as perfectly compatible as PSP-MMI. There are few concerts where PMI fills beautifully for MMI more in silence , but PSP's sarvalaghu was a perfect fit for MMI.
Keep coming with more anecdotes .

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 31 Jul 2009, 19:05

Dear Rajeshnat ,
Sri MMI in a casual remark while singing in Nangavaram says " What is so important about remuneration for the Vidwans for a concert? I would rather give money for the Rasikas who had patiently listened to my concerts if I am sufficiently rich. " such was his humility and there were more "Thengai Moodi "
( free concerts)concerts sung by him than concerts for which he received remuneration! Semmangudi Mama in a TV interview says that MMI was a great Gyani and when in a Radio interview he was refered as a Gyani , immediately , he rejects it and says that he used to listen to great Vidwans and his music was only a mixture of their styles and he had nothing of his own.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 31 Jul 2009, 20:25

Dear Rajeshnat: There is an interesting anecdote re: MMI and PMI. It appears there was a concert arranged in Madurai where PMI was to accompany MMI--due to some unforeseen circumstance PMI could not come to madurai and informed the organisers in the Morning(the concert was in the evening).

The organisers hurried around and found a local mridangam vidwan considered reasonably good to accompany MMI. MMI ofcourse was not deterred by the fact that the accompanist was not of the stature of PMI. Besides his usual repertoire he sang his regular krithi in Poorvikalyani--Meenakshi Me Mudam and elaborated as he often does on the Neraval-- Mani Valaya Madurapuri Nilaye--this time with extra gusto because he was singing it in madurai where the deity Meenakshi resides. The audience ofcourse went GaGa. At the end of the concert the organiser spoke,congratulating MMI on a scintillating performance apologised to MI for PMI's absence and also commented that the local accompanist also rose to the occasion and played his part to perfection and thanked him. Then turning to MMI he said, the only regret he had about the performance was that MMI kept on elaborating Mani Valaya so much it started to sound like he was complaining Mani Varalaye(Mani did not come!!) reminding the audience of PMI's absence!!
Needless to say the audience lapped it up!!
Also a comment on Balummi's remark as to how he approached the remuneration aspect. MMI never used to stipulate his sanmanam(remuneration) because he knew the organisers would attract a huge gate collection--well above other musicians that they did not have to hassle over remuneration--at the same time I have known instances where my father requested(when he was Secretary of Shanmukhananda Sabha in Bombay) for musicians to take a cut in their remuneration
to help in the building fund with a promise that after the hall is built remuneration would not only be restored but the additional membership strength would enable the Sabha to compensate the artistes generously(a promise which was redeemed for all the artistes in Mid to late sixties--unfortunately MMI could not avail himself as he had passed away in 1968.

As regards his popularity --at a time when his contemporaries were leading luminaries--Ariyakudi,Chembai,Seemangudi,GNB,Althur Bros etc--never waned because he gave the audience unalloyed pleasure and sukham--the harmony on the stage was palpable (genuine respect for the accompanists and give them equal chance to upcoming violinists in those days like Lalgudi,TNK--never once had he begrudged the acclamation that the accompanying artistes may have got for a Swara Korvai or a Sangathi well-executed.

He was so popular amongst the audience and whenever Vidwans gathered together Semmangudi --in a humorous way --used to compare MMI to a Communist leader's lecture--very popular in the 50's and sixties!!!

More importantly his Sruthi Suddham is yet to be emulated amongst many leading musicians today--occasionally I have heard Madurai TNS stray a little bit from the sruthi(I may start a controversy amongst TNS rasikas but I am not denying TNS' extraordinary musical erudition,innovation and repertoire).MMI never had this problem despite the fact he traversed all the octaves--seemingly effortlessly but never lost sight of the sruthi.

Not enough can be said about MMI a great artiste who gave more than the audience's money's worth every time he got on to the stage --no matter how enfeebled he may have been on that day.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 31 Jul 2009, 21:58

Dear MKR,
I am delighted you are participating in this forum. Are you in NYC or Chennai now a days? will you be in chennai dec-march?Write me at [email protected] participation will raise the LEVEL of this forum.

Reg Rajeshnat's comments about PSP & PMI , SEVERAL persons have felt that PMI was not perfectly at home playing for MMI & PERSONS have told me that PMI has told them that somehow PSP is PERFECT FOR MMI & NOT HIM. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PMI's total & UNMATCHED honesty? However having heard MMI concerts in detail my conclusion is that MMI was so VERSATILE his choice of what he sang, how he sang, etc depended on the accompanists, audience as well as circumstances of the concert with LISTENERS being his TOP PRIORITY. Also PMI has done a PERFECT JOB IN ACCOMPANYING MMI. HE WAS CALLED "Kaliyuga NANDI" FOR very good reasons! ..Incidentally SOMU with his 7-8 hour concerts with many leading accompanists ended up with many of them excusing themselves from accompanyimg him on a regular basis!...VKV

VISHNURAMPRASAD · Post by **VISHNURAMPRASAD** » 31 Jul 2009, 23:39

Another anectode that I had read from a 1950 Kalki issue.

Shri MMI was travelling from Mayavaram to Chennai on an unreserved third class compartment to go for a concert the next day. He climbed up to the luggage berth and fell asleep soon. There was a marriage cook party which also travelled in the same coupe with all Andaaas, kundaas and vazhai ilai (banana leaves) kattus. When the train had a sudden shake while leaving a station Shri MMI fell down from the top berth much to the shock of the other passengers sitting down. But only to find him falling down exactly on the Banana leaf pack, which saved his life as even an inch further or before could have landed him on to the iron vessels.

This incident was narrated by the famous cook Mayavaram Aghoram who was sitting down with his co- cooks in the same coupe. Mayavaram Aghoram was very popular with musicians as he had cooked for many thyagaraja utsavams held in Thiruvayar and it is said that musicians like PMI / MMI / SSI / GNB were his admirers for his excellent cullinary.

The popular cook went on to say that only goddess saraswathi had saved this great man of music to enable us to hear for a longer period. He then moved on to the top berth and made MMI to sleep comfortably in the lower birth seat.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 01 Aug 2009, 08:51

VISHNURAMPRASAD wrote: When the train had a sudden shake while leaving a station Shri MMI fell down from the top berth much to the shock of the other passengers sitting down. But only to find him falling down exactly on the Banana leaf pack, which saved his life as even an inch further or before could have landed him on to the iron vessels.

VRP
Apart form Goddess saraswathi, it is the buoyancy not the rigidity of madurai mani (both in frame and sangeetham )that saved him. Who knows perhaps mmi was just humming sAdA nanda thAndavam ... sAghA varAm thA thA?

rahm221 · Post by **rahm221** » 02 Aug 2009, 13:28

Hi

Could any kind person please upload the Begada krithi Anudhinamu originally contributed by Vishnuramprasad in post 345? That link has expired.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 04 Aug 2009, 22:09

Dear VKV: Your comments on the MMI-PMI_Palani axis are astute and on the dot!! In my opinion,MMI was well above the fray when it came to petty politics--I remember once in Bombay when he had come for a concert and I had accompanied my father to see MMI who was hosted by his uncle Mr.Natesa Iyer in Matunga(who lived near the King george School-next to Ruia Colege),it was CSM who was due to accompany him,MMI asked in a very low-key whether PMI had expressed any reservations about playing for MMI--my father assured him that was not the case. As I had written in my earlier post it was the concerts in Chennai that PMI was reluctant to accompany MMI because of the long duration ofthe concerts and PMI's desire to get back to Tanjore the same night. Outside whethr in Bombay or Calcutta there was no such travel constraint for PMI.

Ihave sent you an e-mail today. Let's talk.
regards,
Ramesh.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 04 Aug 2009, 23:53

Dear Ramesh,
I am happy to get in touch again tho' we don't need any formalities! WE ALL REALLY MISS YOUR ILLUSTRIOUS FATHER & I REALLY MISS HIS TRULY PENETRATING ANALYSES. I was fortunate to be in close touch with him towards the end tho' like most I was shocked he suddenly passed away. A TRULY GREAT SOUL who did so much towards our music & educating us in the process...I am glad you are a good fill in for him & can EDUCATE many in this forum in an authoritative fashion.

I am writing you separately as I find my sentiments & emotions overwhelm any rational statements...VKV

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 05 Aug 2009, 12:00

jayaram wrote: Hope today's musicians (esp women) take a cue from such great souls.
(Btw, this site has a few lovely downloadable recordings of MMI.)

It is understandable if women musicians dress up a bit more than required. Look at the way Kadri Gopalnath dresses. Really funny. He wears gAdi sarees as veshti. And his other ornaments and multiple layers of makeup, pottus .....

kapali · Post by **kapali** » 08 Aug 2009, 21:50

When MMI rendered his well known shanmughapriya RTP ---Mahathma mani vazhi nadhapom in a OCT 2 AIR concert, he concluded the concert with a small song on the Mahathma in ragamalika ----Mohanam and Madhyamavathi. Does anybody remember this song / its lyrics?------Kapali

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 09 Aug 2009, 10:07

kapali wrote:When MMI rendered his well known shanmughapriya RTP ---Mahathma mani vazhi nadhapom in a OCT 2 AIR concert, he concluded the concert with a small song on the Mahathma in ragamalika ----Mohanam and Madhyamavathi. Does anybody remember this song / its lyrics?------Kapali

Many times MMI has rendered the entire song"Mani Mozhi" composed specially for MMI by yhe IMMORTAL CHITTI SUNDARARAJAN in addition to the Pallavi referred to above.When Mathma Gandhi was assasinated MMI just could not bring himself to sing again. After a month he was persuaded to sing in PALANI with Chitti composing a special song on Gandhijifor that occasion.. I can scan it & send it or mail a xerox copy if you give your email (mine is [email protected]).Chitti was a member of the famous Manikkodi writers( which included Va.Ra among others) & they were also regular attendees at the Manimandapam concerts in Tiruchi where THE BEST concerts of MMI were given. Chitti knew MMI from tiruchy days....Incidentally Chitti wrote the presidential address of MMI for the academy at MMI'S request in consultation with him; The academy would not let him read it as he was not an "Artiste"; MMI was threatening to turn down the Sangeetha Kalanidhi & luckily a compromise was reached with the sixteen year old nephew TVS reading his address! Later in Tamil Isai Sangam proved they were less "STUFFY" when Chitti read the presidential address.....

kapali · Post by **kapali** » 09 Aug 2009, 19:31

Dear Sri VKV, thanks for the interesting anecdote regarding Chitti Sunderarajan's compositions on Mahathma Gandhi for MMI's concerts and

also events relating to MMI's Sangeetha Kalanidhi presidential address. My email address is [email protected] and will be glad to recieve your copy of the full composition. If my memory is correct one phrase forming part of that song was "buvikkulle vazhvikka vandai"

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 10 Aug 2009, 15:17

Dear Kapali ,
Sri MMI was against rigidity in adhering to the list and duration of songs in a concert to be given in advance in Music Academy . Even after intimating the Academy people that he was not adebt in giving talks and let Chitti prepare and deliver talks on his behalf , it was refused . MMI prefered to stay away from academy . But they could not ignore him as his music was sought after by both the common & the learned among the rasikas without exception. He was given total freedom to change from the listed items and was requested to adhere to it as far as possible! Even now we can see the nameboard in front of his house " ISAI PERARIGNAR MADURAI MANI IYER " and not " Sangeetha Kalanidhi Madurai Mani Iyer"

Talking of Chitti Sundararajan, Manikodi Srinivasan , my grandfather's cousin started the periodical in !930's and Chitti , VaRa and others joined later
They were all ardent fans of MMI . They all agreed with him that music should be spontaneous and not like in Western Countries where there is pindrop silence during concerts. It is the responsibility of the musician to keep the audience in awe. Even Semmangudi Mama once criticised " Why You rasikas clap at the end of each song? or alapana? unless there is something special . Do you want me to close the concert as it is in Thiruvaiyaru Aradhana!
Talking of Thiruvaiyaru & MMI . When rasikas clap at the end of a kriti , it usually means , the singer should give way to the next one and the only exceptions in those days were the concerts of MMI & MSS . Once when Ariyakudi Mama was scheduled to sing after the concert of Srimati MSS , he simply refused and sugested Mani in his place , as " after MSS 's concert , everybody will raise and leave the Pandal whoever be the next singer and it is only MANI who can not only keep the crowd in tact and there would be fresh inflow !"

chetants · Post by **chetants** » 20 Aug 2009, 17:55

Dear Rasikas,
In one of the commercial casette recordings of Sri. MMI in which Sri. Chowdiah has accompanied him, Sri MMI sings Dikshitar's Kamalambam Navavarnam in Sahana. One can hear excerpts of a female singer accompanying him and I am presuming it to be Smt. Savithri Ganesan, who unfortunately passed away in the Ariyalur train accident. Can someone confirm this?

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 20 Aug 2009, 18:48

Balummi wrote: Even now we can see the nameboard in front of his house " ISAI PERARIGNAR MADURAI MANI IYER " and not " Sangeetha Kalanidhi Madurai Mani Iyer"

If am not wrong it is " GAna KalAdharA Madurai Mani Iyer " and not " ISAI PERARIGNAR MADURAI MANI IYER ".. It was the "gAna kalAdharA" title which he cherished the most...

Arvind..

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 21 Aug 2009, 16:17

Dear Semmu86 & Chetants
It is true that MMI valued "Ganakalathara" which was awarded in 1941 in Thanjavur,
very much, but the name plate in front of his house says " ISAI PERARIGNYAR"only.
The female supporting voice in some of his concerts could only be that of Savitri Ganesan , who unfortunately passed away in the 1956 Ariyalur Train disaster.The only other female desciple of his is Mrs SAK Durga, the famous musicologist , my father's cousin, had never sat with him in any concert.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 21 Aug 2009, 17:47

Balummi wrote:The only other female desciple of his is Mrs SAK Durga

Wasn't Pazhani Smt. Vijayalakshmi his student as well?

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 22 Aug 2009, 10:50

Balummi wrote: but the name plate in front of his house says " ISAI PERARIGNYAR"only.

Dear Balummi sir ,

The name plate says " gAna kaladhArA Madurai Mani Iyer " only as Sri MMI's residence is only at the backside of my residence and even today morning i went and checked

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 22 Aug 2009, 10:54

Pardon my ignorance ... Is Pazhani Smt . Vijayalakshmi the sister of mrudanga vidwAn Sri.Palani Subramania pillai ??

Arvind..

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 22 Aug 2009, 15:02

Dear rshankar & semmu86,

My friends in IIT Madras in 1967 and belonging to Trichy used to inform me that a young girl by name Palani Vijayalakshmi used to draw large audience whenever she sang in Srirangam Temple. She did not belong to Palani , I believe , and was an Iyengar ! Moreover Palani Subramanya Pillai who passed away in 1961 at the age of 60 was much senior to Vijayalakshmi and was a bachelor Palani Vijayalakshmi was not a desciple of MMI

I never visited Sri MMI's house after he passed away in june1968
ISAI PERARIGYAR was the last major award received by Sri MMI and probably this nameboard was kept in view for a few years and subsequently reverted to GANAKALATHARA only Sri TVS may be able to answer

kapali · Post by **kapali** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:03

My elder brother T.K.Nagarajan ,ID: [email protected], 81 yrs old now sent me recently an email relating to his "random thoughts on MMI",which are as follows,I am reforwarding it in these columns---it looks interesting,

Till the age of twenty, I was not interested in carnatic music. I had heard cinema songs

of Kittappa, M K Thyagaraja Baghavathar and MS. But somehow I had not associated

them with carnatic music. One day I happened to hear a song on a gramaphone record.

The song was so foreign to me that I went out so as not to embarass the others

who were listening to it with great appreciation. Later I learnt that what I heard was an alapana

of the song sarasasamadhana by one by name Madurai Mani Iyer. I had not listened to the rest of

the song. But then as days passed by, this alapana somehow kept coming back to me refusing

to budge. Later on I heard a few more songs of MMI. But what drew me finally to carnatic music was

a rendering of the song Sukhi Yevvaro by MMI. The waves of swaraprasada still rings in my ears.

As far as I am concerned, I have yet to hear the song rendered as good as MMI did on that day.

Madurai Mani became a house hold name in my family.
In the year 1955 my elder brother bought a tape recorder from England. The tape recorder was
a novelty in those days. This helped us to record a whole lot of carnatic music from stalwarts of the day.

One day, as we were listening to a recording of MMI, four youngsters appeared at the gate and told us

that they heard MMI's voice from our house and would like to join us. At that time it was surprising to see youngsters get interested in the serious Carnatic music of MMI . Carnatic music concerts

picked up in Bangalore in the early fifties. There was a sabha in Seshadripuram where free concerts
were held during Ramanavami at the spacious school ground. There was always a big crowd in all cutcheries. Vocalist T.K.Rangachari ( who himself was an admirer of MMI) , while
giving a performance at Seshadripuram Ramanavami festival mentioned that MMI had told him ' If you want to sing to an appreciative audience
you should do so at Seshadripuram'. MMI was always in his elements at this venue.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:39

Dear Kapali,
Thanks very much for the post containing your brother's observations.. I will correspond with him certainly as I am trying to meet as many persons who knew MMI personally or thru' his music. As a matter of fact on jan 8th evening( Ragha sudha hall) in connection with MMI REMEMBRAMCE DAY celebrations as part of it I( as thoe organiser) am planning to have a half hour panel discussion on their personal with experiences with MMI or his music & he would appear to be an ideal person for the panel. Does he live in Chennai?........Also I want to say that unlike Madras organisations which were STUFFY & restricted the time& scope of artists during the so called season etc Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, even Jamshedpur among other places ouitside of Madras is where the artists felt unconstrained & the BEST concerts occurred. I am from Madras myself.....VKV

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:41

vkv43034 wrote:Dear Kapali,
Thanks very much for the post containing your brother's observations.. I will correspond with him certainly as I am trying to meet as many persons who knew MMI personally or thru' his music. As a matter of fact on jan 8th evening( Ragha sudha hall) in connection with MMI REMEMBRAMCE DAY celebrations as part of it I( as thoe organiser) am planning to have a half hour panel discussion on their personal with experiences with MMI or his music & he would appear to be an ideal person for the panel. Does he live in Chennai?........Also I want to say that unlike Madras organisations which were STUFFY & restricted the time& scope of artists during the so called season etc Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, even Jamshedpur among other places ouitside of Madras is where the artists felt unconstrained & the BEST concerts occurred. The RAMANAVAMI concerts at Seshadripuram are still ringing in my ears. I am from Madras myself.....VKV

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:45

MODERATOR: PL REMOVE post 374 as it was the post I edited to 375! dont know how both showed up!VKV

kapali · Post by **kapali** » 26 Sep 2009, 06:09

Dear VKV, noted your comments and will pass then on to my brother who is residing at Bangalore.

In the meanwhile, Iam forwarding below the remaining part of his note"random thoughts on MMI" which he had emailed to me.

T.K.Nagarajan Krishnaswamy
to me
show details Sep 20 (6 days ago)
Early in the sixties, as I was tuning the radio one evening,

I found A I R Bangalore broadcasting a live relay of MMI. I switched

on the tape recorder immediately. During this concert he sang the

song ' sarasamuki ' and I was lucky to get it recorded. The violInist

was Lalgudi - no guessing was required. The sounds

'aaha, sabash, and the like' emnating from the audience showed

how the audience was captivated by the concert. Lalgudi was

also superb. Half an hour later came the announcement that the

relay was from Mysore. This was first time I guess MMI had sung at

Mysore.

Once T K Murthy the Mridangam vidvan had paid a visit to our house.

We knew that he was good at mimickry. We named a few musicians and

There he was singing in their style and imitating their body gyrations.

When we came to MMI, he said " oh! no, not Madurai Mani Iyer ". That

showed the high regard he had for MMI.

In 1965 or 1966 we had MMI's concert at the famous Seshadripuram

grounds. It was pathetic to see Madurai Mani Iyer being lifted bodily and

brought on to the dais in a sitting position by Vembu Iyer and an assistant.

That was his last performance at his favourite venue.

One night I chanced to hear MMI when I accidently tuned to AIR Bangalore.

When I looked up the day's newspaper, this programme was not listed. I had

missed the initial part of the programme. At the end of the programme, came the

announcement that Madurai Mani Iyer had passed away earlier in the day.

I still remember the Secretary of the local music Sabha in Malleswaram, Bangalore

telling me that MMI was one artist who did not bargain regarding payment of fees

for his concerts.

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 04 Oct 2009, 11:42

There is a moving incident concerning MMI and Kanchi Mahaperiyava.MMI in his evening years after loss of vision was performing for H.H. in Mambalam camp of H.H. H.H. was keeping rhythm by closing his fist on top of which he had kept a peel of Orange fruit raising the audibility of his Taal.At the conclusion of the concert MMI asked who was keeping the rhythm and wondered it was perfect to which Mutt officials mentioned that it was H.H.MMI cried mentioning that he could not have darshan of H.H. to which Periyava graciously replied that He was always seeing him even if MMI could not see him

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 06 Oct 2009, 06:23

Dear Kapali,
THANKS for interesting information! I will write your brother soon. I have been traveling& want to write a detailed email to him. VKV

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 06 Oct 2009, 09:12

One more incident -of MahAswAmigaL and MMI. It seems once MahAswAmigaL was passing thro the house where Shri MMI was staying; when others came to have His darsahan and Shri MMI did not come , swAmigal enquired about it; when told that MMI did not come because he had not taken bath, MahAswamigaL said it seems 'for him, who is all the time engrossed in nAdayOgam, such rituals are not important'. Our guru always tells us about this incident.

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 07 Oct 2009, 13:58

Dear Punarvasu,
It was not Maha Periyava was passing through MMI's house , Maha Periyava was staying in Sanskrit college in Mylapore and one morning He was missing and was traced to MMI's house nearby waiting for MMI to wakeup to listen to some music ! MMI was startled to learn about this and could not be convinced to have darshan of Swamy as he had not had his bath yet . But Periyava said it was not neessary that Mani should have physial Snanam as he was always immersed in Nadhayoga!

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 07 Oct 2009, 14:46

Balummi, thanks for the correction.
What a great musician Shri MMI was, that MahAswAmigaL went ot his place to listen to his music!

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 07 Oct 2009, 14:50

Balummi wrote:Dear Punarvasu,
It was not Maha Periyava was passing through MMI's house , Maha Periyava was staying in Sanskrit college in Mylapore and one morning He was missing and was traced to MMI's house nearby waiting for MMI to wakeup to listen to some music ! MMI was startled to learn about this and could not be convinced to have darshan of Swamy as he had not had his bath yet . But Periyava said it was not neessary that Mani should have physial Snanam as he was always immersed in Nadhayoga!

This was a sequel to another incident.Actually Periyava was going around Luz corner and one big shot was waiting for H.H. with Purna Kumbha at a nearby road.Without entering that road,H.H.Suddenly turned towards MMI's residence enquiring whether he was available at his house.The Mutt officials hesitantly told that the big shot was waiting.H.H.mentioned that that person slapped his mother and H.H. did not deem it fit to receive Purna Kumbha from him and to avoid him H.H. sat in MMI's residence for MMI to sing for him

rrkrishn · Post by **rrkrishn** » 16 Oct 2009, 07:42

Can some one tell me on what date the 100 th anniversary celebrations are planned in Chennai?

Rama Krishnan

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 17 Oct 2009, 23:51

MMI'S BIRTHDAY WAS OCT 25 1912. I donot know about Chennai Organisations & so far NO ONE INCLUDING PERSONS CLAIMING to be his disciples to advance their careers using his name HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING RECENTLY........ So on my own I am organising an annual event at Raga Sudha Hall on my own under the aegis of "Global Music Forum of Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival"-I am the President- & hope to conduct a GRAND FUNCTION. The dates are not yet finalised & I will periodically updater here&elsewhere. If you email me at [email protected] I will be happy to inyteract esp. if you have some ideas of your own. VKV

birminghamKrishnan · Post by **birminghamKrishnan** » 19 Oct 2009, 20:43

http://www.columbuscarnaticmusic.org/pd ... iMani1.pdf
http://www.columbuscarnaticmusic.org/pd ... iMani1.pdf
Two article from the special Sruti issue(march 2009) on MMI.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 20 Oct 2009, 21:13

I think both of them refer to same article when opened.

pvs · Post by **pvs** » 20 Oct 2009, 23:46

A typo. I tried replacing the 1 with a 2 and it's a new article! Thanks.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 21 Oct 2009, 04:11

pvs- Thanks.

Just listened MMI's "Shudda Saveri" followed by "Darini Telusu" with LGJ & Palani SP. What an evergreen treatment! U feel so refreshed after listening. Any number of times listening to MMI's records makes the listener recharged.

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 20 Nov 2009, 16:53

Yesterday night I was listening to MMI 's Kalyani piece " CHIDAMBARAM"a composition by Sivan.From the beginning till the end it was a real spiritual experience! and at the end there was a long scintillating swara korvai and you are suddenly transported to heavens. As my friend Parthasarathy used to say " do not listen to several pieces of MMI at the same time , one piece at one time and assimilate it and only then we must go to the next one ". In this way I had memorable experiences while listening to his Sri Rangapura Vihara Sri Satyanarayanam and Heharika Ga

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 20 Nov 2009, 21:33

Balummi wrote:Yesterday night I was listening to MMI 's Kalyani piece " CHIDAMBARAM"a composition by Sivan.

Balummi
I thought I had all the recordings of mmi, but it looks possibly since this song may not have been tagged, I would have missed it. If the no is not a commercial , can you share by uploading or pointing to any uploads i sangeethapriya

rkiran · Post by **rkiran** » 21 Nov 2009, 01:41

Rajeshnat,

I have only found one or two concerts of MMI that are pre-60s on Sangeethapriya. If you happen to have any others can you please upload them to Sangeethapriya or elsewhere.

Thanks in anticipation.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 21 Nov 2009, 09:01

VKV Sir
In the recordings that you had given last year some time back, this chidambaram in kalyani is not available(BTW I took roughly close to a year to hear all the concerts). So balummi can either upload or point to the link of mmi's cidambaram ena manam kanindDum-kalyani-pApanAsam Shivan. kalyAni a raga that I prefer not to hear but with mmi's vasudevayani and kamalAmbham bhajarE ,mindset about kalyAni changed entirely.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 21 Nov 2009, 09:27

rajeshnat wrote:VKV Sir
In the recordings that you had given last year some time back, this chidambaram in kalyani is not available(BTW I took roughly close to a year to hear all the concerts). So balummi can either upload or point to the link of mmi's cidambaram ena manam kanindDum-kalyani-pApanAsam Shivan. kalyAni a raga that I prefer not to hear but with mmi's vasudevayani and kamalAmbham bhajarE ,mindset about kalyAni changed entirely.

What I had give you is a miniscule of what I am bringing in H.D. this time. That one was requested by some one. CHIDAMBARAM IS IN THE H.D. This has close to a hundred i think; I still have to put incomplete concerts+ lots of cassettes to be converted.There are two versions one with Chowdiah in Tamil Isai Sangam. VKV

Balummi · Post by **Balummi** » 21 Nov 2009, 12:11

Dear Rajeshnat,
Sri VKV sir must be having all our recordings through Sri Vishnuprasad . I had personally handed over to him the detailed list of my MMI recordings contained in 33 MP3 CDs each roughly about 10 hrs duration. I had freely distributed these CD's to all and sundries all these days and none of them had listened to them I got frustrated and now I have decided to give these CD's only to those who are really interested! and if at all I may get any of his recordings that I don't have in exchange!I would be very happy I really do not know how to upload them and pehaps Sri Vishnu might help you

venu sundar · Post by **venu sundar** » 14 Dec 2009, 23:17

I am oe of those who enjoyed taking hot pongal amidst the chanting of hymns in the temples during Margazhi in Chennai.Further it is the Christmas and one gets the variety of cakes from various friends and the taste lingers on till the new year which would be following,Yes the music and dance season is another unique festival entertainning many.While the ladies would be comparing their jewellery and silk sarees the menfolk would be talking about the quality of cofee in the canteen and other snacks.A few of the real music lovers would be discussing the music too.December is the dearest month for many of our friends always!Margazhi is the month of music season and we love the same.
We were about a dozen of music 'Fanatics' of the legendary Madurai Mani used to enjoy his music and make it a point to go nook and corner of Madras@Chennai to listen to his music which was divine to us.We rate MMI as the Sachin of carnatic music.Like sachin he was also short but his perfomances were great ones.We are proud to be the MMI Fanatics!Venu S/O Chitti Sundarajan of Manikkodi Era a close friend of MMI!

venu sundar · Post by **venu sundar** » 15 Dec 2009, 12:07

We are a bucnh of music lovers who used to be regular at December Music Festival at the Music Academy.We used to be there dot on time to see the Icons of 50s and 60s who were dominating the Festival.Ariyakudi,Semmangudi GNB,& Madurai Mani Iyer the great.Why I Single out MMI has a valid reason He is our God of Music and we are MMI fanatics to say the least.In the year when he was conferred the title of Sangeetha Kalanidi we all celebrated it with gusto.when he used to sing 'Entha sowkiya Panile of Thyagaraja we used to compare the raga with the Copy in the canteen since that raga was Copy!MMI used to sing "eppo Varuvaro' as one of his Thukkadas.When rasikas used to ask for it the Violin Mastero Thiruvalngadu Sundaresa Iyer Used to say' Wait!Varuvar ,Varuvar!'meanning he would surely sing that piece.When MMI sang the English Notes we used to dance very spantaneously.MMI is a legend and was the Sachin of Carnatic Music.We enjoyed MMI music extensively.One of my friends used to be emotional and cry at MMI concerts.While another friend used to say that his fever would be cured on listenning to MMI.MMI =Music!

venu sundar · Post by **venu sundar** » 15 Dec 2009, 22:51

At the outset I want to emphasis that I am very proud to be an ardent "fanatic' of Madurai Mani Iyer the great who mesmerised audience during his time extravagantly. !We learn that young Mahadevan son of SRI TVS is singing with his dad now!We welcome Mahadevan!
TVS did carry forward the legacy of MMI and sustained the rhythum to a very great extent.But for us who are technically eligible as 'Senior Citizens'both by the Rlys and Income-Tax rules MMI concert in the 50s and 60s were the real experience of melody and we still live on those cherished moments.Again at Kapaleeswarar Temple there would be milling crowd which used to occupy seats after dinner say around 8P.M MMI would normally start his concerts with the famed 'Vathapi' and the crowd would become exalted and one would feel the happiness fully realised.At the stroke of 10P.M "kananKAn Kodi ' would fill the air and the entire rasikas used to give claps that can only be heard to be beleived.When MMI used to sing 'Kandan Karunai' the end of the song will be marked by
Ghatam to be thrown up and caught amidst the ecstacy of audience present.MMI was the embodiment of Swaraprastharam art and those concerts were the gifts of our lives.We wish and hope like TVS MMIs Nephew-Disciple Mahadevan Carries the torch lit by great MMI!

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 30 Dec 2009, 09:28

PLEASE see announcement under General Discussions on MMI Rememberance Day on Jan 8 5:30 P.M. at Raga Sudha Hall.

Also I need to get in touch with Vishnuprasad & Balummi as soon as possible regarding this function. My cell no. is: 9566124075 & email [email protected]. PL Respond as soon as you see this note. Thanks, VKV

venu sundar · Post by **venu sundar** » 04 Jan 2010, 10:34

wE ARE very much excited to note that MMIs Day will be celebrated on the 8th Jan 2010 at Raga Sudha Hall.Let all of us join and enjoy MMI Music!

VENU Sundar