Mannargudi A Easwaran

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 26 Sep 2009, 10:13

Let me start a thread for Sri. Mannargudi A Easwaran, one of the most sought after percussionists. Sri. Easwaran is not a stranger to us, there are discussions about him in other threads. It is high time we start a thread for him under the Vidwan sub-forum.

Here is a snippet from the Vidwan's website: http://www.mannargudieaswaran.com/

"...The name Mannargudi Easwaran, came into vogue with the blessings of non other than the Paramacharya of Kanchi Jagadguru Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi. The seer heard the young Easwaran play mridangam, and impressed by the music, called the child near him and asked him his name to which the child replied as Master A Easwaran. Upon learning that he hailed from Mannargudi, Sri Paramacharya rechristened him, saying henceforth you will be called as Mannargudi A Easwaran instead of Master A Easwaran. The maestro fondly recalls this incident: "On the same day after naming me as Mannargudi Easwaran, Sathguru Sri Paramacharya of Kanchi mattam took my right hand on his palm and stroked gently and blessed me".

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 26 Sep 2009, 13:24

Easwaran is perhaps the finest accompanist , kind of he really understands every vidwan/vidushi and gives his best which in turn pushes the vocalist to sing more with quality. My earliest recollections of him was the days he played for Smt MLV, kind of an era where two top mridangist of easwaran's era (one is easwaran and the other srimushnam and to an extent bhakthavatsalam thought not seen him with MLV) were performing and perhaps got the art of playing mridangam perfectly. Also looks easwaran has played for flute mAli and SKR , both I have not had the oppurtunity to hear. One can say easwaran-srimushnam- bhakthavatsalam are half a generation behind say UKS-PR-VR , but certainly will be one of the most talked trios as years roll by.

Of special mention is that his guru is not popular in terms of reach to the audience (kunniseri krishnamani iyer), but to a great extent without guru's branding he has come a long way to be well accepted as one of the greats. His mannerism in kutcheri pandal is always a gentle smile . He has played for many great artists of today, but to me as of now my favourite is his play for the first 4 songs of say with the aggression of maharajapuram ramachandran, he just rocks with excellent anticipation.

Sam,
You may have lot to stay along with your brother. Can I assume among all, Smt MLV must have shaped your brother the most.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 26 Sep 2009, 16:52

Oh yes, his stage presence indeed ... neither too timid nor too loud ...

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 27 Sep 2009, 00:26

He does not restrict his smiles for VIP members of the audience, either, thus helping that presence flow out from the stage. It is always a joy to see him there.

I look forward to more technically-informed comment from members like Arvind, who I know is a great fan of his.

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 27 Sep 2009, 06:07

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 27 Sep 2009, 07:19

wonderful artiste. so nice to see a thread on sri.ME , certainly one of my favourite artists aftre my guru and sankaran sir .. My earliest recollections of listening to Sri.ME was in the mid 90's music season when i joined the " Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer school of Percussion " at the music academy , where academy students will be given pass for the season and we were encouraged to listen to as many concerts and artists as possible .. Naturally as a mrudangam student , my initial concert going selection was based on the mrudangam artiste of the day and i soon heard that Sri.ME is one of the top rankers of our period and decided to attend his concert . And what luck , that concert had harishankar with him.. utter bliss.. A wonderful thani that had a tisra nadai similar to the one which he played at rAgasudhA a few days back , and a wonderful misra koraippu with harishankar pushing him to deliver more and more..

From then on , ME-Harishankar( hence GH for G.Harishankar) had become an obsession with me and i lost count of the concerts featuring them that i had sat through. Perhaps they had a deep knowledge about each other's playing due to their long stint at the AIR .. ME-GH combination may not have had the fireworks present in UKS-GH , Sankaran-GH , KRM-GH , but the aesthetics are so advanced , that is beyond the comprehension of a normal laya student like me..One fine example is when you see the semmangudi podhigai concert video ( which has dwaithamu sukhamA and others , accompanied by ME-GH ) in the dakshinAmurthE krithi , in the starting of the charanam , GH will play a phrase so beautiful , that it almost sounds tailor made for that particular line . Sri.ME with a smile bordered on admiration towards GH , will catch that and in the next sangathI , they both would have played that phrase beautifully.. It is so difficult to explain that but you will definitely get it when you see that video..

This is just one of the million examples i can say.. Sri. ME is really a treasure among us and let us pray that he continues to enthrall rasikAs for many more years to come ..

Arvind.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 27 Sep 2009, 13:56

...A wonderful thani that had a tisra nadai similar to the one which he played at rAgasudhA a few days back

The mridangist's memory! Astounding, Arvind.

I played a PSP clip from the internet to my guruji, who said, "Ah, yes, I have this tape at home", so he probably had not heard it for ten years, and went on to commentate on exactly what combinations and calulations PSP was about to play!

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 28 Sep 2009, 01:17

May I know who your Guru is? VKV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 28 Sep 2009, 01:25

Me or Arvind?

Arvind learns from UKS. My Guruji is M Balachandar, who teaches at Bharatya Vidya Bhavan in London. He learnt from N Ramaswamy Pillai and M N Kandaswamy Pillai.

raghavt · Post by **raghavt** » 29 Sep 2009, 19:56

Two main points that I remember about Sri Easwaran

1. He was accompanying B Rajam Iyer in 1995 I guess. One of my favourite, "Raamabhakti" was the opening song. The voicing and padding of the drum was so sweet, especially in the charanam when RI threw a host of sangathis (especially at ilaagani... pls correct me if I'm wrong

) . He is a great motivator. Alleppy G Manohar was on the ghatam. He motivated and impressed upon him to play more, gave him ample chance to demonstrate his capability, who on the other hand was playing in a subdued manner because he was very much junior amongst the ones who were participating in the concert. His motivation made Manohar to open up and was promptly praised by Sri Easwaran.

2 The BMK concert where MSG, Sri Easwaran and V Suresh had teamed up (available on u-tube). The Shanmukhapriya varnam of BMK, again one of my favourites. What a style of BMK.... simply superb.... and MSG's responses to it. And through all the "Chittaswarams" Sri Easwaran played superbly. Please check that video and experience it.

~ Raghav.

devan_l · Post by **devan_l** » 18 Dec 2009, 14:53

Namaskarum friends,

It is hard to sum up the character of the great Easwaran sir. More than an amazing percussionist, he is a wonderful husband, father and most of all, friend to all those who come into contact with him.

When one sees Easwaran sir sitting on stage, we are filled with a wonderful feeling of warmth. He brings to the stage an amazing energy and cheerfulness, reflected in his glowing smile.

It is hard to find such people today - talented yet so humble - and being able to be associated with such a doyen, means the world to me.

Easwaran sir is not a conventional thinker as many know. His mathematical patterns and calculations are more creative than the common artist, and witnessing his brilliance is a must for all mridangam players and music connoisseurs.

To my understanding, mridangam accompaniment serves the purpose of embellishing the music, with the percussionist's individual/solo talent exposed in the tani avartanam. Easwaran sir does just that. He is able to contribute to the music in a way that makes it aesthetically pleasing, rather than try to dominate the main and accompanying artists.

He is very encouraging, especially to young artists looking for a sense of direction. Possessing the energy of a teenager, Easwaran sir is always ready to explore fresh ideas with youngsters.

As a teacher, he has great patience, and is always willing to try different methods in order to make his students understand. At the outset, he always explains that he wishes to "open" the mind of all his students, and more than learn from his lessons, develop their own creativity and style.
Sitting with Easwaran sir is like sitting with family. He shows no biased to anyone, and always makes it his duty to make those around him comfortable. He gives wonderful advice on all lifes trials and tribulations and shows an equal interest in all students. Each time you leave his residence, Easwaran sir always bids farewell by saying, 'Practice, practice and practice!"

One could go on praising this giant of mridangam, but as the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and all those who meet Easwaran sir, and witness his brilliance will be able to echo my admiration for him.

In honour of a great friend and guru

Devan

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 18 Dec 2009, 15:12

Beautiful words; full of love and respect, and conveying the feeling of warmth of which you speak

devan_l · Post by **devan_l** » 21 Dec 2009, 13:54

Thank u sir for your kind comments. I guess more than mridangam, easwaran sir teaches us to be good people...

devan_l · Post by **devan_l** » 31 Dec 2009, 16:17

Sanjay Subramaniam, Nagai Muralidharan, MAE, KV Gopalakrishnan - Music Academy - 30.12.09

A wonderful concert. Sirs thani in Misra Jampa Talam and the Pallavi were superb!

prithvi.krishna · Post by **prithvi.krishna** » 12 Jan 2010, 11:17

Please note that there is a change in the url of Sri Mannargudi Easwaran's website.

Its http://www.mannargudieaswaran.com

the "a" between mannargudi and easwaran isnt there anymore in the website URL

easwaranmridangam · Post by **easwaranmridangam** » 15 Feb 2010, 21:33

Dear Rasikas... I have been following with great interest your views about me in the vidwan section. I am grateful to you all for the positive sentiments expressed. My success is all due to the blessings of my Guru, my parents and most importantly, you rasikas. For this generosity, I was wondering how I can repay my debt. I thought the best thing I could do would be to share with you my life, starting with the days when I started learning and my 53 years in this field, people I have met, masters with whom I interacted, played pakka vadyam to, their valuable advices and so on with the view that this would be of some benefit to the up and coming generation. I would like to get to know the views of rasikas before I start submitting my life’s experiences. Kind regards.

semmu86 · Post by **semmu86** » 15 Feb 2010, 21:51

please do sir . Am still recovering from the wonderful misra jhampa thani you played along with Vasan sir for Sri.OST at vani mahal on saturday. Will post a review about that seperately later . The final korvai was top class , so that it starts like " soumIthrI thyAgarAju " .. From start to finish , it was just lovely stuff. On behalf of your entire fan base here , i can safely say that we are all eager to plunge into your reminiscence..

Arvind.

easwaranmridangam · Post by **easwaranmridangam** » 16 Feb 2010, 09:34

Thank you semmu86.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 16 Feb 2010, 19:19

Easwaran Sir
I suggest you wait posting those anecdotes as there are lot of stability issues right now. If you post it now there is a definite possibility that many of other forumites will not read it , and once when the thread is buried deep down very likely many will not read it.I am personally not posting three of my concert reviews till it gets to an acceptable level of stability.

Still choice is yours, just a humble suggestion for a very respected vidwan like you who is just about to take up a long tani avartAnam.We want more attendance and attention to your tani avartanam here then a typical tani unexplainable exodus in a concert .

Warm welcome !!!

VISHNURAMPRASAD · Post by **VISHNURAMPRASAD** » 19 Feb 2010, 15:18

We are highly privileged to interact with such a senior vidwan who has performed with maha vidwans like Shri Semmangudi, MS Subbulakshmi, MLVasanthakumari.

Sir, Hearty pranams and Welcome to the Rasikas Forum.

It was exciting to see your old photos in the website especially your arangetram photo of 1959.

Please share your experiences and interactions with great performers of yester years for the benefit of rasikas and young vidwans.

easwaranmridangam · Post by **easwaranmridangam** » 21 Feb 2010, 06:36

My Arrangetram took place on 12th Oct 1958 sunday.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 21 Feb 2010, 15:08

Happy (belated) Golden Jubilee sir.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 23 Feb 2010, 09:30

easwaranmridangam wrote:My Arrangetram took place on 12th Oct 1958 sunday.

ME Sir
In your aragatrem in the first photo in 1958 are you playing mridangam for D.Pasupathi sir.

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 23 Feb 2010, 11:25

Yes, Rajesh

And on the violin was my guru, Sri. Thiruvannamalai Ramamurthi Iyer, who played a significant role in the lives of both of us and in particular for my brother. I think I will leave it for Easwaran Anna to write the rest of his life story. Cheers

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 23 Feb 2010, 12:30

Waiting to hear it all from the horse's mouth.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 24 Feb 2010, 00:24

Me too!

easwaranmridangam · Post by **easwaranmridangam** » 25 Feb 2010, 08:59

When I was three years old my father found out that there are rays of music in my horoscope and this was also supported by a reading of my palm. When my father re-checked this fact with a scholar in astrology he was confirmed that the horoscope indicated that I will become a great artist in the field of layam that too in an instrument with has animal skin. Then my father started the process of finding a suitable Guru for what has turned out to be my blessed profession. I am not very clear as to how my Guru Sri Kuneseri Krishnamani Iyer came to be that, but my mother used to tell me that my father consulted a lot of people prior to deciding on him. Once again, astrology and jathakam came into focus and only when mine and my Guru’s jathakam matched, did my classes began at my early age of 4 years!

A word about my Guru. When he started teaching me, he was about 35 age and residing in Kollam { QUILON }.He and his Elder brother Kunniseri Mani Iyer were disciple of Saththapuram Subbhaiyer My Guru Kunniseri Krishnamani Iyer and his brother Kuniseri Mani Iyer and Palghat T . S . Mani are the disciple of this great mridangam teacher Saththapuram Subhaiyer.So My guru started my mridangam classes at KollamMy father Appayya Dikshidar was a superntentant.in Burmha shell.He got the transver to kollam to enable me to take mridangam classes.After 6 months classes my guru went to Bangalore and settelled there.Then my father again got the transver from Kollam to Katpadi.His idea was that he can bring my guru from Bangalore to Katpadi for my sake.So my father fixed a house for rent for my guru at Vellore Furnish it with all important things including provisions. His regular trips from there to Katpadi where we were living must have been tiring, to put it mildly. But I do not remember at any time my Guru expressing his tiredness or any of this problems that would have besetted him in his life. He was a great man with only one thing in his mind, his welfare of his sishya. If I am what I am to-day, I owe my entire life to him. I will be eternally grateful to him for his benevolence.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Feb 2010, 09:54

easwaranmridangam wrote:When my father re-checked this fact with a scholar in astrology he was confirmed that the horoscope indicated that I will become a great artist in the field of layam that too in an instrument with has animal skin.

Me Sir
Just one suggestion , just always include year timelines in your post . I do know astrology can tell if you can become musician or a doctor , but did not know to this level of granular precision as you will go into layam with animal skin. BTW did the astrologer only say that you will become an artist in layam only or did he say anything else like neenga indian railways la vela pArthu kai naraya sambhAthipingE (you will work in railways and earn lot of money)

easwaranmridangam wrote: My father Appayya Dikshidar was a superntentant.in Burmha shell.

Your father appaya dikshidhar is different from the appaya diskhitar who set verses of slokham like maulAv gangA popularized by mahavidwan semmangudi srinivasa iyer right. Could you also trace chidambaram roots of appaya dikshitar , I am curious on that as I belong to a place very close to yours .

Perhaps in short we can slowdown a bit in your history first finish your roots and joshiyam . I have few questions about kunniseri guru of yours little later.

On a side note what all you type keep it in your machine in a notepad file , so as such this dialogue can go back to your website later.

BTW I went last week to mannargudi rajagOpalaswami temple, I was thinking about you and your brother because I was

(speechless)dont know anyone in mannargudi

easwaranmridangam · Post by **easwaranmridangam** » 25 Feb 2010, 17:33

Dear Rasaikas,

The singer for my arengatram was Sri. D pasupathi. Violin artist was Sri. Thiruvannamali Ramamurthy Iyer.
I belong to the illustrious family of Great sanskrit scholarSrimath. Appaya Dikshathar of Addayapalam, near Arani North Arcort District.(17th Century). This is nothing to do with Chitambaram Dikshidhars.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Feb 2010, 18:08

easwaranmridangam wrote:Dear Rasaikas,
I belong to the illustrious family of Great sanskrit scholarSrimath. Appaya Dikshathar of Addayapalam, near Arani North Arcort District.(17th Century). This is nothing to do with Chitambaram Dikshidhars.

I was assuming appaya dikshitar was always associated with chidambaram dikshitars. There is a good write up about appiah dikshitar in karnatik.com .So as such semmangudi mama's maulav ganga and vara veena geetham in mOhanam were all creations of your ancestor.

raghavt · Post by **raghavt** » 02 Mar 2010, 23:10

Hi All,

I'm very exicted that we all are getting a chance to interact with a Sr.Vidwan like Easwaran Sir. Easwaran Sir... hats off to you, you are very generous in interacting and sharing your experiences with all of us. Thanks a lot for da same.

Thanks.

devan_l · Post by **devan_l** » 26 Mar 2010, 16:47

Namaskarum everyone,

Please join Easwaran sir's facebook fanpage at http://tinyurl.com/yg46xwx. I have uploaded more pictures and youtube video links to the page.

Loges

devan_l · Post by **devan_l** » 27 Nov 2010, 12:21

Always young at heart - Easwaran Mama is a regular participant in YACMs annual Cricket Kutchery

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 27 Nov 2010, 16:33

devan_l
Lovely photo. I can only identify bharath sundar, ME , TVM balAji and I think one who is squatting and looking at the captain is Trichy Pradeep kumar . Cant identify the rest

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 01 Apr 2011, 07:26

A very old picture of Sri Kuniseri Krishna Mani Iyer accompanying in a concert in Bangalore in eary 60s. He was the Guru of Sri Mannargudi Easwaran.

Pratyaksham Bala · Post by **Pratyaksham Bala** » 01 Apr 2011, 09:41

Sam Swaminathan:
Your brother Sri Mannargudi A. Easwaran at the age of eleven!
(Photo published in Ananda Vikatan Deepavali Malar of 1958.)

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 01 Apr 2011, 11:12

Happy Birthday to Easwaran Mama today! I have the pleasure of hosting him in Sydney tonight!

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 02 Apr 2011, 04:42

PB....great stuff...thank you

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 25 Jul 2014, 23:08

Roughly a week back I saw in the paper that Mannargudi Shri Easwaran has got this year's prestigious sangeetha choodamani award from sree krishna gana sabha - Congratulations to easwaran sir.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 26 Jul 2014, 05:13

Congratulations to Sri Easwaran! I am sure Sam is so proud and rejoicing, wherever he is!!!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 27 Jul 2014, 03:47

Congratulations, MAE! So happy for you. Your Cleveland presence and participation are still fresh in my memory

As Ravi put it, wherever Sam is, he would be proud of his Anna.
Our best wishes to your family...

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 01 Aug 2014, 18:50

Well what all is mentioned in The Hindu is already written in the forum especially when shri easwaran participated few years back. In today's Hindu friday review there is a writeup of Mannargudi Easwaran on his choodamani award.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday ... 267855.ece

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 02 Aug 2014, 12:05

Thanks, Rajesh. There is even a brief mention of our beloved Sam in this article.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 07 Aug 2014, 12:14

Dear Rasikas,

Vidwan Mannargudi easwaran definitely is a great Mridangam artist.He plays in a very soft and effective way.However I cannot appreciate how astrology and astrologers played a big role.Perhaps In olden days this was the case.
However one must point out that undue importance should not be attached to Astrological predictions.Astrology definitely is not a Science and My thinking is Mannargudi A Easwaran became a great Vidwan thru his hard work.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 07 Aug 2014, 22:19

Sri Hnbhagavan: I don't think the article is endorsing astrology in any way, nor does it suggest that astrology had anything to do with Sri Easwaran's successes. It merely highlights how seriously Easwaran's father considered his choice of guru. I found the story quite fascinating, actually.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 08 Aug 2014, 01:13

"An astrologer told me..."

I don't think that, when we here this as part of a person's story, our own belief in it matters at all. It just is a part of the story.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 10 Aug 2018, 09:22

Vidwan Mannargudi easwaran is having a felicitation function this weekend. A nice writeup on him that was published in Aug 10th,2018- The Hindu
https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ ... cky_footer

rasikas.org

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