Pregalathan Pazhanimani Singaram is a virtuoso Mridangam maestro whose mastery on this instrument is widely acknowledged and respected throughout South Africa and abroad. He is a percussionist of the highest order and deemed a national treasure in his native homeland South Africa. The word “LAYA†is synonymous to his name, such is his deep understanding of Rhythm. When it comes to Rhythm, it is no exaggeration to call him the first among equals. So complete in every aspect of his music, be it Carnatic,instrumental, classical dance music, collaboration (East and West) and Percussion ensemble concerts, that honours awards and rewards are all but punctuation marks in an illustrious career.
Born in the year 1956 Pregalathan hails from a family steeped in the culture of traditional music, song and dance. It is of no surprise that Pregalathan has been playing percussion (mridangam and Tabla) for the past four decades. His late grandfather Mr. C Muniappen Iyer was one of the first South Africans to study the art of playing the Violin in India in the early 1900’s. Pregalathan was initiated into the world of music by his parents, the late Mr. & Mrs. Mack and Panjallai Singaram who were fine musicians at the time and it was his dad who taught him how to play the Tabla. After his formal education at Avoca Secondary School in 1974, he joined the Saiva Sithandha Sungam in Derby Street where he started accompanying the Music Group as the regular Mridangam player. He also became more spiritually inclined under Spiritual Head Swami Sivanandha Navaler. It was during this period that Pregalathan’s talent as a drummer became increasingly recognized and he became very much in demand because of his individuality, originality, technical ability, creativity and style. Some of the more well known artistes he accompanied at the time were P G Pillay, Sunny Pillay, Karthigar Moodley, Harry Arunachellam, I Kistraj Raghavan, Nadarajan Naicker, Mahadevan Nair, Gopalan Govender, Karthigasen Pillay, Kumeressan Chetty, Subbiah Pillay, Kalaimani Govindsamy and G N Moodley. He also participated in the Eisteddfod where he won numerous Gold Medals for Mridangam solos and Thalavadhyams (percussion ensembles).
In the year 1978 Pregalathan decided to undergo formal training in India under one of South India's greatest Midranges Sri. Madras A. Kannan through the Traditional Gurukulavasa system whereby the student lives with his master and a spiritual bond between The Guru and disciple is imbibed. This trip was made possible by Mr. S.P. Pillay of Pakco. In 1980 Pregalathan Singaram became the first South African to graduate in India as a fully fledged Mridangam Vidwan when performed at his Arangetram in the presence of many well known musicians, including Smt.D.K Pattamal, Dr.D K Jayaraman, Dr Balamurali Krishna, Sri. Sirghazi Govindarajan and others. After his graduation Pregalathan was also accorded the unique honour of being invited by D.K Pattamal to accompany her in a concert. Since then he has travelled to many parts of the Globe including countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mauritius, Singapore, India, Brazil and Holland. He has accompanied on the Mridangam many highly rated Musicians like Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Dr. T V Gopalkrishnan, Guru Madras A. Kannan (In his percussion ensemble), Pithukuli Murgudas, Sirghazi Govindarajan, Arunthuthy Ranganathan, Neyvelli radhakrishna to name a few. He also enjoys a very good working relationship with many of the well known local Artistes, like Patrick Ngobo, Magenthiren Balakisten, Krishnamurthy Naidoo, Radhakrishna Pillay, Karthigasen Pillay, Vijayaluxmi Balakisten, Kamini Moodley, Kugendran Munsamy, Pregalathan Vadival, Shanjeeth Teeluck, Richard Ellis, Dan Chiorboli, Kantharuby Munsamy, Lenny Naidoo, Tansen Nepaul, Dickie Kuppan, Sivanathan Pillay, Kesavan Manickum, Dhanalutchmee Naidoo, Indren Pillay, Vishen Kemraj, Mageshen Naidoo, Thyagarajan Govender, Ambigay Konar, Mahenthrie Pillay, Thirupurasundrie Govender, Deanum Balakisten, Sivanandhan and Sylvester Moodley.
Besides being an excellent accompanist, Pregalathan has carved a niche for himself as a soloist with remarkable ability, imagination and creative impulses. In the year 1994 he formed his own percussion group called “Garland of Rhythms†and since then, he has added a new dimension to percussion ensembles in South Africa. He has performed in numerous Drum festivals, including the “Rolling Rhythms†drum festival from 1994 to 2006.
Pregalathan has also performed in numerous television programmes of which the most notable was a complete profile on him on SABC 1 in a production entitled ACT 2 which was produced by Junaid Ahmed.
The highlight of his musical sojourn happened in 2003 when he performed alongside the great Mridangam maestro Madras Kannan in South Africa. It was such an humbling experience for him to sit on the same platform as his master. In the year 2005 and 2006 Pregalathan was invited by the famous Dutch Jazz group “De Nazaten†to perform in ten concerts including workshops and demonstrations on the art of Rhythm and Mridangam. This was a huge success. Also in the same year “De Nazaten†performed with Pregalathan at the Durban Playhouse on the invitation of the “Awesome Africa†festival committee. At this event he received the greatest accolade from the worlds great Tabla Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain.
Pregalathan is survived by his wife Yogambal and their two children, Dr. Sudhashree who is a classical dance graduate and violinist and Arasi who is also a classical dancer and percussionist.