D K Pattammal
Born on March 2, 1919 to Damal Krishnaswamy Dikshitar and
Rajamal, in the temple town of Kancheepuram, the young Patta was
considered a uniquely gifted child. Her career is unique in that her
foundations were not structured by a formal music tuition, learning `
`Sarala Varisai'', ``Janata Varisai'', Geetham and Varnam, step by
step.
Her talent flowered even as she learned to
sing slokas at home from her music loving father and avidly
listened to the musicians who came and
performed at Kancheepuram. She received tuition from a Telugu
vadhyar who volunteered to give her music lessons.
It was the recognition and
support from her school headmistress
Ammakutti Ammal that enabled Pattammal to appear
for a government examination in music
conducted at Madras even before she reached her teens. Though
such stalwarts as Prof. Sambamurthy, Tiger Varadacharya
and Sri Ambi Dikshitar were examiners, Pattammal was reportedly not
in the least nervous in singing``Sri Subramanyaya Namaste.......'' in Kambhoji
and ``Naa Jeeva Dhara'' in Bilahari. Her performance resulted in an offer by one
of the examiners, Sri Ambi Dikshitar,
a scion of the Muthuswamy Dikshitar family,
to give her instructions.
But, after some initial lessons, she had to return
to Kancheepuram. Pattammal had also attended the summer school for
music run by Prof. Sambamurthy and she even
participated in a few variety programmes given by the summer
school.When she was 14, she gave her first public performance at the
Mahila Samaj in Egmore and won acclaim. She moved
to Madras in 1933 to become a regular performer in the concert
circuits.
Her father not only encouraged her but also i nstilled
in her a sense of discipline and diligence as also a respect
for purity in diction. Even as she matured as a performing
artiste, Pattammal was diligence and dedication personified, reaching out
to different sources to enrich her repertoire.
She took lessons from V. C. Vaidyanathan,
a disciple of ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, N. S.
Krishna Swamy, Kanchi Kamakshi Ammal and Prof. P.
Sambamurthy. She learnt Dikshithar krithis from Ambi Dikshitar and
Justice T. L. Venkatarama Aiyar. She sought
Velur Appadorai Achari for Thevaram and Tiruppugazh
verses and for learning padams, she went
to Rajalakshmi Ammal, daughter of Veenai Dhanammal. She
approached Papanasam Sivan for learning his compositions.
She lost her father in 1940,but, within a few months gained
another guiding spirit, Sri Iswaran,an engineer known to the
family. Sri Iswaran gave up his career to provide moral
support and manage Pattammal's career. Happily, he is still around.
The long career of Pattammal as a musician has been
a quiet revolution in the sedate world of Carnatic music.
Not only did Pattammal manage
to shed the binding coils of orthodoxy in taking
to concert music, she dared venture into a musical area as pallavi singing,
hitherto considered a male preserve. Her mastery enabled her to command
the respect of senior artistes and she came to be known
as ``Pallavi Pattammal.''
Displaying a strong adherence
to tradition and chastity of expression in rendering
Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit compositions, her music has the beauty and
grace of Kancheepuram silk woven on the wrap of classical tradition
and woof of disciplined innovation, in exposition. Her concerts
are as much an aural treat to the connoisseurs as object
lessons to the young students of music.
In her earlier years, Pattammal had, through constant
practice and concentration, earned a reputation for her emphasis on laya. She
handled very unusual and intricate rhythmic cycles, with consummate ease of
command. But as she herself stated ``When I was 50, I lost interest in the
excitements of `laya'. I began to feel that `bhava' was
more important. As I sang more and more, I felt the
power of the content deep within me. `Entraiku Varumo Sivakripai'
was not a string of words; it expressed my devotion through the
melody. I wanted to communicate its melting quality to the
listeners.'' Her music in later years accorded due place to `bhava'.
Pattammal has an unique place of
honour in the world of Indian music. Known
not to sacrifice her Virtuosity and chastity of
expression, at the altar of popularity, Pattammal stands
even today as an out standing example of a music tradition not given to
vocal gymnastics for catering to popular tastes. She has
pursued music as an art and as a science, and not as a means to acquire fame,
honour and wealth.
