Agaramangudi and Chidambara Bhagavathar: a forgotten village and a musician

Agarmangudi's deserted village houses the legendary Mangudi Chidambara Bhagavathar, a Carnatic music maestro.

Agarmangudi, an agraharam in Thanjavur, resembles a deserted village. Most of the houses on either side of the agraharam lie derelict, as the owners have left the village.

Among them stands a house overgrown with vegetation and which inspired awe in the field of Carnatic music. It is the house of Mangudi Chidambara Bhagavathar, a kathakalakshepam exponent, who went on to win the prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy in 1937.

“The house is still owned by his descendants. There is nothing today to remember him except for an old photograph of Chidambaraba Bhagavathar, seen with a few others,” said Mahesh, a native of the village as he showed the photograph now kept in the attic.

In it, his gigantic figure could be seen in all its glory. There is an apocryphal story that he used to buy two tickets for trains in which he travelled, to accommodate his huge bulk. His disciples would carry a small bench with them, and which would be placed between the two seats, so that he could travel comfortably.

“Sacred ash adorned his forehead; he wore the rudraksha mala and the bhagavathars’ attire and he started his performances at the fixed time. When he appeared on the stage, there was excitement in the audience and even if the crowd exceeded a few thousand there would be pin-drop silence within five minutes,” writes Prameela Gurumurthy in her book ‘Kathakalakshepa: A Study’.

Bhagavathar himself, in his memoirs, Kalakshebam Yendra Vyasam, recalls how he became a Kalakshebam exponent. He had completed his FA examinations in 1899 from the St Peters College in Thanjavur and was planning to join government service but was initiated into the kathakalakshepa arts by Poovanur Pradaba Ramaswamy Bhagavathar and Asukavi Agaramangudi Sapthagreeswarar Sastri of the village and who both saw a lot of promise in him. The book has been dedicated to them.

“He used to imitate Thanjavur Krishna Bhagavathar, a noted Harikatha exponent of the time. What started as playful activity became serious and in six months he started giving performances,” writes Duraiappa Bhagavathar in his book ‘Kalaksheba Bhagavatharkalin Charithiram’ published by Alliance Publishers.