Carnatic vocalist Mavelikkara P. Subramaniam no more

KOCHI

Renowned Carnatic vocalist Mavelikkara P. Subramaniam, 66, passed away at his residence in Thripunithura on Tuesday.

He was battling cancer for some time. He is survived by wife Dhanalakshmi and children Harisankar and Ravisankar. The body will be handed over to Government Medical College, Ernakulam, in accordance with his wish, on Wednesday.

A native of Thripunithura, he had taught at the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts for 22 years. He was also professor of vocal music at the Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, from where he had completed Gana Bhooshanam and Gana Praveena courses as a student of music.

Born on September 9, 1956 to S. Padmanabha Iyer and Mavelikkara Ponnammal, a renowned singer and Harikatha presenter, he learnt the initial lessons of Carnatic music from his mother and later from Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma. A musician who had carved out a style of his own, he had earned appreciation for being a traditionalist to the core.

He had tried to adopt a style of his own by following the traditional concert pattern. “I follow a sense of proportion in all the areas – raga elaboration, kriti rendition, niraval and kalpana swaras,” he told The Hindu in an interview in 2010. He had performed at venues across the country. The eminent Carnatic vocalist had also won the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi’s fellowship for lifetime contribution.