Smt. Padmavathy Ananthagopalan - A Profile
Smt. Padmavathy Ananthagopalan, one of the leading
vainikas of our times, hails from a family of musicians. Her ancestors
are the direct disciples of Saint Thyagaraja and it is no wonder that music
runs in her blood. The only veena player in a family of violinists, Padmavathy
is the sister of the illustrious violin maestro, Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman.
She was meticulously trained by her father, Sri.V.R.Gopala Iyer. Her brother
has also been a constant source of inspiration and guidance. Living in
an environment of culture and tradition, Padmavathy started performing
at the very young age of 12. Ever since, veena has been her life,
her passion, her everything.
Padmavathy considered Padmabhushan Late Dr. S. Balachander
as her 'Manaseeka Guru' - her source of inspiration and was also privileged
to perform along with him. He sent her on a teaching assignment to Singapore
for a period of 8 years to work as a professor for vocal and veena at the
Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. Her husband, Sri. A. S. Ananthagopalan
also accompanied her and worked as a professor for violin at the same institution.
While at Singapore, she published two books in collaboration with the Indian
Fine Arts Society for the benefit of students of music called 'Shadjam'
and 'Rishabam'. Padmavathy is a very great teacher and many of her students
are successful concert performers in veena, vocal and violin.
She returned to India in 1983 and established a school
exclusively for music in 1988 known as 'Sri Sadguru Sangita Vidyalaya'.
The vidyalaya has been functioning very successfully for the past 10 years
and has turned out highly proficient students. Recently she authored a
book for the beginners in Carnatic Music known as 'Abhyasa Manjari'. Following
this successful venture, she came out with a series of cassettes known
as 'Abhyasa Ganam'.
Smt. Padmavathy plays the veena in the Gayaki style.
She emulates all the nuances and gamakas found in the vocal music. She
has specialised in Thanam playing and has established a style of her own.
Padmavathy is an 'A' grade artist and has been featured regularly in the
AIR and T.V. networks. She has performed all over India and abroad. In
1990, she toured the United Kingdom. In 1995, she was invited for a concert
tour by one of the premier organizations for music in United States called
'Bhairavi'. She successfully completed the coast to coast tour along with
her niece and disciple Veenai Jayanthi. During this tour she also
played at the much-reputed Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana festival. In 1996,
the duo again went on a major concert tour to the United States, Malaysia
and Singapore.
Smt. Padmavathy has many awards and titles to her
credit. She was recently awarded the titles 'Gana Saraswathy' and 'Nada
kanal'. Padmavathy is constantly researching and is coming out with innovative
ideas to popularize the veena all over the globe. She has designed a new
portable veena in which the instrument could be dismantled without loss
in tonal quality and can be carried very easily to any part of the world.
At 64, Padmavathy continues untiring to spread the message of Carnatic
music all over the world.
Address:
?Guru krupa',
No. 5, Venugopalan St.,Thirumangalam Road,
Villiwakkam
Chennai ? 600 049.
Ph. (044) 6260885, 6269316.
