Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar | |
|---|---|
 Chembai in an Indian Stamp | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Vaidyanatha Iyer (1896-08-28)28 August 1896 |
| Died | 16 October 1974(1974-10-16) (aged 78) |
| Genres | Carnatic Music |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1904–1974 |
| Labels | His Master's Voice, Inreco, BMG, Vani Cassettes |
| Website | chembai |
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (bornVaidyanatha Iyer, 28 August 1896 – 16 October 1974) was an IndianCarnatic music singer fromKerala. He was born inVatakara, Kerala, and moved toPalakkad kottayi along with his family during his childhood.[1][2][3] He is popularly known asChembai, or sometimes simply asBhagavatar. Chembai was noted for his powerful voice and majestic style[4] of singing. His first public performance was in 1904, when he was nine. A recipient of several titles and honours (including the Madras Music Academy'sSangeetha Kalanidhi in 1951), he was known for his encouragement of upcoming musicians and ability to spot new talent.[3] He was responsible for popularising compositions likeRakshamam Saranagatam andPavana Guru, among others.[5]
The music critic 'Aeolus' described him as "the musician who has meant the most to Carnatic Music in the first fifty years of the 20th century."[6] His prominent disciples include Chembai Narayana Bhagavathar, Mangu Thampuran, Guruvayur Ponnammal,T. V. Gopalakrishnan, V. V. Subramaniam,P. Leela,K. G. Jayan, K. G. Vijayan,K. J. Yesudas, Kudumaru Venkataraman and Babu Parameswaran, among others.[7] He also mentored many young accompanists, includingPalghat Mani Iyer,Lalgudi Jayaraman,M. S. Gopalakrishnan,T. N. Krishnan,Palani Subramaniam Pillai andL. Subramaniam. Memorial music festivals have been held in his honour annually since his death in 1974, the most important being the annually celebratedChembai Sangeetholsavam.
Chembai was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal on 28 August 1896,[8] into aTamil Brahmin family in Perakkool Madom, adjacent toLokanarkavu,Vatakara inKozhikode, onJanmashtami day.[2] He lived here until he was five years old when the family moved toPalakkad.
The family's connection with classical music spans five centuries. Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar's father, Anantha Bhagavatar, was a violinist and singer from Chembai, near Palakkad, to whom a local Maharaja awarded the title "Ghana Chakratanam", indicating his mastery of a special closed-mouth style of singingtanam.[4] At age 3, Chembai began to learnCarnatic music from his father[3] in the customaryguru-sishya tradition, and also began violin and flute training in 1912. Chembai is also one of 12 names of Sirkazhi, the birthplace of Saint Gnanasambandar 7th century CE inTamil Nadu.
Some of the noteworthy early events that helped shape Chembai's career include hisarangetram (debut concert) inOttapalam in 1904, performances atVaikom andGuruvayur in 1907, his year withKaliakudi Natesa Sastry (1909) and the accolades he received fromPalghat Anantharama Bhagavatar (1911). Between 1913 and 1927, he performed at many different music festivals and sabhas, notably including theMadras Music Academy and the often forgotten Jagannatha Bhakta Sabha. In 1952 Chembai lost his voice and couldn’t chant the name of his favourite deity, Guruvayurappan. He prayed fervently and apparently his prayers were answered when a stranger gave treatment to his voice for 18 days in Poomallianmana in Kerala at the residence of Nilakantan Namboodripad. He came around and was able to sing with increased vigour. Since then, he donated the majority of his earnings to Guruvayoor temple.
Chembai has manyphonograph recordings to his credit, recorded from 1932 to 1946. Those were the days before the advent of the concertmicrophone, and a singer was entirely dependent on the timbre and reach of his voice for a successful concert. Chembai had a voice of great depth.[4] Further, the perception that Chembai's repertoire of songs was limited is highly incorrect. The number of different compositions he recorded is in the hundreds (let alone the total number he performed in concerts and on radio during his career).[9]
Chembai's old friend, T. G. Krishna Iyer, fromTripunithura, had settled inMadras (nowChennai) and offered a house to Chembai on Palace Road nearSanthome. He had composed some 155kritis inTelugu,Malayalam,Tamil andSanskrit under themudra 'Lalita dasar' and requested Chembai to popularise them. Chembai set the kritis to classical music and got them published under the nameLalita Dasar Keertanaigal. He made it a practice to sing these kritis in most of his concerts. He also released a record containing selected kritis from Lalita Dasar's kritis like Evariki Telusunamma (Dhanyasi), Ennil Kaninda (Shankarabharanam), Pavana Guru (Hamsanandi), Varijadala Lochani (Arabhi), among others.[3]
Chembai had a vigorous, strong, vibrant, ringing and resonant voice. He would sing in a clear, open-throated style that requires high levels of physical and mental endurance to pull off, yet, he did so in a seemingly effortless manner. He had a wonderful sense of accurate kala pramana (time measure). He could do aniraval and swaraprastara from any given point, which bespoke of mental alertness in a concert.[10] His empathy for his accompanists and disciples was noteworthy and he would go to great lengths to encourage them.[10] Chembai has given his full emotion in the kritiKsheera Saagaradepicting the mind ofTyagaraja in the phraseTarakanama.[11]
Other stalwarts have admired the strengths of Chembai's singing. For instance, upon witnessing that Chembai was able to sing three major concerts in a single day,G. N. Balasubramaniam is said to have remarked "These are not ordinary men. These are theAsuras of the music field. If I sing one concert, I need to rest the whole of next day".[12] Legendary percussionistPudukkottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai would call him "Laya Brahma" for his impeccable grasp of tala and laya.[12]K. V. Narayanaswamy has also remarked on Chembai's ability to hold notes aligned perfectly to sruti for extended intervals of time.[13]
Chembai had many students, includingK. J. Yesudas and many noted musicians likeT. V. Gopalakrishnan,[14]P. Leela,[15] and theJaya-Vijaya twins,[16] Kudumaru Venkataraman, Paramasivan Bhagavathar and others.[17]
Chembai died suddenly on 16 October 1974, aged 78, of a cardiac arrest. Shortly before that, he performed his last concert at Poozhikunnu SriKrishna temple inOttapalam (the venue of his first concert),[18][19] and concluded the concert with his favourite song "Karuna Cheyvan Enthu Thamasam Krishna?" (Why is there so much delay in conferring your mercy, Krishna?).[20] He was talking to his disciple Olappamanna Vasudevan Namboothiripad when he suddenly collapsed and died. His nephew said he had always spoken about an easy death, and had attained it. He was cremated in his birth village. He was survived by his wife and daughter, both of them who died later. The government music college inPalakkad was renamed toChembai Memorial Government Music College in his memory.
Chembai received several awards and titles during his career, most notably including:
Chembai had been conducting a music festival in his native village from 1924 onwards. This was continued by his family and now by Chembai Sreenivasan and Chembai Suresh (C. A. Subramanian). The concert, called Chembai Ekadasi Music Festival, is held annually in February–March. Chembai also held a music festival onGuruvayur Ekadasi Day (mid-November) at Guruvayur every year. This festival, now calledChembai Sangeetholsavam in his honour, is officially conducted by theGuruvayur Devaswom Board.[25]
The Sri Guvayurappan Chembai Puraskaram, awarded by Sree Krishna Temple,Guruvayur, is instituted in Chembai's memory of the late Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. This award, comprising a cash prize of INR 50,001, a gold locket of SreeGuruvayurappan, a citation andponnadai (a shawl adorned around the shoulders of a dignitary who is being honored), is usually presented during the annual Chembai Music Festival.
The recipients of the Chembai puraskaram include:
Definitions from WiktionaryMedia from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity| Institutions | |
|---|---|
| Genres | |
| Traditional Instruments | |
| Awards | |
| Classical Musicians |
|
| Traditional Musicians | |
| Film Music | |
| Popular Music | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
