Thavil Kongampattu A V Murugaiyan (born 1964) is athavil player from thePuducherry Union Territory inIndia.
In the year 2022, Govt of India conferred thePadma Shri award on Murugaiyan for his immense contribution for conserving the ancientCarnatic musical instrument thavil.[1] Murugaiyan was the only person from Puducherry Union Territory to be honoured with a Padma award in the year 2022.[2]
Murugaiyan was born in Kongampattu village inVillupuram district inTamil Nadu. Later he chose to live in Chinna Kottakuppam inPuducherry Union Territory. His father Vivekanandam was also a thavil musician and Murugaiyan learned the initial lessons in thavil from his father. He completed three years of study at the Govt Music College, Thiruvaiyaru and graduated with a degree in thavil. Later he learned everything about thavil fromValayapatti A R Subramaniam, a thavil exponent who had been honored with thePadma Shri award by Govt of India in the year 2007.[2]
After his training, Murugaiyan started paying thavil in public concerts. He played thavil alongside several renowned musicians including his teacher Valayapatti A R Subramaniam,Soolamangalam Sisters, Thirunageswaran T R Subramanian, Namagiripettai K Krishnan and Thiruvizha R Jayasankar, L Subramaniyam and Ustad Alla Rakha.[3] He is also serving as a thavil teacher at Villupuram Government Music School where he has taught more than 300 students in his several years of service.
Some of his notable performances include a performance in the Festival of India held in Paris in 1985 and a performance in theRashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi in the presence of the then President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.[4]
Because of Murugaiyan's immense contributions for preserving the thavil instrument and his huge popularity as an exponent of thavil, the name of the instrument "Thavil" has come to be associated with the name of the village where he was born. The village is commonly referred to as "Thavil Kongampattu".[3]
An interview (inTamil) with Murugaiyan byAnanda Vikatan:Video onYouTube