DK Pattammal passes away
The sad news today is that the last surviving member of the “female trinity” of Carnatic music, DK Pattammal passed away. The other two Grande Dames were MS Subbulakshmi and ML Vasanthakumari. To this “trinity” one must also add a fourth, T. Brinda. The contribution of these four women, storming male bastions (sometimes without appearing to do so) and carving a very important place for women singers can never be underestimated.
When I was just starting to get seriously interested in Carnatic music, I read about DKP in Indira Menon’s The Madras Quartet. It made a huge impact on my 20 year old mind.
DKP would not call herself a feminist perhaps, but I don’t think one would be wrong in considering her a feminist icon. Women were supposed to be incapable of pallavi singing, i.e. they were deemed incapable of performing “weighty”* and complex music set to intricate beats. DKP helped to shatter this illusion. We shall always be grateful.
DK Pattammal helped prove that women could sing Ragam Tanam Pallavis, and sing them brilliantly. There are a couple available online here.
As Vidya says in her comment below:
Pattammal was the first Brahmin woman to perform on stage. Today this might seem an oddity.So she did for music in a sense what Rukmini Arundale did for dance. But in the milieu of those times there was a clear bifurcation along caste lines when it came to gender and performance and aspersions were cast upon women from non-Isai Vellala communities.
She had a low, sometimes gravelly voice (though not always), that may not immediately appeal, but draws you in over time. That low, old, tender voice and beautiful wrinkled face moved many when she sang Jana Gana Mana at a ripe old age, with her famous grand-daughter, Nithyashree Mahadevan, for AR Rahman.
Goodbye DKP Amma and thank-you.
* I have some quibbles with the classification of “weighty” and “light” music-see also Vidya’s views here: She sings.. Like a man (updated to add: realised the link wasn’t working-fixed that now)
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I love DKP’s music and admired her tremendously for her dignity and grace. Yes, she took to a public singing career in spite of a lot of trepidation on the part of her family – her father was worried (justifiably, for the time) that no one would marry a girl who exposed herself to the public eye like that. Her beautiful singing and impeccable demeanor ensured that wagging tongues were silenced.
I learned music for a while from her daughter-in-law (mother of Nithyasree and daughter of the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer). She lived in an upstairs flat; Pattammal lived downstairs. Alas, I never got to meet Pattammal – I did not feel it was right to barge into the home of an old, infirm lady. I regret not doing so now!
MS, MLV, DKP, Brinda, Muktha – they were true feminists, without being shrill or aggressive about it.
Many thanks for the nice write-up and the link to her songs. After quite some time I got to listen to her. She was my dad’s favourite. They say, she sung at the naming ceremony of my dad back in 1943. What a voice! The jana gana mana video is superb. I dont have words to describe how I feel seeing it. Many thanks
Madhav
uttara,
A lovely post/ tribute. I heard her live but only once as a teenager and it was a moment of epiphany – the first time my usually unemotional self actually found a tear drop in my eye after hearing her Eti janmamidhi in Varali. A lovely human being and a teacher as well I have heard. Pattammal was the first Brahmin woman to perform on stage. Today this might seem an oddity.So she did for music in a sense what Rukmini Arundale did for dance. But in the milieu of those times there was a clear bifurcation along caste lines when it came to gender and performance and aspersions were cast upon women from non-Isai Vellala communities.
On the subject of Pallavi singing I just wished to add one more point. Kanchipuram Dhanakoti Ammal and her sister were the first women to sing Pallavis.
Vidya, Yes, I know-that’s why I only said she helped prove…not that she was the first, though its often wrongly reported that she was the first (also one of the reasons why I linked to your post!). Am going to put your lovely comment in the body of the post.
The Tavil girl header is brilliant
She played at my wedding
You know,uttara when I read the news today,I thought of you.I had an inkling that you’d post a tribute on DK Pattammal.
She was a cult and she will remain one.
My grandfather was an ardent admirer of the trinity and I’ve literally grown up listening to them.
That was a heartwarming tribute,uttara.
such a moving post: although I did not know of her, I know of the void you must feel.
I’m going to go and listen to all the songs now. hugs.
When I was younger, she was my hero (more than MS) for the sole reason that I have a low pitched voice that can’t hit very high notes and she was one musician who did not sing very high!
But yeah growing up I became more of an MS fan..a twisting feeling in the stomach that none of them is alive.
A lovely tribute uttara.. She really was a pioneer in her field and one of the must humble musicians I have come across. have had the good fortune of interacting with her a couple of times, thanks to SPIC-MACAY.
Have you watched the making of the JAn gan man ideo? The interaction between Rahman and DKP – kinda cute
Hey weren’t you involved in its making too? Do you have the link?
Sad…she had such a calmness about her. RIP, DKP.
M
I had to add this: I just listened to her rendering of Jana Gana Mana. It gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes. As Gooddaysunshine put it – for those of us who grew up with MS, DKP, MLV, Brinda-Muktha – this loss is particularly poignant, as they are all now all no longer with us.
I should look for the video Blogeswari mentioned.
Rest in peace, Smt.DKPattammal.
She was a gold standard. I remember, not only her early recordings that AIR frequently broadcast in the 70′s Thookiya Thiruvadi, (neraval on Etthanayo piravi eduthu eduthhe ilaithen, which phrase some cartoonist in a Tamil publication cruelly took on, ), but also some lessons she gave on the radio. It was amazing to hear her teach some relatively obscure Kalyani kriti for the class, and the electrifying atmosphere of her classical rendering and explanation of the prayogas and gamakas, and her gentle teaching manner.
Her trove of memory could only have been partly conveyed to generations following, and it is a great loss to Carnatic music.
It was Thiruvadiccharanam, in Kamboji, where the above-mentioned neraval comes. A uniquely sublime listening experience. Of course, her Shankarabharanam Thookiya thiruvadi was also in a class by itself.
Uttara: I’ve written a little tribute to DKP as well. Do pop over and read it when ever you have the time and inclination.
Yes I was. Will try and post the Janaganamana full version by DKP sometime