Pattammal passes away
By chennaivision at 16 July, 2009, 4:51 pm
Veteran vocalist D K Pattammal died in Chennai this afternoon after a brief illness. She was 90. She is survived by two sons. Popular vocalist Nityashree Mahadevan is her grand daughter.
Pattammal was born in an orthodox Brahmin family in Kancheepuram. Her father, Damal Krishnaswamy Dikshithar, was deeply interested in music, while her mother, Kanthimathi (Rajammal), was a talented singer.
Pattammal received no formal training. As a child, she would sit through the concerts and imitate the musicians on returning home. She would also sing simple devotional hymns and songs that her father had taught her.
She established a reputation as an authority on the compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar. In addition to Dikshithar compositions, Pattammal has also popularised many compositions of prominent composers like Papanasam Sivan.
Papanasam Sivan introduced Pattammal to singing for films. Although she received many offers to sing for films, she only accepted those which involved the singing of devotional or patriotic songs, and declined offers involving romantic songs. The first film Pattammal sang in was Thyaga Bhoomi. Later, she sang in other films including Naam Iruvar. She has popularised several patriotic compositions of Subramania Bharathiyar.
The ace vocalist received several awards and titles throughout her career. Most notably these include the title ‘Gana Saraswathi’ bestowed on her by the musician Tiger Varadachariar, the Sangeetha Sagara Ratna title, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1961, the Sangeetha Kalanidhi (considered the highest accolade in Carnatic music) in 1970, the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 1971, and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, in 1998. Pattammal was also elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1992.
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