Palani Subramaniam Pillai
| Palani Subramania Pillai | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | PSP or Palani |
| Born | April 20, 1908 |
| Origin | India |
| Died | May 27, 1962 (aged 54) |
| Genres | Indian classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Mridanga artist |
| Instruments | Mridanga |
| Notable instruments | |
| Mridanga, Khanjira | |
Palani Subramania Pillai (1908–1962) was a well known Carnatic music percussionist. He was adept in playing the mridangam and kanjira. He was the sishya (disciple) of the celebrated Palani Muthaiah Pillai (his father).
Subramaniam Pillai was born on April 20, 1908. He was born to his mother, Unnamulai Ammal, and his father, Muthaiah Pillai who was also a mridangist. He learned mridangam under the tutelage of his father and also had the friendship of ‘Thavil Panchami’ Malikkottai Panchapakesa Pillai. He was also influenced by a renowned mridangist at the time, Dakshinamurthy Pillai. Pillai in return showered great love and affection on young Palani, whom he looked upon as his own son. Before he turned twenty, Palani had the good fortune to accompany stalwarts like Kanchipuram Nayana Pillai, Mazhavarayanendal Subbarama Bhavathar and Mudicondon Venkatarama Iyer. In the next decade others who preferred his accompaniment were Chittoor Subramanya Pillai and importantly Alathur Brothers whose Guru (father of Alathur Subbier), Alathur Venkatesa Iyer was a great admirer of Palani. It was because of Palani that the brothers shifted base from Trichy to Madras and they made a great team. Palani is credited with composing a larger number of major pallavis for the brothers including their tempo and nadai variations. Later the team broke up (due to personal misunderstandings) much to the grief of a large number of listeners and especially Venkatesa Iyer. Iyer managed to effect a reconciliation after a decade of extensive effort and Palani did team up with the brothers but the old camaraderie was gone.
As Palani's playing in the early part of his career was robust and laya-oriented with extensive calculations, many vocalists of the time did not feel comfortable with him except for the few mentioned earlier. It was one of the most popular among the doyens of yesteryears, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar (earlier responsible in advancing the careers of Mysore T.Chowdiah and Palghat Mani Iyer) who took to promoting Palani. There were numerous concerts in which he gave Palani opportunities to play three of four "Thanis" or solos in a concert. It is said that in a concert in Shanmukhananda Sabha in Bombay he asked Palani to play in each of the five nadais, Chatusram, Tisram, Misram, Kandam and Sankeernam. It was he who also persuaded Palani to tone down on the laya intricacies and increased the "sowkya" or aesthetic content in his playing. Palani, probably with considerable regret in having to shed his specialization and scholarship abided by his mentor's suggestion, not only because of the practicality but also because of his great respect for Chembai who was his elder by several years. Bhavagathar's advice stood Palani in good stead.
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