Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa

Nadoja Pindipapanahalli Munivenkatappa is a master of the tamate, a hand drum with roots in the old Mysuru region of Karnataka. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from Karnataka ^[1].

A drummer from a remote village

Munivenkatappa was born on 2 June 1947 ^[2]. He learned the drum from his father and began performing at 17 ^[2]. He still lives in the remote village of Pindipapanahalli and plays with his fellow artists there ^[2].

A folklorist’s eye

His life changed when the Kannada folklorist H. L. Nage Gowda heard him play at a temple fair in Devaramallur village, Sidlaghatta taluk, and felt he deserved a much bigger audience ^[2]. Since then he has played at thousands of events for Karnataka’s Department of Kannada and Culture, and every year at the Mysuru Dasara ^[2]. Leading a troupe of 15, he has also performed in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Delhi ^[2].

With the state’s support his troupe travelled to Japan in 1992 and to Kannada conventions in the United States in 2014 and 2015 ^[2]. The government named it the state’s best art troupe, and he has taught the drum to thousands of people in Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts ^[2].

Hampi University gave him the honorary title Nadoja, and the Karnataka government honoured him with a state award in 1992 ^[2].