Nidumolu Sumathi

Dandamudi Sumathi Rama Mohan Rao, born Nidumolu Sumathi, is the only woman mridangam player in the top grade of All India Radio. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Andhra Pradesh ^[1].

A family of musicians

Sumathi was born on 16 October 1950 into a musical family ^[2]. Her father, Nidumolu Raghavaiah, was her first guru, and she gave her first concerts at ten ^[2]. She studied at the Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao government college of music and dance in Vijayawada, earning a diploma in mridangam with honours, and later taught there, retiring as principal in 2008 ^[2].

She learned advanced technique from Dandamudi Rama Mohan Rao, whom she later married; together they became India’s only top-grade mridangam duo and spread the Pudukkottai style ^[2].

Accompanist and soloist

She has accompanied many great musicians, among them M. S. Subbulakshmi, M. Balamuralikrishna, Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, T. R. Subramaniam, Chitti Babu, N. Ramani and Mandolin U. Srinivas ^[2]. She also made a name as a soloist with her laya vinyasam concerts, the first woman to do so ^[2].

She founded Laya Vedika, which holds mridangam competitions to bring young talent forward ^[2].

Honours

The Madras Music Academy named her best mridangist in 1974 and 1976 ^[2]. In 2009 she became the only woman mridangam player to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award ^[2]. She received the Andhra Pradesh government’s Ugadi Puraskaram in 2015 ^[2].