P. Datchanamoorthy
A Puducherry thavil player, son of a nadaswaram artist, who has played at more than 5,000 temples, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2025.
The thavil is the barrel drum that accompanies the nadaswaram at temple festivals and weddings across South India. P. Datchanamoorthy has played it for more than five decades. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of art, from Puducherry [1].
A musician’s son
Datchanamoorthy was born on 21 December 1956 in a village in Puducherry, the son of R. Poovan, a nadaswaram artist [2]. Since the thavil goes with the nadaswaram, he took it up at 15 [2].
Thousands of performances
He has played at more than 5,000 temples and 8,000 family and traditional ceremonies, and at more than 3,000 government cultural programmes since 2006 [2]. He has dedicated his life to passing the thavil on to the next generation [2].
The Puducherry government gave him the title Kalaimamani in 2009, and he was made an asthana vidwan (court musician) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham in 2014 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2025: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2025: citation for P. Datchanamoorthy — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
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