Subbu Arumugam

Subbu Arumugam was a master of villupattu, the Tamil folk art of storytelling in song to the beat of a great musical bow. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

A young poet

Arumugam was born on 28 June 1928 into a family rich in culture in Tirunelveli, the son of A. Subbiah and Subbammal ^[2]. He took to writing poems and lyrics, and trained at the Madurai Tamil Sangam ^[2]. His first book of poems, Kumaran Pattu, written at 16, was widely praised ^[2].

Six decades of villupattu

For more than sixty years he performed villupattu on All India Radio, Doordarshan and television, at sabhas, schools, temples and universities ^[2]. He took the art to Singapore, Sri Lanka, Muscat and almost every Indian state ^[2]. He used it to carry messages that educated and reformed as well as entertained, mixing moral tales, folk music, humour and literature ^[2]. He drew his whole family into the art, and his children and grandchildren carry it on ^[2].

He wrote 47 novels and books such as Villisai Ramayanam, Villisai Mahabharatham and Gandhi Vandhar, and released recordings of his performances ^[2]. He received the Tamil Nadu government’s Kalaimamani in 1975 and Bharathi award in 2017, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2005 ^[2].

Subbu Arumugam died in October 2022 ^[3].