Thavil Kongampattu A V Murugaiyan

Kongampattu A. V. Murugaiyan is a master of the thavil, the barrel drum that accompanies the nadaswaram in south Indian temple and festival music. He is a top-grade artist of All India Radio and has served on its audition juries. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of art, from Puducherry ^[1].

The first student of his guru

Murugaiyan was born on 5 October 1963 ^[2]. He took a three-year diploma in thavil at the government music college in Thiruvaiyaru, and later a national scholarship for young artists ^[2]. He was the first student of the Padma Shri awardee Valayapatti A. R. Subramaniam, and played alongside him for several years; as his guru made Valayapatti a name in thavil, he has done the same for Kongampattu ^[2].

Fifty years of playing

Over 50 years he has accompanied nadaswaram masters such as Namagiripettai K. Krishnan and Madurai M. P. N. Sethuraman ^[2]. He has played with the violinist L. Subramaniam and the tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha, and represented India at the Festival of India in Paris in 1985 ^[2]. He has also performed before President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan and played for 25 years at the Tiruchendur temple ^[2].

For 23 years he taught thavil at the government music school in Villupuram district, training about 300 students ^[2]. He received the Tamil Nadu government’s Kalaimamani in 2006 ^[2].