B. Sasikumar
Encyclopedia
B. Sasikumar is a noted Carnatic music
violinist, musician, teacher, composer and writer from Kerala
, South India
.
He started his basic lessons in music from his father, who was a renowned Nadaswaram
maestro, musician and composer (also known as Kocchu Kuttappan of the Thiruvalla Brothers). Later he joined the Swati Thirunal College of Music, Trivandrum, Kerala, and took his Ganabhooshanam and Ganapraveena degrees in music under the guidance of noted violinist Chalakkudy Narayana Swamy.
He started his career as a lecturer at Swati Thirunal College of Music in 1967. He later joined All India Radio
, Trivandrum, as staff artiste (Violin) in 1971 and still continues there.
B. Sasikumar has accompanied with his violin many legends in Indian music, like Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar
, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
, D. K. Jayaraman
, D. K. Pattammal
, M. D. Ramanathan
, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Alathur Brothers
, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, M. Balamurali Krishna, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan, T. K. Govinda Rao, K. J. Yesudas
, N. Ramani
(flute), S. Balachander
and Chitti Babu
(veena
) and so on. He has also accompanied various jugalbandi concerts of musical giants Pandit Jasraj
and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Delhi
and Madras.
He has composed and presented an orchestral piece called "String", consisting of only string instruments, with young artistes for the AIR programme.
Sasikumar is a renowned teacher and has a number of students all over the music field. He is noted for his new techniques of teaching and practising. Balabhaskar
, G. Venugopal
, Kavalam Srikumar, Kallara Gopan, Vidhu Prathap
, Attukal Balasubrahmanyam, Dr. Rajkumar (Flute), Soundarrajan (Veena)and Mavelikara Sathees chandran(violin) are his students. He has also presented and directed an orchestra, "Vadyatharangam", including all instruments.
He has released many CDs and cassettes, most of them being devotional songs.
He is a noted composer, composing krithis under the name Chandrapothar, which is a Sanskrit synonym for Sasikumar. He has more than 100 compositions to his credit, including many pallavi
s, Malayalam, Tamil
and Sanskrit
keerthanams. He has also introduced new Tala
s, such as "Chathurangam".
Some of his other noted works are:
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
violinist, musician, teacher, composer and writer from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
.
Profile
B.Sasikumar was born on 27 April 1949 in Thiruvalla, to the late M. K. Bhaskara Panicker and G. Sarojini Amma.He started his basic lessons in music from his father, who was a renowned Nadaswaram
Nadaswaram
The nadaswaram, also spelt nadhaswaram, and also called nagaswaram , is one of the most popular classical musical instruments in the South Indian culture and the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instrument...
maestro, musician and composer (also known as Kocchu Kuttappan of the Thiruvalla Brothers). Later he joined the Swati Thirunal College of Music, Trivandrum, Kerala, and took his Ganabhooshanam and Ganapraveena degrees in music under the guidance of noted violinist Chalakkudy Narayana Swamy.
He started his career as a lecturer at Swati Thirunal College of Music in 1967. He later joined All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
, Trivandrum, as staff artiste (Violin) in 1971 and still continues there.
B. Sasikumar has accompanied with his violin many legends in Indian music, like Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar
Chembai
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad . Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi near Palakkad on Janmashtami day, with Bharani star in the month of Chingam...
, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer is considered to be one of the greatest Carnatic vocalists of the twentieth century...
, D. K. Jayaraman
D. K. Jayaraman
D. K. Jayaraman , the renowned brother of D. K. Pattammal, was a Carnatic music singer.After learning music from his sister, he furthered his musical skills under many known masters in the field, including Muthiah Bhagavathar and Papanasam Sivan. Like his sister, Jayaraman was known for his moving...
, D. K. Pattammal
D. K. Pattammal
Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal was a prominent Carnatic musician and a playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. She along with her contemporaries M. S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasanthakumari were popularly referred to as the Female trinity of Carnatic Music...
, M. D. Ramanathan
M. D. Ramanathan
Manjapara Devesa Ramanathan affectionately called MDR was a Carnatic music composer and vocalist.-Early life:...
, K. V. Narayanaswamy, Alathur Brothers
Alathur Brothers
Alathur Brothers Srinivasa Iyer & Sivasubramania Iyer were Carnatic vocalists. The world of Carnatic music knows them as the star duo of the twentieth century....
, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, M. Balamurali Krishna, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan, T. K. Govinda Rao, K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
, N. Ramani
N. Ramani
N. Ramani is a renowned Indian Carnatic flautist.-Early life and background:N. Ramani was born in Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. Aside from the influence of his place of birth, Ramani was born into a musical family...
(flute), S. Balachander
S. Balachander
Sundaram Balachander , born in Madras was an Indian self-taught veena player.-Early life:His ancestors were from the Tanjore area, which is acclaimed as the seat of culture and fine arts in South India. His grandfather is Rao Saheb Vaidyanatha Iyer. He was born to V. Sundaram Iyer and Parvathi...
and Chitti Babu
Chitti Babu
Chitti Babu is a Indian comedian, presenter and actor who prominently plays supporting roles in Tamil cinema. He was also one of the judges in the comedy show Asathapovathu Yaaru on Sun TV.Filmography=Television=* Hari Giri Assembly...
(veena
Veena
Veena may refer to one of several Indian plucked instruments:With frets*Rudra veena, plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music*Saraswati veena, plucked string instrument used in Carnatic musicFretless...
) and so on. He has also accompanied various jugalbandi concerts of musical giants Pandit Jasraj
Pandit Jasraj
Pandit Jasraj is an Indian classical vocalist. He is the foremost exponent of the Mewati Gharana of Hindustani classical music.-Early life:Jasraj was born in Hisar, Haryana in an orthodox brahmin family to Pandit Motiramji, a classical exponent. His family is well known for singing in the Mewati...
and Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Madras.
Works
As an A grade artiste at AIR, he has been part of numerous concerts and musical programmes. He has produced many musical features for AIR such as "Nadopasana", "Sapthaswarangalil" and "Layicha Mahaanubhaavan" - both on Saint Thyagaraja, "Ganesha prabhaavam" - on Shri. Muthuswamy Dikshithar, "Swathi Pranam" and "Bhavayami Raghuramam" - on Maharaja Swati Thirunal. "Navavarana Krithimahima" was a 10 episode series on Navavarana krithis. He has also directed Adhyathma Ramayanam recital in 2001. His musical features "Gurussaakshaathparabrahma", "Madhavamanavam", "Kaveri", "Sanghagaanam", and "Karnaki" have won National Annual Awards from All India Radio. He still continues contributing lyrics for light songs, conducts and composes songs, composes and arranges musical features, writes dramas and skits for a noted feature of AIR, the "Kandathum Kettathum". His dramas are noted for their classic humour and wit. Some of the famous creations are "Ittaavattatthil Oru Natakam", "Sishyan", "Enikkente Veettil Ponam", "Santhivilla", "Pishukkan", "Paavam Maveli", "Katthivesham Paappukutty Asan", "Amma" (theme from the epic), and "Akam Porul".He has composed and presented an orchestral piece called "String", consisting of only string instruments, with young artistes for the AIR programme.
Sasikumar is a renowned teacher and has a number of students all over the music field. He is noted for his new techniques of teaching and practising. Balabhaskar
Balabhaskar
Balabhaskar Chandran is an Indian violinist, composer and record producer. He is best known for promoting fusion music in South India. Hailing from a musically affluent family, he was introduced to the world of instrumental music at a tender age of three, by his uncle Shri...
, G. Venugopal
G. Venugopal
G. Venugopal is an Indian playback singer, active mainly in Malayalam films. He also has Tamil and Telugu songs to his credit. Venugopal started his career in the film Odarathammava Aalariyam and has sung in more than 280 films and over 250 albums since then.G. Venugopal is a graduate of Kerala...
, Kavalam Srikumar, Kallara Gopan, Vidhu Prathap
Vidhu Prathap
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer born on September 1, 1980. He has sung many songs in over a hundred and fifty films in mostly Malayalam and a few in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages...
, Attukal Balasubrahmanyam, Dr. Rajkumar (Flute), Soundarrajan (Veena)and Mavelikara Sathees chandran(violin) are his students. He has also presented and directed an orchestra, "Vadyatharangam", including all instruments.
He has released many CDs and cassettes, most of them being devotional songs.
He is a noted composer, composing krithis under the name Chandrapothar, which is a Sanskrit synonym for Sasikumar. He has more than 100 compositions to his credit, including many pallavi
Pallavi
In Carnatic music pallavi is the thematic line of a song. It is usually one cycle long and repeated twice in order to give the percussionist the idea of the chosen taalam...
s, Malayalam, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
keerthanams. He has also introduced new Tala
Tala
Tala may refer to:* Samoan tālā, the monetary unit of Samoa* Tala , a DC Comics supervillainess of the Phantom Stranger* Tala , the goddess of stars in Tagalog mythology* Tala , a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music...
s, such as "Chathurangam".
Some of his other noted works are:
- "Thamaoma Jyothirgamaya" presented by Soorya Krishnamurthy,
- Devotional songs (Tamil) - "Sringeri" - with singers Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, Dr. B. Arundhathi, Shri. Kallara Gopan
- DPEP children's songs for music teachers
- "Ayurveda" - National Programme in Doordarshan
- "Attukal Suprabhatham" - sung by Smt. Bhavana Radhakrishnan
- Sivaya Namah" - Devotional songs on Lord Siva - East Coast production
- "Krinashtami", "Mahanavami" - featured on National Network - DDK
Recognition and Awards
- Sangeet Natak Akademi AwardSangeet Natak Akademi AwardSangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
- 2008 - Kerala Sangeetha Natak Academy Fellowship - 2002
- Sindooram Cultural Award -1999
- Trissur Youth Cultural Centre Award - 1997
- Bhasha Sahitya Parishat Award - 1990
- VIOLIN SAMRAT' Award From Kuwait-2011
External links
- Interview on Friday review - The Hindu
- Concert review - The Hindu
- Sangeet Natak Academy Award announcement
- 1974 program of Madras Music AcademyMadras Music AcademyMadras Music Academy, or simply Music Academy, is one of the premier and early Music Academies in the South Indian city of Madras, now Chennai. It plays an important role in encouraging and promoting primarily the Carnatic Music south Indian art form. It also played an important role in revival of...