Year-long celebrations to mark DK Pattammal’s birth centenary

DK Pattammal’s granddaughter Nithyasree Mahadevan, an accomplished singer herself, said that a separate committee had been formed in this regard. “The inaugural function will be presided by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. S Sowmya will be performing on that day. The idea behind the celebration is to highlight all the aspects of Pattammal’s contribution,” she said. 

DK Pattammal, who alongside MS Subbulakshmi and ML Vasanthakumari forming the female trinity of music, is hailed as one of the most iconic music personalities. She is credited to have created a performance space for women from orthodox families. 

DKP passed away at the age of 90 in July 2009, several years after the passing away of the other two stalwarts. DKP, who was probably the first Brahmin girl to perform on stage, has left behind a towering legacy, said historian R Venketesh. 

“When she started singing on the stage, she was the only Brahmin female performer,” he pointed out He added that Pattammal was one of the earliest Carnatic musicians to sing in films. And her song ‘Desa Sevai Seyya Vareer’ was perhaps the first to be banned by the British for its patriotic fervour. 

“In Nam Iruvar (1947), her renditions of ‘Vetri Ettu Dhikkum Etta’, and ‘Aaduvome Pallu Paduvome’, a remarkably prescient creation celebrating a free India, went on to be big hits. DK Pattammal’s name was announced in the film before the song-dance sequence began. It was the first time such a thing had been done in South Indian cinema. A rare honour indeed.” 

One of DKP’s disciples Aishwarya Srinivas, who trained under her for over a decade, said, “She would get excited about prizes I won at competitions. She taught me her ever-famous Balagopala in Bhairavi, just a year after I came under her tutelage. That speaks volumes about her magnanimity,” she said.