Thirukokarnam Ranganayaki Ammal

Context: One of the first women to enter the male-dominated world of Carnatic percussion

Thirukokarnam Ranganayaki Ammal

• Born on May 28, 1910 she was the second of seven siblings.
• Her father Thirukokarnam Sivaraman was a renowned natuvanar, who was also known for his avadhana pallavis — an art of playing different talas by using both hands, legs and the head.
• Ranganayaki took to the mridangam and went under the guidance of the legendary Pudukottai Dakshinamurthi Pillai
• She was also well trained in Bharatanatyam

• She blazed a trail by playing complex mathematical combinations with ease.
• In the All India music conference held in 1927 in Madras Ranganayaki Ammal was the only woman among the 23 mridangam artistes who performed at the event.
• In the 1940s, she performed with several leading artistes such as Brinda and Muktha and Flute Mali.
• In 1966, she joined the Padmavati College in Tirupati as faculty, and later worked at the Sadguru Sangita Samajam in Madurai.

Source: The Hindu