Pallavur Appu Marar

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Pallavur Appu Marar
Born1928
Pallavur, Palakkad, Kerala, India
Died(2002-12-08)8 December 2002
Palakkad, Kerala, India
Occupation(s)Percussionist, Panchavadyam exponent
ChildrenShailaja, Chandran
Parent(s)Shankaran Marar
Ammini
Awards Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi Award
Guruvayurappan Puraskaram
Manaveeyam Award

Pallavur Appu Marar (1928-2002) was an Indian percussionist, widely considered to be a maestro in the Pallavur (Palakkad) style of thayambaka, edakka, sopana sangeetham, melam and panchavadyam. [1] He was the eldest of the three brothers, the other two being Pallavur Manian Marar and Pallavur Kunhikuttan Marar, who formed the famed Pallavur trio. [2]

Contents

Biography

Appu Marar could make the edaka speak, Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain said once [3]

Pallavur temple Pallavurtemple.jpg
Pallavur temple
Chenda and Koal (stick) (cennttyuN kooluN) Drum & stick.jpg
Chenda and Koal (stick) (ചെണ്ടയും കോലും)
An artist using Ilathalam Ilathalam.jpg
An artist using Ilathalam

Appu Marar was born in 1928, at Pallavur, a small hamlet in Palakkad district, in the south Indian state of Kerala, to Shankaran Marar and Ammini. [4] His father, a nomad, left the young Appu and his mother, when he was one year old, throwing the family into poverty. [5] Ammini was forced to remarry Subramania Iyer, and had two more sons, Manian and Kunhikuttan, who, years later, completed the Pallavur trio. [2]

Appu started learning traditional percussion instruments at a very young age and had his arangettam (debut) on chenda, at Pallavur Shiva Temple, the age of 8. He, soon, became adept at playing chenda, edeka and timila, under the tutelage of Thiruvilvamala Kondaswami and Parathuveettil Nanu Marar. [6] Appu Marar saw his father for the first time, when he was 17 years old, by which time, he had already mastered those traditional percussion instruments and had started performing at various temples in Kerala. [2] [7]

By the time, Appu Marar died in a private hospital in Palakkad at 4.00am on 8 December 2002, [8] due to age related illnesses, he had already performed at many stages including in Russia and at 47 Thrissur Poorams and 60 Nemmara Velas. [9] He performed, without break, at Thrissur pooram, heading the panchavadyam for Paremekkavu Devaswom from 1960 till his death in 2002. [7]

The legacy of Appu Marar lives on through his numerous disciples, who are active at the temple festivals across the state. His son, Kunissery Chandran, is also a known Maddalam exponent. [2] However, the most notable contribution of Appu Marar remains the style of panchavadyam, he, along with his brothers, have created, the Pallavur style. [9]

Kaalam (The Unending Time)

K. Ramachandran, a short filmmaker from Kerala, created a documentary, Kaalam (The Unending Time), on the life of Appu Marar. The film, narrates the tumultuous early life of Appu Marar and his later climb to fame, and won the Kerala Kala Mandalam Award for the most outstanding short film on performing arts. [10] [11] The film was also screened at the Festival of South Asian Documentaries at Kathmandu 3–6 October 2013. [12] The film shows many interviews with Appu Marar's contemporaries and family members. [5]

Awards and recognitions

Timila Thimila pic.jpg
Timila

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi honoured Appu Marar, in 1983, by bestowing on him their annual Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award. [13] [7] Guruvayur Devaswom Board awarded him the Guruvayurappan Puraskaram in 1995. He also received the Manaweeyam Award, in 2002, apart from various other local honours. [7]

Honoring the memory of the percussionist, the Government of Kerala has instituted an award, Pallavur Appu Marar Award, which is given annually to recognise excellence in ritual music of Kerala. [14] [15] [16] Another award of the same name, Pallavur Appu Marar Award has also been instituted by the renowned ayurvedic institution, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala. [14]

An annual beat festival, Appu Marar Vadyotsavam, is conducted every year, in Appu Marar's honour. [17]

Publications

Paramekkavu Bagavathi Temple 0194 Paramekkavu Bagavathi Temple 0194.JPG
Paramekkavu Bagavathi Temple 0194

Appu Marar has written a book, Pr̲amāṇaṃ: ātmakatha (Theory and Biography), an autobiography in part, but also containing theories and arguments on traditional Kerala music. The book was co-authored by Madanan.

Crescent Music has released an audio on compact disc, which has the recording of many of Appu Marar's performance on edaka.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pooram</span> Annual Hindu festival in Kerala, India

Pooram pronounced is an annual festival, which is celebrated in temples dedicated to goddesses Durga or Kali, held especially in the old Valluvanad area, and to a lesser extent in other places, covering Kerala State's present-day Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts) as also Kollam district, after the summer harvest. Harimattom pooram is one of the famous pooram in Ernakulam. An example of a famous pooram is Thirumandhamkunnu Pooram which has an active participation of 11 Lakh people across the country. Most pooram festivals have at least one ornately decorated elephant being paraded in the procession taken out of the temple precincts. However, there are some well known poorams, such as Anthimahakalankavu Vela, Chelakkara, Aryankavu Pooram at shoranur Palakkad and Machad mamangam near Wadakkanchery that do not use the caparisoned elephant, instead go for stilted mannequins of horses or bullocks. Vela is also a festival like pooram. Thrissur Pooram is the most famous of all poorams, known for fire works. The second-best-known Pooram in Kerala is Kollam Pooram. Kavassery pooram is well known for fireworks during afternoon. Some other well-known pooram festivals are Arattupuzha-Peruvanam Pooram, Chalissery Pooram is well known for the art and cultural standards, Anthimahakalankavu Vela, Nenmara Vallangi Vela, Vairankode Vela, Chinakathoor pooram, Mannarkkad Pooram, Kavassery Pooram, Pariyanampatta Pooram, Harimattom Pooram and Thirumandhamkunnu Pooram. Peruvanam-Arattupuza pooram is celebrating its 1436th year in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattannoor Sankarankutty</span> Indian musician

Mattanur Sankarankutty is an Indian percussionist who plays the chenda, Thayambaka, Panchari melam, and Panchavadyam. He was born in Mattanur in Kannur district of Kerala. He was awarded the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1996, the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panchavadyam</span> Musical art form in Kerala, India

Panchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, kombu, is a wind instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandi Melam</span>

Pandi melam is a classical percussion concert or melam (ensemble) led by the ethnic Kerala instrument called the chenda and accompanied by ilathalam (cymbals), kuzhal and Kombu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panchari melam</span> Percussion ensemble

Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam, is one of the major forms of Chenda Melam, and is the best-known and most popular in the kshetram vadyam genre. Panchari Melam, comprising instruments like Chenda, Ilathalam, Kombu and Kuzhal, is performed during many temple festivals in central Kerala, where it is presented in arguably the most classical manner. Panchari is also traditionally performed, albeit with a touch of subtle regional difference, in north Kerala (Malabar) and south-central Kerala (Kochi). Of late, its charm has led to its performance even in temples in Kerala's deep south.

Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half-a-dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around.

Neralattu Rama Poduval or Njaralathu Rama Poduval (1916–1996) was an exponent of the ashtapadi/sopanam music form practised in Kerala in southern India. A recipient of the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, he hailed from a rugged village called Thiruvaazhaamkunnu, near Mannarkkad in Palakkad district and lived most of life in Angadipuram in Malappuram district, the place famous for the Thirumanthamkunnu Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pallavur</span> Village in Kerala, India

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