THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Doyen of Carnatic music Parassala B Ponnammal (96) died at her residence here on Tuesday. She had been undergoing rest for the past several months, due to old-age related ailments, at her house in Valiyasala.
Ponnammal began learning Carnatic music as a child and was the first female student to enrol in the Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram during the early 1940s and passed out from there with first rank in "Gana Bushanam" and "Gana Praveena" courses.
Ponnammal started her career as a music teacher by joining the Cotton Hill Girls High School in Thiruvnanthapuram. Later she became the first female member of the teaching faculty in the Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. She was also the first woman principal to head the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts at Tripunithura.
In 2006, she scripted history by singing at the Navaratri Mandapam in Thiruvananthapuram, breaking a centuries old tradition that forbade women from performing at the famed Navaratri celebrations of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
Ponnammal enthralled music lovers for decades through her concerts in the state and also in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Her outstanding classical vocal renditions include Guruvayur Puresa Suprabhatham, Trisivapuresa Suprabhatahm, Ulsava Prabhandam, Navarathri Kriti, Meenambika Sthothram, and also compositions of Irayamman Thampi and K. C. Kesava Pillai.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 for her contributions to Carnatic music. She is also a recipient of M.G.Radhakrishnan Award (2016), Lifetime Achievement Award instituted by Chennai Fine Arts (2015), Sangeetha Prabhakara Award (2012), Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2009), Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram (2009) and Sree Guruvayurappan Chembai Puraskaram (2009).
Ponnammal is survived by sons D Mahadevan and D Subramanian. Her husband Devanayakam Iyer, son D Ramaswamy and daughter D Kamala had pre-deceased her. The funeral will be held on Wednesday morning at Brahmana Grama Samajam crematorium, Valiyasala.