KOCHI: Renowned Carnatic musician Mavelikkara P Subramaniam, 66, died at his house Sivasakthi in Eroor, Tripunithura, on Tuesday. His body will be handed over to the Ernakulam Medical College as per his last wish at 11am on Wednesday. The singer had written in his will that no religious rite should be performed on his body.
Born to Carnatic musicians Padmanabha Iyer and Mavelikkara Ponnammal, Subramaniam had his first lessons in music from his mother. After learning the basics, he got trained under famous musicians Mavelikkara R Prabhakara Varma and Kumara Kerala Varma.
He was a B High grade artist with All India Radio and used to perform regularly. An ardent follower of the traditional style, Subramaniam served as a lecturer in music at RLV College of Music in Tripunithura for 22 years and retired from service as professor of vocal music at the Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram.
Famous artists Madras T V Jayachandran, Kester, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi and Sudeepkumar are his students. The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi had recently honoured him with a senior fellowship. The akademi had presented him earlier with Kalasri and Sangita Tilakam awards. The Poornathrayi Foundation had honoured him with Samgeetha Poornasree prize. He is survived by wife Dhanalakshmi, and sons Harishankar and Ravishankar.