Shiama's mridangam lineage belongs to the Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer bani (style). Shiama started learning mridangam at the age of 7 from his paternal uncle, N. R. Srivatsan, who after seeing Shiama's interest in the instrument, started teaching him over the internet. Even though Shiama was very young at that time, Srivatsan's dedication and commitment to teaching Shiama overcame the challenges of learning this complex art form through an online format. Over the past ten years, Srivatsan has continued to nurture and impart his knowledge to Shiama through these weekly lessons. In addition, Shiama started receiving advanced training from Dr. K. R. Ganesh a couple of years ago, also through remote lessons. Dr. Ganesh has further enhanced his training in the Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer bani with complex korvais in various talams and nadais and the nuances of providing mridangam accompaniment. Shiama is truly fortunate to receive training under such dedicated and eminent teachers and to continue this illustrious lineage.
Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer
Laya Pitamaha Kumbakonam Sri Rajappa Iyer (1916-2007) had the tutelage of two stalwarts in the area of percussion music, Sri. Alaganambi Pillai and Sri Rangu Iyengar, for several years. This intensive training in theory and practice made Sri Rajappa Iyer blossom into a very talented Mridangam and Ghatam vidwan who accompanied many eminent musicians. After some years, he concentrated on imparting the percussion lessons to aspiring students with meticulous effort and passion. He restructured lessons by incorporating his own insights on the theory of instruction and enriching the fingering style using novel and easily adaptable techniques. He was an embodiment of a perfect teacher giving importance to honesty, sincerity and punctuality. Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer has got the distinction of having tutored hundreds of disciples during the last four decades. It is no wonder that most of his disciples are highly talented and front-ranking performing vidwans in the present generation.
Dr. K. R. Ganesh
Dr. K. R. Ganesh is the foremost disciple and son of Laya Pitamaha Kumbakonam Sri M Rajappa Iyer. He is a torchbearer of the Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer bani, inheriting from his father the impeccable style of mridangam playing and the genius of mentoring his disciples with dedication and commitment to imparting the art in its purest form. He recently obtained a PhD from Madras University on mridangam pedagogy developed by Sri. Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer. He is an A top grade artiste in All India Radio and a frequent performer in various TV channels. He has received numerous accolades and awards during his musical career spread across over 45 years. He has widely travelled across the globe and accompanied many stalwarts of Carnatic music. His accompanying style is distinguished by his rendering of choice rhythmic structures and manodharma sangathis that uplift the concert experience. Besides mridangam, he is also proficient in playing the ghatam and the kanjira.
N.R. Srivatsan
N.R. Srivatsan, started learning mridangam at the age of 5 from the late doyen of laya teachers, Sri Kumbakonam Rajappa Iyer. He was passionate about playing mridangam from an early age, and won several awards in his school and college years. For his mridangam arangetram, he accompanied the eminent musicologist, Dr. S. Ramanathan, in 1978. Since then, he has accompanied many prominent musicians around the world, such as the late veena artiste Kalaimamani Prabhavati Ganeshan, Sathur Sisters, and Shankaran Namboothiri, among others. For several years, he was the resident mridangist for the Carnatic music community in the Chicago area before his move to New Jersey. He has participated in several annual music festivals in Chennai, Chicago and New Jersey. Srivatsan has had a highly successful career in the healthcare and pharma IT industry.
