K. Meenakshi, an expert ghatam maker and a winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for 2013 for her contribution to instrument making, died of heart attack in the early hours of Tuesday.
The 68-year-old woman, who hailed from Manamadurai, died at her home. She is survived by a son, two daughters and grandchildren.
She was active till Monday evening, shaping unfired clay pots into earthenware percussion instrument, family sources said. She was an expert in ghatam making, especially in shaping the unfired clay pots, using a wooden spatula.
Meenakshi received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award from the then President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held in Delhi on April 11, 2013. The Indian National Music Academy’s Leela Samson chose Meenakshi for the coveted award following the endorsements of popular ghatam artistes T. H. Vikku Vinayakram and Sukanya Ramagopal.
Meenakshi had been involved in ghatam making for more than four decades. She had given shape to tens of hundreds of clay pots made by her father-in-law, her husband and then by her son.
She used to give an unfired clay pot more than 3,000 slaps with the spatula before it became an instrument. Ghatam artistes from across southern districts visited the town to purchase the instrument. “Eminent ghatam vidwans Giridhar Udupa, Vinayakram and Sukanya were our prestigious customers,” said U.V.K. Ramesh, son of Meenakshi.
The ghatams treated by her were also purchased by the likes of maestro Ilayaraja and Oscar award winner A.R. Rahman, said Ramesh, a fourth generation artisan involved in ghatam making. The family had lost the most skilled worker and the music world an expert ghatam maker, he said. His mother was an expert in tapping the outer surface to ensure that the thickness was ‘even’ and it produced the desired tone and ‘shruti,’ he recalled.