B.K. Chandramouli, senior mridangist of the Carnatic tradition, died in Bengaluru on Friday at his residence in Rajajinagar.
The 70-year-old was suffering from liver cancer for the last few months, said his son and mridangist B.C. Manjunath. His last rites will be held on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Harishchandraghat. Chandramouli is survived by his wife Jayanthi, son and daughter B.C. Harini.
Referred to as the ‘Hero of Laya’ in Karnataka, a host of young percussionists trained by him recollected the master strokes of the vidwan. He was one of the rare left-handed mridangists whose diversity of tone and texture stood out even during larger tala-vadhya ensembles.
By the age of eight, Chandramouli had started to accompany well-known musicians. Even before his graduation, he was the pakkavadhya for most of the leading musicians of the 1960s and ’70s, including R.K. Sriantan and T.V. Shankaranarayanan. He was for long associated with the forming of the Karnataka Ganakala Parishath.
“My father was trained under veterans like Gopal Rao, Palghat Raghu and Ayyamani Iyer. He always told me that even when his gurus came to know of his dominant left hand, the three teachers never tried to change his style," said Mr. Manjunath.
Amith Nadig, flautist and Chandramoul’s nephew, said his uncle had trained nearly 500 percussionists. “He was a pioneer in Konakkol vocabulary and had researched the 400-year-old art,” he said.
The mridanga vidwan was also known for his organisational capabilities, especially as he was associated with the Tyagaraja Gana Sabha and the Malleswaram Sangeeta Sabha.