PITHUKKULI MURUGADAS

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:

 


   

PITHUKKULI MURUGADAS

(25 January 1920-17 November 2015)

 

  

The high-pitch voice of PITHUKKULI MURUGADAS (original name Balasubramanian), one of the great Tamil devotional singers, who hailed from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, went into eternal silence on 17.11.2015 - a big loss to the devotional music world.

 

He was a multi-linguist having composed and sung many devotional songs in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Marati.

 

His full-throated voice was matched only by a few singers like Sirkali Govindarajan, T.R.Mahalingam, Bangalore Ramaniammal and K.B.Sundarambal. Such a voice and his penchant for devotionals and attachment to Lord Muruga were a ‘shot in the arm’ for his name and fame.

          

That the versatile singer was a devout worshipper of Lord Muruga could be incidentally borne out by the fact that he was born on a ‘Thaipoosam Day’ and passed away on ‘Skanda Shasti Day’ – both being significant, auspicious and celebrated days of Lord Muruga.

 

That the legendary singer lost vision in one of his eyes neither dampened his high spirits nor decreased even a little his quest and passion for devotional verses.

 

A freedom fighter attracted by Mahatma Gandhi, he took part in the Salt Satyagraha Movement and also in the nationwide Satyagraha to protest against the infamous Jalianwalla Bagh massacre for which he was imprisoned for six months.

 

He was close to legendary spiritual giant contemporaries like Rishikesh Swami Sivananda, Swami Chinmayananda, Ramana Maharshi, Swami Gnananda Giri, Vallimalai Sachidananda Swamigal, Swami Suddhananda Bharathi, Swami Haridas and others.

 

He was a philanthropist and Good Samaritan too. After freedom in 1947, he was the patron of the orphanage known as 'Dhinabandhu Ashram' at Walajapet. He was an accomplished artiste in music especially Tala Vadya, dance, and painting.

 

Though he is no more, his memories will continue to be cherished through his renditions by the commoners in general, and devotees and devotional music lovers in particular.

 

         

 

R.SAMPATH

18/11/2014

Comments

  1. Aravindan T15 December 2021 at 10:51

    It is good to learn something new from the blogger Sampath Raghavan. I liked it. -- Aravindan --

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