Papanasam Sivan

Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973^[1]) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1970. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema as well as Tamil cinema in the 1930s and 1940s.^[2]

Sivan was also known as Tamil Thyaagaraja. Using Classical South Indian as a base, Sivan created compositions popularised by M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. S. Subbulakshmi.

In 1962, he was awarded the conferred by , India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.^[3]

Life[]

Sivan's early years were spent in the Travancore area of Kerala. He was born at Polagam village in the district of Thanjavur, which was home to the musical trinity of Carnatic music. His given name was Ramaiya. In 1897, when he was 7, his father died. His mother Yogambal, along with her sons, left Thanjavur moved to Trivandram (now Thiruvananthapuram) in 1899 to seek the aid of his uncle. At Thiruvananthapuram, he learned Malayalam and later he joined the Maharaja Sanskrit college and obtained a degree in grammar.

Ramaiya was very religious, and with the death of his mother Yogambal in 1910, when he was 20, became even more so. He wandered from place to place visiting temples and singing devotional songs. He used to be an active participant in the devotional music sessions at the home of Neelakandasivan in Thiruvananthapuram where he learned many of Neelakandasivan's composition. In this period he went regularly to the temple at Papanasam, where he would smear bhasma all over his body. Hence people first began to refer him as Papanasam Sivan.

He took his first music lessons from Noorani Mahadeva Bhagavatar, son of Parameswara Bhagavatar. Later, he became the disciple of Konerirajapuram Vaidyanath Iyer, a well-known musician.

He was most interested in the devotional aspect of music. He preferred to sing devotional songs and encouraged other singers take part in sessions of devotional music with him. He was a regular performer in the main temple festivals in South India with his devotional songs.

Later in 1962, he received the President Award, and in 1969 he received the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani Award bestowed on him by "The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai". He was conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi in 1971.

Family[]

Papanasam Sivan had an elder brother Rajagopal Iyer whose daughter, V. N. Janaki, was an actress who became the Chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a few days.

Filmography[]

• Sita Kalyanam (1935)
• Pavalakkodi (1934)
• Naveena Sadaram (1935)
• Naveena Sarangadhara (1936)
• Kuchela (1936)
• Chinthamani (1937)
• Sevasadanam (1938)
• Yayathi (1938)
• Mathru Bhoomi (1939)
• Sivakavi (1943)
• Haridas (1944)
• Pankajavalli (1947)
• Kannika (1947)
• Bilhana (1948)
• Naattiya Rani (1949)
• Ambikapathy (1957)

Compositions[]

Notes[]

See also[]

• List of Carnatic composers