Featured Artist (Ambalam Radio) : B.V. Raman & B.V.Lakshmanan
The twin brothers were born in a town called Bhavani in 1921, near Erode. They shifted to Bengaluru where at the age of 17 or even more they came under the music tutelage of S. Srinivasa Rao.
The great Tiger Varadhacharya had an opportunity to listen to the music of the brothers and he was so impressed that he advised them to join the Sangita Bhooshana course in the music college at Annamalai University in Chidambaram of which he was the principal. Hosted by him and offered scholarships, they graduated in 1943. Being privileged to serve the Guru and having imbibed his incomparable bhani B.V. Raman and B.V.Lakshmanan never swerved from the same till the end.
It was only after they turned 35 they became concert artistes and made a success of their profession. They have rendered all the 4000 verses of the Dhivya Prabandham composed by the Azhwars in praise of Vishnu.
Features of their singing:
- Solid Patantharam
- Repertoire comprising many rare compositions
- Deep Vidhwath
- Maintaining highest standards of propriety
- Each had a different approach to their elaboration of ragas.
- They treated their accompanists with absolute fairness and encouraged them to give their best on the concert stage.
As much as they were respected for music, they endeared themselves to the public as well as their peers in the field with their exceptional gentle behavior.
Both the brothers have left an indelible mark in the music sphere by their high standard of teaching and imparting knowledge freely to all those who came to them for guidance. Among their disciples are Sudha Ragunathan & the Mambalam sisters, R. Vijayalakshmi and R. Chitra.
B.V. Raman also brought to the attention of music lovers the existence of Saint Sadhashiva Brahmendhra's Brundhavanam in Mana Madhurai and was successful in organizing an annual Aradhana at that sacred venue.
B.V. Raman was honoured with Sangeeta Kala Acharya title by the Music Academy.
B.V. Lakshmanan passed away in 1996.B.V. Raman passed away in 2006.
To conclude with a quote – “The brothers B.V. Raman and B.V.Lakshmanan were the gentle giants of Carnatic music who strictly adhered to Sampradaya without indulging in undignified gimmicks and pyrotechnics.”
Data compiled & presented by: Team eAmbalam
References - http://bit.ly/1gjhMFi & http://bit.ly/KAlnEl (Articles in The Hindu) & http://tyagaraja-aradhana-calicut.org
