D K Pattammal
| Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal | |
|---|---|
D. K. Pattammal in the late 1940s.
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| Background information | |
| Born | 28 March 1919 |
| Origin | Kancheepuram, Madras Presidency, India |
| Died | 16 July 2009 (aged 90) Chennai, India |
| Genres | Carnatic music and playback singing |
| Occupation(s) | singer |
| Years active | 1929–2009 |
| Labels | HMV, EMI, RPG, AVM Audio, Inreco, Charsur Digital Workshop etc. |
Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal (// 28 March 1919 – 16 July 2009) was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. She along with her contemporaries M. S. Subbulakshmi and M. L. Vasanthakumari were (and still are) popularly referred to as the Female trinity of Carnatic Music. This trio initiated the entry of women into mainstream Carnatic Music. She has been appreciated all over the world by Carnatic music lovers.
Pattammal was born in a Brahmin family in Kancheepuram of Tamil Nadu, India. She was named as Alamelu, but fondly called "Patta" as a child prodigy. Her father, Damal Krishnaswamy Dikshithar, who was deeply interested in music, inspired her to learn Carnatic music. Her mother, Kanthimathi (Rajammal), although a talented singer herself, was not permitted to sing even for friends or relatives in line with strict orthodox tradition. Despite her orthodox background, Pattammal sang and showed considerable music talent at an early age.
She received no formal gurukula training. As a child, Pattammal sat through the concerts, and on returning home, notated the kritis she heard, and key phrases of ragas. Her brothers D. K. Ranganathan, D. K. Nagarajan, and D. K. Jayaraman – later her vocal accompanists, helped her in this task. She also sang simple devotional hymns and songs her father taught her. Later, she received tuition from an unnamed Telugu-speaking musician, whom she called "Telugu vadyar" or "Telugu teacher". He'd also offered to teach her Telugu and Sanskrit.
At age eight, Pattammal won first prize for singing Thyagaraja's "Raksha Bettare" in Bhairavi, at a competition conducted by C Subramanya Pillai (popularly known as Naina Pillai), whom Pattammal admired deeply. According to Pattammal, Naina Pillai would host Thyagaraja Utsavams (festivals dedicated to Tyagaraja) in Kancheepuram every year, and was a veteran in the art of singing Ragam Thanam Pallavi.
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