Palghat Raghu Documentary (Part 1/4)

This documentary chronicles the life of Shri Palghat R. Raghu, one of the most prolific and influential mridangists of the 20th century. The footage you see here was released in honor of his 80th birthday celebrations in January 2008.
Directed by Latha Menon
An Iris Films Presentation

[@Noles86]

This documentary I would have seen a infinite number of times

[@MrCmusicfan]

It is great to listen to this legendary mridangam vidwan narrating many aspects of his life starting from early childhood. He has fantastic recollections of so many events in such precise details. The reason such old-timers have achieved legendary status is because of their total focus, dedication and commitment to the art. Yet, they had none of the conveniences of the modern age. They were simply brilliant! The golden age of CM is considered by many to be the period between 1940-1970.

[@aparnashastry7761]

Nice video and can’t comment on the musical content. !

[@nakumaran]

Beautiful, thank you so much for this documentary. So many wonderful clips of some of the great masters!

[@SekharGanpathy]

I’m learning Mirdangam after crossing 50 plus .. I realise how difficult it would’ve been to play with such clarity and sitting down for over 3 hours. Respect to the genius.

[@maknam]

Palghat Mani Iyer is a class apart !! Nice documentary!

[@shankarrful]

Kappi mridangam was designed by Palakkad Mani Iyer. The main purpose is that when playing for veena, flute, violin, etc the nadam should not dominate the music. So kappi is often played for instruments. Though most people prefer kuchi, kappi produces more continuation of the tone thereby acting like a thamburu. Also, kappi is very difficult to play because of the thickness of the outer layer of skin. Kappi is played by Raghu sir, Mani Iyer, Rajamani sir, Karaikudi mani sir, J Vaidyanathan, etc.

[@shrikanthsivakumar6917]

I think even t k murthy sir and also my guru vidwan Thanjavur Ramdas sir use kappi

[@manudath]

Thanks a ton!

[@krisn90]

Just a glimpse of the sanctum sanctorum is enough sometimes. Just a glimpse of gnb singing is enough for this lifetime as far as a devotee of music like me is concerned.

[@abmnarayanan]

Sir, Thanks for this upload. It would be of great help if you could share the video of KVN concert shown in this documentary... I couldn't wait to hear the entire concert after hearing just a glimpse of what should have been a wonderful concert

[@BaluKarthikeyan]

The complete video recording can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3nInpd6hrp_o9E

[@worlddominator62]

I really don't see how it's "harder" to play with a Kappi mridangam honestly, it's merley just a different tone of sound. I personally don't like Kappi mridangam because of the difficulty it causes to tune. Within one concert, one would have to do major tuning after each piece. I really enjoy the soud of the Kappi though, both types have it's advantages.