Hailing from a family of Music connoisseurs at Neyveli,
Narayanan was initiated into the art of Mridangam playing at the young age of seven, under
the guidance of Sri. S.K. Ganesa Pillai. He made his debut at the age of 11 and ever
since, he has been rising in his art by furthering his horizons and making a mark in the
field of Carnatic music. An intensive training under the Maestro Late Thanjavur Sri
Upendran brought about a great amount of professionalism in Narayanan’s playing. His
Guru taught him the intricacies and specialities of the Tanjore style of playing on the
Mridangam. Narayanan is now blessed with the rare opportunity of being one of the favourite disciples of the Mridangam Legend Padmashri Umayalpuram Sri K. Sivaraman. This great influence has brought in a great amount of clarity, precision and perfection in Narayanan’s style. Narayanan has accompanied almost all the veterans of Carnatic music, to name a few: Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan, T.V. Sankaranarayanan, T.R. Subramanian, K.V. Narayanaswamy, Trichur V. Ramachandran, O.S. Thiagarajan, Mandolin Srinivas, Ravikiran, Flute N. Ramani, and others. He has cut several commercial records, released by recording institutions, like Sangeetha, H.M.V., A.V.M. Music India, etc. Narayanan has performed in all the leading sabhas in India. He has also won acclaim in other countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, Dubai, Muscat, Malaysia, Switzerland, New Zealand, Holland and Hong Kong. He has also participated in many National and International festivals like the Festival of Asia (London), National Arts Council (Singapore) etc. As an ‘A’ Grade artiste, Narayanan has been featured regularly by the All India Radio and T.V. networks, which also included prestigious broadcasts like the southzone Hook-up, Sangeetha Sammelan and National programme. Narayanan was given the "Award for Excellence" in 1995 by the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer Trust. "Best Mridangam Player" award was given in 1995 and 1997-98 by the Music Academy. The Bharat Kalachar gave "Yuva Kala Bharathi" award in 1997. Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha (Vani Mahal) gave him the ‘Award for Excellence’ in Mridangam in 1997. Received the "Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer Award" from Raagam Fine Arts in 1999. |
