History of Balamuralikrishna

Introduction – Balamuralikrishna

A person like Balamuralikrishna is an inspiration, a role model and an aspiration to many of the established musicians and upcoming musicians as well. His name is a well recognised and well revered one in India and across the world. He was a carnatic vocalist, a multi instrumentalist, composer, actor and a playback singer. From the age of six, until eighty six, his life, soul and heart were dedicated to music and only music.

He is one of the very few musicians who added a tiny factor of entertainment to his renditions of Carnatic music. Balamuralikrishna made the audience tap their feet and nod their heads to his tunes. He is considered a legend in what he did, and this legendary status was given to him when he was gracing us with his presence in this world. This blog is going to cover as much as possible about Balamuralikrishna and his works. Did you know that his family considered music as a taboo? Read more to know about that.

Balamuralikrishna – Childhood

Balamuralikrishna was born in the time when Madras Presidency was still in place. Sankaraguptam, East Godavari District, Madras presidency is where he was born. Now the place is a part of the Andhra Pradesh district. Balamuralikrishna gave his first concert at the age of eight at a Thyagaraja Aradhana in Vijayawada. Born in the year 1930, he was fortunate enough to have Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya as his father for two main reasons.

Balamuralikrishna – The Parents Behind Him

Balamuralikrishna lost his mother when he was an infant and it was his father Pattabhiramayya who took care of him. The second reason is that, the family in which Balamuralikrishna was born, is a highly Vedic family. They considered anything apart from Vedic Literature a step down, and music was definitely not in the list of things that their family should pursue.

Pattabhiramayya broke the cycle and became a musician, and married Suryakanthamma, who was a Veena player as well. It was his father, who identified the music interest in the young Balamurali and got the tutelage of Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu, who was from Tyagaraja’s Shisya Parampara.

Suryakanthamma was so happy to have birthed him. They say that she used to keep whispering in the child’s ears as if she was sharing one secret or another constantly. But the happiness lasted just for 13 days. Suryakanthamma developed a fever, and a headache. She unfortunately passed away three days later.

Balamuralikrishna – Music and the start

Balamuralikrishna was not his name given by his parents. They named him Muralikrishna. After the concert at Thyagaraja Aradhana at the age of 8, the prefix “Bala” was given to him by Musunuri Suryanarayana Murty Bhagavatar, who was a well known Harikatha performer. This paved the way for this young boy to be called Balamuralikrishna from 1938 onwards, till now.

He mastered all the 72 Melakartha Raagams, before he hit the age of 15. A child prodigy indeed. But he did not stop with just mastering the Melakartha Raagams. He went on to compose krithis is each one of the Raagams. Sangeetha Recording Company, recorded his Janaka Raga Manjari, published in 1952, as Raagaanga Ravali. This is a nine volume series.

Balamuralikrishna – Carnatic World

He also played the Viola, Violin, Kanjira and Mridangam. One could say that his thirst for Carnatic Music was never ending. Balamuralikrishna is the one who introduced Viola to the world of Carnatic Music. He also gave a lot of solo viola concerts, well known among the carnatic circle. Though he was known to experiment with the world of Carnatic Music, he made sure that the traditional values of the art were untouched.

Balamuralikrishna has a few Raagams for which he was credited as the creator. Mastering the art is one thing, and creating a new Raagam is a whole new different area. Balamuralikrishna founded not one, not two but more than eight Raagams. A few of the Raagams that he invented are Ganapathy, Lavangi, Mahathi, Omkaari etc.

Balamuralikrishna – Innovation

Balamuralikrishna liked a good challenge. The raagams that he invented were conventionally holding up the traditional tone of Carnatic. But they also broke conventions when it comes to the number of Swarams in the raagam. For instance, Lavangi has three-four notes in the ascending and descending order. When you take the Raagams, Sarva Sri, Omkaari and Ganapathy, they have only three notes. Imagine someone singing a raagam with only three notes. If that requires talent, what will you call Balamuralikrishna who invented this raagam?

He is also known for innovating the Tala System. They were named Mukhi Talas. The Gati Bedham is seen only in the Sashabda Kriyas. Kriya means action. The Actions in a song, that produce sounds are called as Sashabda Kriyas. These belong to the part of the existing Tala Chain. The Nishabda Kriyas, doesnt have any Gati Bedhams done on it. They have Chaturashra Gati only.

Balamuralikrishna is probably the first singer to render Raagam, thaalam and Pallavi using two to three Raagams together. He has over 400 compositions under his belt. Balamuralikrishna is the only musician to have composed a song in all of the 72 Melakarta raagams. He has composed Varnams, Krithis, Thillanaas and also Bhavageethas.

Balamuralikrishna – Cinema

Balamuralikrishna did not stop his talent only with Carnatic Music. He made a huge round in Tamil Cinema as well. There were a lot of other carnatic musicians singing for cinema as well, but it was Balamuralikrishna who made the differentiation line that was between cinema and carnatic music almost non existential. He has sung in many languages. Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Sanskrit – all these languages have songs in his name.

His “Oru Naal Podhuma” from the movie Thiruvilayaadal is the perfect example of his musicality, because this lyrics of the song is apt for his life. The song starts with the question of whether one day is enough for the world to know his complete talent and knowledge of music. The song also has a lot of Raagams mentioned, with the tunes set in the same Raagam. Balamuralikrishna’s rendition of this song, remains fresh and unmatched till date.

Balamuralikrishna – Accolades

Balamuralikrishna’s musical career is filled with awards, accolades and recognition from across the world. He is a proud recipient of Madras Music Academy’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi. It was awarded to him in the year 1978. He also has two National Awards, one Sangeet Nataka Akademi Award, and Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France (2005).

He has all the three Padma Awards, Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan as well. The state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala has awarded him with State awards for his playback singing. He is an Honorary Doctorate holder from the State of Andhra

Balamuralikrishna – A remembrance

As told before, he is indeed a person whose career is one of the main reasons for so many people to get into music. Around 25,000 concerts had the opportunity of him showcasing his talents and isn’t this what any musician would want?

When he passed away in 2016, the whole nation felt the loss. The carnatic world came into a halting shock and felt helpless as their pillar finally crashed. Balamuralikrishna single handedly took Carnatic Music to great heights. Long due recognition for the art, came its way, when Balamuralikrishna made sure he took music wherever he went. The loss of a legendary musician is indeed unimaginable and someone to fill his place, is yet to be discovered.

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