A musical tribute to Suguna Purushothaman

A concert by the students of Suguna Varadachari marked the 80th birth anniversary of musician and composer Suguna Purushothaman

These two erstwhile disciples of Musiri Subramania Iyer shared more than just a name. As senior musicians, Suguna Purushothaman and Suguna Varadachari shared a strong bond over the years and often performed together, until the former passed away five years ago. Recently, a group of Suguna Varadachari’s students rendered a number of Suguna Purushothaman’s compositions on the occasion of the latter’s 80th birth anniversary, at a concert hosted by Sunaadalahari, the Indira Ranganathan Trust’s musical wing. Suguna Purushothaman was an accomplished vocalist, teacher and prolific composer whose kritis drew Professor P. Sambamurthy’s appreciation. Her compositions run the gamut of varnams, kritis, ragamalikas, javalis, tukkadas and thillanas, including one in 128 akshara talam. Thinniyam Venkatarama Iyer, who taught her the nuances of pallavi singing, had encouraged her to compose more and more. Her layam training helped her to master the dwi tala avadhaana, maintaining two talams of different gathis simultaneously on each hand while singing.