Vellore G. Ramabhadran Biography 
Vellore G. Ramabhadran was an accomplished Mridangam artiste from Salem, Tamil Nadu. He accompanied Madurai Mani Iyer for his first performance for a live concert. He has performed mridangam for the cult classic Tamil film, Sindhu Bhairavi produced by K. Balachandar. His mridangam performance was used for the popular song – Mari Mari Ninne, the song pictured on Suhasini which gave National Award to K. S. Chitra for best female playback. Delhi Ganesh was seen in the song picturisation, playing mridangam. He was a recipient of numerous awards and honours like - Sangeetha Choodamani in 1975, Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2004, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1991 and Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1998.
Vellore G. Ramabhadran was born in Salem on August 4, 1929. His father Konnakol T. P. Gopalachari was a musician. Ramabhadran got inclined to music since very young. His father used to conduct music sabhas in his hometown which conducted music competitions for kids to promote budding talents. Many great musicians like M. S. Subbulakshmi have also performed here. Ramabhadran started learning mridangam from his father at the age of 8. Later he got opportunity to learn Carnatic music from Thiruparkadal Srinivasa Iyengar in the mid-1940s. Ramabhadran moved to Mylapore in 1950, where he got settled.
Since young he accompanied many leading vocalists in mridangam. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Musiri Subramania Iyer, G. N. B, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, T. N. Seshagopalan etc are only a few names for whom Ramabhadran has played mridangam for live concerts. He has also performed with legends of Hindustani music in tabla like Zakir Hussein, Alla Rakha etc. He has also performed in music festivals in India and abroad. He passed away on February 27, 2012 aged 82.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 20, 2016
