Palghat Ramprasad Biography 
Palghat Ramprasad is a Carnatic vocalist and economist from Palakkad, Kerala who follows the classic style of rendition. He is the grandson of legendary Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer. Ramprasad is the son of violinist Palghat T R Rajaram, and the nephew of violinist T. R. Rajaram. His aunt Lalitha Sivakumar is a Carnatic musician married to a musical family of Chennai. She is a renowned student and daughter-in-law of leading Carnatic vocalist, the late D. K. Pattammal. The prominent Carnatic vocalist Nithyashree Mahadevan (Lalitha Sivakumar’s daughter) is her cousin and Carnatic vocalist of present generation Lavanya Sundararaman is his niece. He is a quantitative economist from Harvard University also.
Dr. Palghat Ramprasad was born into a traditionally rich musical family of Palakkad, Kerala, which has been linked to the world of Carnatic music for many generations. His grandfather Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer is one of the foremost musicians and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmabhushan awards. Ramprasad was born to the son of Palghat Mani Iyer. His father Palghat T R Rajaram is a violinist who taught him early music lessons in Carnatic music. Palghat Ramprasad started giving concerts since 1988. He also runs Palghat Mani Iyer School of Music where he teaches vocal music.
He has given performances with his cousin Nithyashree Mahadevan. They publically performed together for the first time on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of their grandfather Palghat Mani Iyer. Apart from his career as a vocalist, he is also a development economist who applies quantitative techniques to socio-economic issues. He completed PhD in Economics from The University of Georgia, USA, and is currently a visiting professor and fellow at Harvard University. Ramprasad has formulated an algorithm named ‘Mani Pravaaham’ that became a part of the Carnatic music app Zeekh.
Published: February 18, 2019
Updated: February 18, 2019
