Padma Shri Carnatic Musician Parassala B Ponnammal Passes Away At 96

Parassala B Ponnammal who made her name in Carnatic music passed away at the age of 96 on June 22. According to reports, she suffered from age-related illnesses.

Ponnammal had received the Padma Shri honour in 2017 by the then President Pratibha Patil. As per a report by TNM, Ponnammal was at her home in Valiyasala Thiruvananthapuram when she took her last breath at 1 pm on June 22.

She was also the recipient of Kerala state's highest honour to musicians, Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram in 2008. In addition to that, she had received the Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship, Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi award and many such honours.

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his condolences and said, "She was the first woman principal of the Music College (in Thiruvananthapuram) and led a lead role in popularising the work of Kerala's Carnatic musicians like Swathi Thirunal. Women had no opportunity to sing at the Navarathri Mandapam. But Ponnammal sang from the mandapam."

Navathri Mandapam is a renowned platform for artists situated near Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Parassala B Ponnammal was the woman to ever perform on that stage.

Born in 1924, Ponnammal grew up in a village near Kerala's capital. She started to learn Carnatic music at the tender age of seven and became a music teacher at Government Cotton Hill Girls School when she was 18 years old. She went on to teach at several prestigious institutions including the RLV Music and Institute of Fine Arts Tripunithura in Ernakulam and Swathi Thirunal Sangeetha Academy. She was one of the big names in the Carnatic music industry and yet she kept a low profile.

In the last few decades, Ponnammal has trained many musicians who went on to make their mark in the music industry. Some of the famous names include Omanakutty, Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, MG Radhakrishnan and many others.