Tributes

D Pattammal was a prolific vaggeyakara in Tamil whom senior musician TR Subrahmanyan described as "one of our better contemporary composers" in a Sruti (Issue 9) tribute in July 1984. She was also a vocalist of merit.

Pattammal's work in translating Jayadeva's Gita Govindam into Tamil as madhava Geetam, at the instance of Prof. S Ramanathan, in composing innovative songs as tools of learning, and in indexing Carnatic ragas, was highly commendable.

Madhava Geetam was praised by icons like Rukmini Devi Arundale. Dancers of the calibre of Kamala and Swarnamukhi choreographed her compositions in their performances.

Her output included books like Mela Raga Kritimala (covering the 72 melakarta ragas), Janya Raga Kritimala (with 83 songs in janya ragas including a few in dvimadhyama ragas inspired by S Kalyanaraman's encouragement), Raga Pravaham (kramas for some 5,000 ragas, in Tamil and English), Appanin Tiruvilaiyadal and Ammaiyin Arulvilaiyadal.

To quote TRS again, "Should anybody undertake the task of listing the names of all worthy composers in Carnatic music, Pattammal's name must surely find a place in it". With encomiums flowing from such eminent persons in the music and dance fields Pattammal's credentials as a vaggeyakara gain significant strength.