Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram

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Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram (also known affectionately as Vikku Vinayakram) is a South Indian musician and exponent of the ghatam, an Indian percussion instrument. Essentially a hardened earthen pot, the ghatam is capable of making high as well as bass tones depending on the pressure of the strike and the percentage of the mouth of the pot that is covered.

Vinayakram is responsible for the progress and development as well as popularizing of the ghatam. Born to Kalaimani T. R. Harihara Sharma, a talented musician himself, known to have played the mridangam with passion that exceeded none, "Vikku" took up playing at a very young age.

Born in 1932, his first concert at the age of thirteen, vikku established his right to be on the stage by playing with such dexterity that he was soon accompanying the doyens of yesteryears such as Srinivasa Iyer, the Late M.S. Subbulakshmi, Maharajapuram Santanam etc. to name a few. The Ghatam followed the master by raising to fame as a percussion instrument that required nimble fingers and strong stomach muscles to control the mouth of the pot.

Vikku's tryst with the international music platform came in the early 70's when he joined Shakti to play along with John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain. The showman that he is, his long hair and nimble fingers had Shakti catapult to fame.

Vikku Vinayakram was conferred the Hafiz Ali Khan Award for “unmatched contribution in the field of music” in the year 2000. T. H. Vinakayaram is also the first South Indian musician to be awarded the grammy for Best World Music Album for his participation in Mickey Hart's "Planet Drum" in which he played ghatam and morsing. He donated all the proceeds from the award to a charity organization in south India. He was also nominated for the 1996 Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for his participation in 'Raga Aberi' along with L. Shankar on the ten string double violin and Zakir Hussain on the tabla (the rage is set in the tala cycle of 4 3/4 beats).

He has also performed at Basant Utsav, the annual fund raiser for the Banyan.

[edit] External links

• Master of the Ghatam
• South India Percussionist Page by N. Scott Robinson