Palghat R. Raghu

Palghat R. Raghu (January 9, 1928 - June 2, 2009) was a famous Carnatic musician and percussionist. Palghat R. Raghu was born on January 9, 1928 in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar). He died of cardiac arrest on June 2, 2009. As a child, he was immensely talented and inducted into mridangam lessons very early in his life. His first mridangam lessons were from Tinniam Venkatarama Iyer and Trichy Raghava Iyer. Later he learnt the art from the legendary ... more

Palghat R. Raghu (January 9, 1928 - June 2, 2009) was a famous Carnatic musician and percussionist. Palghat R. Raghu was born on January 9, 1928 in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar). He died of cardiac arrest on June 2, 2009. As a child, he was immensely talented and inducted into mridangam lessons very early in his life. His first mridangam lessons were from Tinniam Venkatarama Iyer and Trichy Raghava Iyer. Later he learnt the art from the legendary Mridangam wizard Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer. Ever since, he has accompanied numerous artists for the past 60 years with distinction. He is a graduate of mathematics. Palghat Raghu was a percussion master known for his distinctive style in playing as well as his effortless finger techniques and technical brilliance. His unique style which involves imaginative use of the Toppi (left part of Mridangam) combines melody with rhythm and lifts the concert performance to high levels. Using different techniques, he adjusted his playing style to not only... less