Carnatic musician Parassala Ponnammal passes away at 96 in Kerala

Parassala B Ponnammal, a doyen of carnatic music from Kerala passed away on Tuesday. She was 96. She passed away at her residence at Valiyasala in Thiruvananthapuram city on June 22 at 1 pm. Age-related illness is assumed to be the cause of death. Awarded the Padma Shri in 2017, Ponnammal’s loved ones remembered her as an unassuming and a gentle soul who chose to lead a low profile life. The state government honored her with the Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram named after Swathi Thirunal Rama, the highest honour instituted for musicians in the state, in 2008. She was also honoured with the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowship among others.

Parassala Ponnammal was born in 1924 to Mahadeva Iyer and Bhagavathi Ammal in Parassala village on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. She reportedly began learning music at the age of seven. She became a music teacher at the Government Cotton Hill Girls School at the age of 18. Later, she worked in Swathi Thirunal Sangeetha Academy and RLV Music and Institute of Fine Arts Tripunithura in Ernakulam. Learning music from a young age, she was part of the carnatic music world for decades. She held the title of the first woman to sing at the Navaratri Mandapam in Kottaykkam in Thiruvananthapuram. The Navarathri Mandapam (inside the fort area near the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple) is a famous platform for artists.

Ponnammal left behind disciples who have also etched their mark in the world of music. Her disciples include Neyyatinkara Vasudevan, Omanakutty, MG Radhakrishnan and others. Expressing his condolences, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan 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."