Susila Achutharaman, a well-known Harikatha and Carnatic music artiste of her time and a Mylaporean, passed away on Oct.7. She was 101 years old.
Born in Chennai on May 10, 1923 to Chellammal and K. Arunachalam, Susila was fondly called Pichai by her family. Having lost two earlier children at a young age and wishing for her good health, her parents thought of her as the God’s alms rather than their own and collected alms for her first meal – hence the name Pichai.
She received her first chipplakattai (wooden clappers) from Coutrallam Mouna Swamigal at the age of three after singing Tyagaraja’s Santhamu Leka Sowkhyamu Ledu and explaining its meaning to him.
She learnt her first Harikatha “Valli Kalyanam” from Doriaswamy Ganapatigal and gave her first performance at the age of 9.
She started learning music from her mother who was an accomplished vocalist, violinist, vainika, and sitar player, and continued learning under Manakkal Varadarajan. She lived in Andhra in her early years and performed Harikatha in Telugu in several places including Guntur and Bezawada.
She completed her SSLC at St. Raphael’s High School, St Thomas Convent in Mylapore and moved to Coimbatore after marriage.
She was an All India Radio A-grade artiste and continued to perform at various sabhas in Chennai, notably giving the inaugural concert at The Music Academy Conference in 1946.
Her music and discourses were characterised by a deep sense of bhakthi, so she was unaffected by accolades.
On her return to Chennai after a tragedy in the family, she resumed giving Harikatha discourses in AIR and local sabhas. Her rendition of Narakasura Vadam was replayed by AIR on the eve of Deepavali for many years.
Among her repertoire were Yaksha Prashnam, Bhadrachala Ramdas, Tiruppanazhwar, Kulasekharaazhwar, Tyagaraja Charitram, Sabari Moksham, Radha Madhavam and Nandanar Charitram.
Her performance of Sabari Charitram in The Music Academy’s 36th conference in 1962 had to be moved from the temporary stage to the main hall to accommodate the large crowd that attended.
The bhajana ghoshtis she led in the 1950s and 60s at her home in Mylapore gave a platform for several young musicians who went on to become stalwarts in their fields.
Amongst her mentors were advocate Sundaram Iyer and later Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar. She is known to have popularised and taught Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi’s Rasa Sabdams to many aspiring vocalists in the early sixties.
She continued to perform till she was 60, and thereafter maintained a deep interest in both Harikatha and music as long as she lived.
She was gifted with a powerful voice and used vivid language, imagery and music to immerse her audiences in the stories she told. She was a pioneer in art and in life – one of a few women in the male dominated field of Harikatha and one of the first women to drive a vehicle in Coimbatore in 1947.
She was resilient, generous with her art, gregarious, and independent.
She was the recipient of the Gana Kala Shiromani award from the Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar Trust.
- Tribute by Ramya Vishwanathan, grand daughter of Sushila
Photo captions;
1. Performing at a gathering; accompanied on the tabla by advocate Sundaram Iyer.
2. – Performing at the Samartha Ramdas annual festival in Egmore.
3. – Group photo at unknown location. Susila Achutharaman is in the bottom row on the extreme right. Famed Harikatha stalwart, C. Saraswathi Bai is on the extreme left.
4. – Performing with her mother Chellammal (left) at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh.
