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Dandamudi Ramamohan Rao

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Dandamudi Ramamohan Rao
Born(1933-03-18)March 18, 1933
DiedJanuary 31, 2011(2011-01-31) (aged 77)
NationalityIndian
Citizenship
  • British Indian (1933-1947)
  • Indian (1947-2011)
Occupationinstrumentalist
SpouseNidumolu Sumathi
AwardsSangeet Natak Akademi Award (1994)
Musical career
GenresCarnatic music
InstrumentMridangam

Dandamudi Ramamohan Rao also known as Dandamudi Ramamohana Rao is an Indian mridangam player. He received the Kala Praveena title from the Andhra Pradesh Sangeet Natak Academy in 1981 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for mridangam from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India in 1994.

Biography

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Dandamudi Ramamohan Rao was born on March 18, 1933, in Vuyyuru in present-day Andhra Pradesh.[1] He began learning the mridangam at the age of six. An exponent of the Pudukottai style of mridangam, he received training from eminent musicians such as K. Ranganayakulu, Potluri Veeraraghava Chowdhury, Tirupati Ramanuja Suri, Edara Nagaraju and Palani Subramaniam Pillai.[2] He gave his first concert in 1939. Along with the mridangam, he has also mastered the Kanjira and Morsing.[1]

His wife, Nidumolu Sumathi, a renowned mridangam player, was first his student and later his co-performer.[3][4]

He died on January 31, 2011 at Vijayawada.[2]

Career

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In his mridangam career spanning over five decades, other than solo mridangam concerts, Dandamudi has played the mridangam alongside many accomplished Carnatic musicians.

Dandamudi served as a staff artist at All India Radio, Vijayawada for five decades, retiring from there in 1993.[2]

Dandamudi, who was also a mridangam teacher, had disciples including his wife Nidumolu Sumathi, M. Lakshminarayana Raju, Pulledikurthi Rama Rao, A. Krishnamohan Sathya Narayanan, M. Mokkapathi Nageswara Rao, and M. Balamuralikrishna.[2]

Awards and honors

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In 1981, Dandamudi received the title Kala Praveena from the Andhra Pradesh Sangeetha Nataka Academy.[1] He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for mridangam in 1994.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Dandamudi Ramamohana Rao" (PDF). Sangeet Natak Akademi.
  2. ^ a b c d "A legendary percussionist". The Hindu. 10 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Percussion perfect". The Hindu. 2011-04-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-07-24.
  4. ^ "Into a man's world". The Hindu. 2011-06-09. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-07-24.