TM Krishna’s Award: Carnatic Singers Take a Stand, Withdraw from Conference in Protest

TM Krishna awarded Sangita Kalanidhi by Music Academy; Carnatic Singers Withdraw from Conference in Protest.

Carnatic vocalists Ranjani-Gayatri and Harikatha exponent Dushyanth Sridhar chose to withdraw from the Music Academy Conference 2024 in protest. They cited their withdrawal in response to the Music Academy’s decision to honor TM Krishna with the Sangita Kalanidhi award earlier this week.

Carnatic Vocalists Take a Stand: Withdraw from Conference in Protest Against TM Krishna’s Award

Ranjani and Gayatri announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they will not be performing at the concert scheduled for December 25 and have decided to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy’s Conference due to TM Krishna’s involvement as the presiding artist.

#thread 1/6
We have communicated our decision to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy’s conference 2024 & from presenting our concert on 25 Dec.
We made this decision as the conference would be presided over by TM Krishna. #madrasmusicacademy #respectcarnaticmusic

— Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 20, 2024

In their statement, Ranjani and Gayatri expressed their concern about TM Krishna’s actions, highlighting the damage he has caused to the Carnatic music community. They criticized his disrespect towards revered figures like Tyagaraja and MS Subbulakshmi and pointed out his glorification of controversial figures like EVR (Periyar), who advocated extreme measures against certain communities and used abusive language. The duo emphasized the importance of not overlooking such behavior and its impact on social discourse.

#thread 3/6
His actions have tried to spread a sense of shame in being a carnatic musician and has been exhibited through his consistent denigration of spirituality in music.#madrasmusicacademy #respectcarnaticmusic

— Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 20, 2024

Dushyanth Sridhar, a prominent Vedic speaker, wrote a letter to the President of the Music Academy expressing his decision to withdraw from performing on January 1. He mentioned that it would be disrespectful to his Gurus to perform immediately after TM Krishna received the award.

5/6
Its dangerous to overlook Mr TM Krishna’s glorification of a figure like EVR who 1. Openly proposed a genocide of ‘brahmins’
2. Repeatedly called/abused every woman of this community with vile profanity
3. Relentlessly worked to normalize filthy language in social discourse

— Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 20, 2024

#Astikas – I have conveyed to the Madras Music Academy that I will not be performing on the 1st January 2025 (after the sadas). Below is a copy of the letter drafted to them. pic.twitter.com/MRx9b8Z6qR

— Dushyanth Sridhar (@dushyanthsridar) March 20, 2024

Likewise, vocalist and Harikatha exponent Vishakha Hari expressed in her Instagram post, “The awardee designated for this year’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi has been involved in significant slander in the past, causing considerable hurt to many intentionally.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vishakha Hari (@vishakha.hari)

Meanwhile, National Award-winning singer Chinmayi Sripada has voiced her support for TM Krishna and extended her congratulations for receiving the award. She also posed critical questions to Ranjani and Gayatri.

TM Krishna expressed his gratitude with a thank-you note on March 18 following his recognition with the Sangita Kalanidhi award for the year 2024.

Here’s his post:

A special moment.@musicacademyma pic.twitter.com/UDrlJnSv8l

— T M Krishna (@tmkrishna) March 18, 2024

The Music Academy and TM Krishna have not yet responded to this ongoing controversy.

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