Pt. Panchakshari Mattigatti

[Sumanth Sharma]

Pt. Panchakshari Mattigatti is one of the rare breed of artists who in the lines of ... Martand - Omkarnath Thakur, Kumar Gandharva ... sustains the rich old tradition and never ever ventures out of his Gharana tradition.

I used to frequent Dr. Nagaraj Rao Hawaldar's house [my sister is his pupil], and as a result had to opportunity to meet him. Some 5-6 years back in Bangalore - A concert was arranged in Nivedita school [Gavipuram, Bangalore] by his then disciple Dr. Nagaraj Rao Hawaldar [his foremost disciple, he is also a pupil of Madhav gudi].

Pt. Panchakshari Mattigatti rendered some very very rare Raagas like Des Sorath [almost obsolete now], which most of the audience had not even heard the name.

Just wondering will the global audience ever have the privilege to listen to his voice and rich tradition? Such artists never ever get fame nor do they strive for.

If somebody has some account of him, I would love to hear of it, also if you have any audio recordings, please let me know.

[hundredstrings]

Unfortunately, I never had a chance to listen to Pt. Panchakshari Mattigatti.  Looking at your words, I gather that he must be a very great artist.  I have never heard of "Des Sorath" raga -- but I am aware of Raga Sorath, and there is a composition "Ab Har Bol Nahin" sung by Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur (for a while I thought it was Des).  I also heard about Raga Sorath in "Ragamala" set of cassettes released by EMI Pakistan [this is a set of 10 cassettes that explains the Thaat system, with examples].