Neela Ramgopal[a] (25 May 1935 – 1 March 2023) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist and Carnatic music teacher. Some of her works included Tamizh Inbam, Rama Upasana and Narayana Enniro. She was a recipient of awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Sangita Kala Acharya Award by Madras Music Academy, and the Sangeetha Chudamani award from the Rama Seva Mandali.
Neela Ramgopal | |
---|---|
நீலா ராம்கோபால் | |
Born | Kumbakonam, Madras Presidency, British India | 25 May 1935
Died | 1 March 2023 Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | (aged 87)
Occupations |
|
Awards |
|
Musical career | |
Genres | Carnatic music |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1965–2023 |
Neela Ramgopal was born on 25 May 1935, in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu into a Brahmin Iyer family. Her father was a landlord. The family migrated back to their village in Tyagarajapuram where she went to school in Thiruvidaimarudur.[2][3] It was only at the age of 23, she started studying Carnatic music seriously.[4] She started studying Carnatic music with lessons from Sadagopalachari in Kumbakonam and later under N. M. Narayanan, T. K. Rangachary and M. L. Vasanthakumari.[5][6][7]
Ramgopal taught students from 1965, the year her very first independent public concert came in.[4] During this time she performed regularly as a radio artist with the All India Radio rising to be an "A Top" grade artist.[8] She published a book of 50 Tamil compositions in Kannada script.[9] In addition, she also recorded audio CDs of krithis in all the 72 Melakartha Ragas.[9] Some of her recorded albums includedTamizh Inbam, Rama Upasana and Narayana Enniro.[3]
Ramgopal was noted to have trained over 700 students over her career.[7] She was also noted to be an early adopter of technology offering her training lessons online.[10] She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Sangita Kala Acharya award from the Madras Music Academy and the Sangeetha Chudamani award from the Rama Seva Mandali.[10][11]
Ramgopal moved to Bangalore in Karnataka after her wedding at 19, initially living in Basavanagudi before moving to J. P. Nagar.[10][12][4] She had two children.[3] She was known to have been a polyglot with works in Tamil, Kannada, and English, and was referred to as Neela Maami by her students.[10][2]
Ramgopal died on 1 March 2023 in Bangalore. She had been diagnosed with cancer earlier. She was aged 87.[7]