Vishnupuram K Raghu

Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peeta Asthana Vidwan
Vishnupuram K Raghu - A Grade Morsing (Morchang, Jew Harp, Jaws Harp) Artiste

Vishnupuram K Raghu was born on 30th June, 1959 to
Moolangudi A Krishnamachari Iyengar and Jayalakshmi
Ammal at Vishnupuram, a small village in the Thanjavur
District known for its rich musical heritage. He began his
training in Mridangam under the guidance of the legendary
Poongulam Sabesa Iyer and apprenticed under him for more
than a decade. He later had his advanced training in the Laya
aspects from Salem Sri K Srinivasan, an A Top Graded
Mridangam Staff Artiste of All India Radio, Trichy.
As a Mridangam Artiste, Raghu involved himself in the field
of Nama Sankeerthanam for more than 28 years and
accompanied mostly all the leading Bhagavatars of his times. He
was awarded B Grade in Mridangam by the All India Radio in
the year 1998.
He switched over to Morsing being attracted by the
instrument and proved to be highly successful. He was awarded
Direct B-High Grade in Morsing in the year 2009 and
eventually the A Grade in 2014 by the All India Radio.
In his illustrious career as a Morsing Artiste, he has
accompanied several legendary and leading artistes like Dr N
Ramani, Sri M Chandrasekaran, Sri J Venkataraman, Sri
TV Sankaranarayanan, Sri OS Thyagarajan, Nagai Sri R
Muralidharan, Neyveli Sri Santhanagopalan, Dr Nithyasree
Mahadevan and many others.
He had the rare privilege of accompanying Mridangam to
the Doyen of Bhajana Sampradayam Srivanchiyam
Ramachandra Bhagavatar and Harikatha Exponent
Kalyanapuram R Aravamudachariar.
He was blessed as Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peeta Asthana
Vidwan in the year 2008. He has had the honor of playing
Morsing for the AIR’s Akashvani Sangeet Sammelan and
National Programme of Music. He has been accompanying
many leading and budding artises all over the country. Having
thousands of concerts to his credit, he toured the USA in the
year 2018 and got wide appreciation for his art and skills.