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Dandamudi Ramamohana Rao

“He was a perfect symbol for the definition of a guru. He would teach as per the requirement of the pupil. His patience was phenomenal. He had all the navarasas except anger. He loved his pupils. Ramamohana Rao was packed off to Palani Subramaniam Pillai in Madras. He turned out to be a young wizard. Trained in the Pudukottai sampradayam, he defined his guru's style with his own ingenuity and creativity making for the Dandamudi style much later in life.”

The Pudukottai style had a certain smoothness, clarity and a left-right ‘sandanam' with a beautiful left ‘gumki' (a sort of fold of the hand while playing the beat), which produced a special effect. Dandamudi's expertise created waves in his own state where he not only excelled but left an indelible mark in the field of percussion. Awards and accolades were not far behind. Dandamudi Ramamohana Rao's repertoire was vast and deep. While his taniavarthanam (solo) would be a powerhouse performance, he would be his mellowest best while in accompaniment. Clarity was the hallmark of his technique. “All the speeds in a kriya would be visible in his agile handling. There was never a repetition of a muktayi. His muktayi would be so pronounced that if his pupils played their percussion elsewhere, it was easy to detect them only on account of the way we play the muktayi,”

Discipline, diligence and dignity marked his life all through. “He was an early riser (5 a.m.) no matter what. Two hours were taken in puja prior to mridangam practice. he spent not less than eight hours in sadhana. Everything had to be on time. Punctual to the dot, his dress sense for a concert was a well-thought out thing. His personality would simply glow. It defies description,”

Rammohan Rao was associated with All India Radio for more than 30 years, and gave performances both as a solo artist and as an accompanying player, especially with vocalist Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna

He is survived by his wife, Sumathi, who is also a noted player of mridangam. They were the only couple to have won the national Sangeet Natak Akademi award for mridangam so far.,they have two sons and a daughter.