Master Krishna Pawan Kumar

Krishna Pavan Kumar
Krishna Pavan Kumar

Perseverance, ambition, hard work coupled with proper guidance from Teachers (Gurus), parental support and encouragement from the School faculty play a vital role in bringing out the talents in children and Krishna Pawan Kumar G.N., a student of standard X of the St. Aloysius English medium school is a standing example of the same.  Of course, Krishna Pawan Kumar is a genuine child prodigy.

Born on the Sixth of March 1992, Krishna Pawan Kumar is the only son of Smt. Geetha  & Shri. Naresh Kumar Mudambadithaya. Mast. Krishna Pawan Kumar got his initial lessons in Carnatic classical music by none other than his grand mother Vidushi. Smt. U. Satyavathi. When he was just 8 , the family members decided that Krishna Pawan Kumar should also learn the art of playing Mridangam ( His father is an amateur mridangist). They put him under the tutelage of Vidwan Shri. K.H. Ravikumar, AIR Mangalore staff artist, to learn the art of playing the Mridangam. In the following year, Krishna Pawan Kumar’s family members decided to put him under the tutelage of Vidwan Shri. Gopalakrishna Iyer N, formerly, the Principal of  Kalanikethana School of Music and Dance, Mangalore to learn the art of playing Flute. It did not take much time for the talented Krishna Pawan to learn the art of playing Flute and within the first year itself, at the tender age of 10, the Sangeetha Parishad of Mangalore gave him an opportunity to give a concert for 30 minutes. From then onwards, Krishna Pawan Kumar has been scaling greater & greater heights with time. It was his grand mother who realized that her grandson’s exceptional ability to grasp the finer intricacies of Carnatic music and put him under the tutelage of Vidushi. Smt. Rajarajeshwari Bhat Madanthyar to fine tune his Vocal chords. Vidushi. Smt. Rajarajeshwari Bhat Madanthyar at present, is teaching Carnatic music in the US.

Having learnt all the three art forms studiously and with all seriousness, for the last six to seven years, Krishna Pawan Kumar, has passed the Senior Grade examination conducted by the Karnataka Secondary Education and Examination Board in Mridangam in distinction class and stood first in the State. He has also passed the Junior Grade in Vocal and Flute in distinction class and is preparing for the Senior grade examination in both the forms simultaneously this year.

He has made his Gurus, School and the family members proud by winning several laurels at the District State and National level competitions and that too in all the three art forms. He is the recipient of the State Government Scholarships for learning Flute as well as Mridangam.  Following is the list of some of the Prizes won by Krishna Pawan Kumar at the State / National level

1) Bala Prathibha 2005 in Flute conducted by the Dept. of Kannada & Culture

2) Prathibha Karanji 2006 in Flute conducted by the Dept. of Education3)

4) Naada Kishorotsava 2007 in Flute concert conducted by Nada Brhama Sangeetha Sabha, Mysore

5) National level vocal music competition “Manodharma” section conducted by Raga Dhana Udupi.

Krishna Pawan Kumar starting giving Flute concerts at the tender age of Ten and has since then given more than fifty concerts at various prestigious Sabhas like the Sangeetha parishad Mangalore, Shasthreeya Sangeetha Sabha Karkala, “Yuva Dwani” Mysore, Nada Brahma Sangeetha Sabha, Mysore, Shanmukananda Sabha Mumbai, Dr. Mani Krishna Swamy memorial trust, Mangalore, Raaga Dhana Udupi etc. and has also given programs in AIR Mangalore. Eminent musicologists have praised Krishna Pawan Kumar for the professional style of rendering Flute concerts and have appreciated the clarity, Classicism, purity of Tone and a good command over laya or the rhythm in his presentation, may it be the Vilambha kala Krithis or Madhyama kala krithis. He has won great accolades during his Flute concerts. These musicologists have no doubt that Mast. Krishna Pawan Kumar is going to the artist of the future.

He started accompanying artistes on the Mridangam since he was eleven and has so far accompanied artistes on more than thirty occasions. Musicologists have appreciated his style of playing Mridangam, his following technique and the command he enjoys over the laya.

Krishna Pawan Kumar

He has also given Vocal concerts in the recent past and the musicologists have expressed that this child prodigy is competing with himself for establishing superiority over Vocal singing, playing Flute and playing the Mridangam.  There were occasions when Krishna Pawan Kumar had come out with flying colours when he had to compete along with the Seniors and in some cases along with Hindustani Instrumental music competition. He has composed music to a few Keerthanas of Shree Vadiraja which one may be spellbound on listening.

Having achieved a decent level of command over these three art forms of Carnatic Music, awards and titles have come in search of Mast. Krishna Pawan Kumar G.N. Following are some of the major awards / Titles received by him.

1. Rajyotsava Award in 2004 by  the Dist. Administration for outstanding performance in Flute.

2. “ Bala Prathibhe” Award by the Kannada & Culture Dept., Govt. of Karnataka  in 2004

3. “ Bala Kala Gandharva Ratna” by the Kala Vikasa Parishath Gadag in 2005

4. “ Bala Kala Kusuma” by Shree Muralidhara Sangeetha Vidyalaya, Bhadravathi in 2005

5. “ Shree Krishnaanugraha Prashasthi” by Udupi Shree Krishna Mutt in 2005

6. “ Shree Mahadeva Prashasthi” by Sri. Mahadeva Adhyayana Kendra Bijoor in 2006.

7. “Exceptional Talent Award” by the Govt. of Karnataka in  2006.

8. “ Outstanding Young Artist “ Award by the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan & Sangeetha Parishad Mangalore, in Nov. 2006.

9. “ Kala Shree” Award by the Friends circle Udyavara in 2006

10. “ Aralu Mallige” Award from Jnana Mandhara Academy Bangalore in  2006.

11. “ Outstanding Student of the Year” award from his School,  St. Aloysius English Medium School for 2004, 2005 & 2006. and “ Most Talented Student” Award in 2007.

12. “Young Achiever Award-2007” by the Rotary Club of M’lore North.

He was chosen as the Student President of the Bala Prathibha 2005, a district level cultural  conducted by the Raaga Taranga Mangalore and was also honoured by the “Shivalli Sampada” Puttur in the Chinnara Mela 2005. No doubt, Krishna Pawan Kumar is a young ambassador of Indian culture.

All these awards and titles have not come easily to Krishna Pawan Kumar. He is attends to music classes regularly, and also has regular sessions of practices at home. Of course, his parents and grand parents, join him during his practice sessions having mock concert and probably that has made him flourish as an artiste. With all these activities, Krishna Pawan Kumar is good at studies too. His School Principal Rev. Fr. Ivan Rodrigues, and other Teachers are very proud of him and have always been a source of encouragement to him. The Principal readily permits him to skip classes in view of his activities may it be rendering concerts or participating in any competitions. The Principal acknowledges that Krishna Pawan Kumar is a meritorious, studious and more than anything a good student of the school.

For more details:

KRISHNA PAVAN KUMAR G. N.
S/O Naresh Kumar,
1-6-464 Sarvamangala, B/H Govt.Quarters
Ashoknagar, MANGALORE – 565006.

Phone No. (0824) 2215609, Mob. 98801 96006
098698 71749 (Mumbai)

E-mail – krishnapawank@yahoo.co.in
pawantaya@redifmail.com