Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam (or Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam) (born 25 November) is a Mridangam musician from a family of traditional musicians in the Tanjore district of Tamilnadu, India. He is currently staying in Chennai.
Bakthavathsalam had his initial tutelage from his maternal uncle Thiruvarur Krishnamurthy and was further groomed by his mother T. R. Anandavalli, herself a talented musician. He has been played in prestigious Jugalbandhi concerts featuring Carnatic and Hindustani maestros.
He has been on concert tours in the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, accompanying a galaxy of musicians on the mridangam for musicians of three generations. He has alsoMalaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and the U.A.E. He has represented India in many music festivals held abroad, some of which were organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. Some of his notable performances are Tala Vadhya Kutcheri at the festival of India, Paris in June 1985, flute and violin Jugalbandis in Australia in February 1987, the Olympic music festival held in Barcelona in Spain in 1992, a festival of Indian Music in U.S.S.R. in 1997, the fund-raising programme organised by the Bay Area Tamil Mandram and Sankara eye foundation at Hayward, California, US in 2003.
He has accompanied many well-known artists like M. L. Vasanthakumari, K. J. Yesudas, Madurai Somu, N. Ramani, V. G. Jog, Bhimsen Joshi, Maharajapuram Santhanam, K. V. Narayanaswamy, T. N. Krishnan, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, M. Balamuralikrishna, Mysore Manjunath and U. Srinivas
Read more about Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam: Laya Madhura Mridanga Yagna, LayaMadhura School of Music, LayaMadhura The Divine Ensemble, CD Albums