Parassala B. Ponnammal

Parassala B. Ponnammal (born 29 November 1924) is an Indian Carnatic musician. On 23 September 2006, she sang at the Navaratri Mandapam in Trivandrum, breaking 300 years of tradition that forbade women from performing at or attending the famed Navaratri Celebrations of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala.This was made possible by Prince Rama Varma of the Travancore Royal Family.
Early life.
She was born to Mahadeva Iyer and Bhagavathy Ammal in a Kerala Iyer family in 1924 in Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram district of the Indian state of Kerala.
Ponnammal started to learn carnatic music as a child. Ponnammal was the first female student to enroll in the newly started Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram during the early 1940s and passed out from there with first rank in "Gana Bushanam" and "Gana Praveena" courses.
Ponnammal learned Carnatic music from several carnatic master singers. Shri. Papanasam Sivan, Shri. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar and Shri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer were some of her teachers.
Career.
Ponnammal started her career as a music teacher by joining the Cotton Hill Girls High School in Thiruvnanthapuram. Later she became the first female member of the teaching faculty in the Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. She was the first woman principal to head the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts at Tripunithura.
She performed Guruvayur Puresa Suprabhatham, Trisivapuresa Suprabhatahm, Ulsava Prabhandam, Navarathri Kriti, Meenambika Sthothram, along with compositions of Irayamman Thampi and Mr. K. C. Kesava Pillai.
She has performed across India and abroad.
Recognition.
Her awards include:
Notable disciples.
Aparna Murthy