About
Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram, known as Vikku Vinayakram and hailed as the God of Ghatam, is a legendary Indian percussionist who plays Carnatic music on the ghatam, an earthen pot. A Grammy winner and Padma Bhushan awardee, he is credited with popularising the ghatam and taking it to the world stage, including as a founding member of the pioneering fusion group Shakti.
Born in 1942 to the musician and teacher T. R. Harihara Sharma, Vikku Vinayakram began his concert career at thirteen and rose to accompany the greatest Carnatic vocalists of his time. In the 1970s he joined guitarist John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain and L. Shankar in the acoustic fusion group Shakti, and won a Grammy in 1991 for his work on Mickey Hart's Planet Drum. Principal of the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya founded by his father, he received the Padma Shri (2002), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (2012) and the Padma Bhushan (2014), and has trained a lineage of percussionists including his sons.
The artistry
Vinayakram draws astonishing rhythmic range and tonal colour from a simple clay pot, mastering the laya intricacies of Carnatic percussion and translating them into global fusion with equal authority. A child prodigy turned maestro and teacher, he has expanded the vocabulary and worldwide reach of the ghatam like no other.
[Atlas Perspective] Vikku Vinayakram is a living legend of Indian percussion and global fusion. For the most prestigious festivals and cultural programmes, he is a first-rank, landmark choice.
Vikku Vinayakram transformed the ghatam from a humble accompanying instrument into a globally celebrated solo voice, and carried Indian percussion to the world stage. A Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee and Grammy winner, he was a founding member of the pioneering fusion group Shakti alongside John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain, bringing Carnatic rhythm into dialogue with jazz. Through performance, collaboration and teaching he elevated the ghatam's status and influenced generations of percussionists in India and abroad.