CHENNAI: Renowned mridangam artiste Karaikudi Mani (77) passed away here on Thursday. He has been a constant presence in the Carnatic music world for nearly 50 years. He had developed his own style in mridangam. Karaikudi Mani has thousands of disciples all over the world. He is the chief editor of 'Layamani Layam', a music magazine popular all over the world. He is single.

He was born on September 11, 1945 in Karaikudi to musician T Ramanath Iyer and Pattammal. Mani was 18 when he received the National Award from former President Dr Radhakrishnan. He received the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1998.

He has played mridangam for past luminaries of Carnatic music including MS Subbalakshmi. Mani has played mridangam for DK Pattammal, ML Vasanthakumari, Madurai Somu, TM Thyagarajan, DK Jayaraman, Lalgudi Jayaraman, Sanjay Subramanian, TM Krishna and others.