Ramnad V. Raghavan was a famous player of which instrument?

Explanation

Ramnad V. Raghavan was a renowned mridangam player of Carnatic music. He came from Ramanathapuram (Ramnad) in Tamil Nadu and belonged to a family of musicians; his brother, Ramnad Krishnan, was a well-known Carnatic singer.

Ramnad V. Raghavan accompanied many of the leading Carnatic musicians of his time in concerts. He was also one of the musicians who helped take Carnatic music to audiences abroad, especially in North America, where he taught the mridangam to students for many years. Through his teaching outside India, he helped to create interest in South Indian rhythm among Western musicians and students of world music.

The mridangam is the main percussion instrument of Carnatic music. It is a double-headed barrel drum, traditionally made from a single hollowed block of jackfruit wood, with leather heads on both sides. The right head has a black spot (called the soru or satham) made from a paste of rice, iron filings and other materials, which gives the instrument its clear, ringing tone, while the left head produces a deep bass sound. It is played with the hands and fingers. Its name is often explained as coming from "mrid" (clay) and "anga" (body), because early forms of the drum were made of clay. In mythology, it is linked with Nandi, who is said to have played it during Shiva's cosmic dance. In a Carnatic concert, the mridangam player often plays a solo section called the "tani avartanam". In Indian instrument classification, the mridangam is an avanaddha vadya (a drum covered with skin).

Famous mridangam players include Palghat Mani Iyer, Palani Subramania Pillai, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Karaikudi R. Mani and T.K. Murthy.

Why not the other options?

Nadaswaram is the double-reed temple wind instrument, linked with T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai.

Violin is linked with Lalgudi Jayaraman and L. Subramaniam.

Flute is linked with T.R. Mahalingam and N. Ramani in Carnatic music.