In a traditional Carnatic 'kutcheri' the ghatam is still not used as a main percussion instrument. But there are many gifted artistes who have worked hard and experimented to make the ghatam heard, giving this 'pot-instrument' a new dignity. Manjoor Unnikrishnan is one of those. A much preferred artiste, Unnikrishnan has accompanied almost all the top-ranking musicians, is graded B High in All India Radio (AIR), has performed with various artistes in numerous albums, has travelled with his 'wonder pot' to more than 22 countries and has played at various prestigious venues.  

Two people, other than my father, played important roles in my career. My first guru was Cherthala Bhaskara Kurup, who taught me the nuances of mridangam. He is no more. And then I continued my music studies with G. Chandrasekharan Nair, who worked for AIR. He was instrumental in me choosing the ghatam. He believed that there were very few professional ghatam artistes and hence more opportunities.

It was at Alappuzha in 1986 and it came through chance. The ghatam artiste who was to accompany B.V.Raman and B.V.Lakshmanan could not make it. This was a temple concert and the organisers were in desperate search of a replacement. That was when someone mentioned my name. For me this was a God-sent opportunity. Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair (mridangam) and Alagiri Swami (violin) were the other artistes on stage. I think I did not fare very badly.