K. G. Jayan (born 21 November 1934) is an Indian

Carnatic musician Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

, who was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2019. He is known for devotional songs. Jayan has composed more than 1,000 songs and also has been music director for a few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. The popular actor

Manoj K. Jayan Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Se ...

is his younger son. Jayan and his twin brother K. G. Vijayan, with whom he formed the famous Jaya-Vijaya team, were born as the third and fourth sons of late Gopalan Thanthrikal and late Narayani Amma on 21 November 1934 at their home in Kottayam. They started to learn Carnatic music at a very young age, and had their arangettam at

Kumaranalloor Devi Temple Kumaranalloor is a suburb of Kottayam city, Kottayam taluk, Kerala, India. Kottayam city is just 5 km south of Kumaranalloor. The region was administrated by the Kumaranallur grama panchayath till 2010, before the local self-governing body ...

at the age of nine. Their first guru was one Raman Bhagavathar, and then they learnt from Mavelikkara Radhakrishna Iyer. They underwent Ganabhooshanam course at the famous Swathi Thirunal College of Music at Thiruvananthapuram after their schooling, and passed with distinction. Later, they had their advanced training from Carnatic giants like

Alathur Brothers Alathur Brothers Srinivasa Iyer (1911–1980) & Sivasubramania Iyer (1916–1965) were Carnatic vocalists. The world of Carnatic music knows them as the star duo of the twentieth century. They learnt under Alathur Venkatesa Iyer, the father ...

, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

. It was during their lessons under Chembai that they started composing and singing songs.

Awards and recognition

* 1991 – Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award – Government of Kerala * 2013 – Harivarasanam Award – Government of Kerala and Travancore Devaswom Board * 2019 – Padma Shri – Government of India

References

Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Living people 1934 births {{India-musician-stub

Awards and recognition

See also

References