Kamukara Purushothaman (4 December 1930 – 26 May 1995) was an Indian singer. He was a noted

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

Malayalam cinema 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' ...

during its early years. He has recorded over 170 songs in 68 movies in various

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

languages.

Early life

Kamukara was born on 4 December 1930 in

Thiruvattar Thiruvattar is a panchayat town in Kanyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. About the town This town is situated north-east of Marthandam and north-west of Nagercoil. The two main rivers Pahrali River and Kothai surround the vil ...

Kanyakumari Kanniyakumari (; , referring to Devi Kanya Kumari), also known as Cape Comorin, is a city in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and the southernmost city in mainland Ind ...

district of present day

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. He was the son of Parameswara Kurup and Lekshmikkutty Amma. He started learning music from an early age under

Karnatic music 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 ...

guru Thiruvattar Arumugham Pillai Bhagavathar, along with his sister,

Leela Omchery Leela Omchery is a classical singer, musicologist and writer. She is known for her contributions to classical music and is a recipient of Padmashri award from Government of India for her contributions to Indian classical dance and music. Life ...

, a known singer and musicologist. His career debut was at the local temple, Aadi Keshava Temple, Thiruvattar. He started music concerts by the age of 15 and became an artist at Trivandrum Broadcasting Corporation by the age of 20 and became active in

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

music programmes.

Career

His first recording for a film was in 1953 for the Malayalam film, ''Ponkathir'', a

Merryland Studio Merryland Studio is an Indian film studio based in Trivandrum, Kerala. It was the second film studio in Kerala, established in 1950 by former Trivandrum mayor and businessman P. Subramaniam. He produced 70 films, 59 of them directed by himself ...

production to start a film career which spanned over 20 years and 68 Malayalam (total 125) films. He was the leading male singer in Malayalam films during the 50s and 60s till K.J. Yesudas appeared on the scene. Two of his soulfully rendered songs, "Aathmavidyalayame" for the film ''

Harishchandra Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the ''Aitareya Brahmana'', ''Mahabharata'', the ''Markandeya Purana'', and the ''Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these storie ...

'' and "Ekanthathayude" for ''

Bhargavi Nilayam ''Bhargavi Nilayam'' () is a 1964 Indian Malayalam-language romantic horror film directed by A. Vincent (in his directorial debut) and written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer based on his own short story ''Neela Velicham''. The film stars Madhu, V ...

'' are widely considered to be among the all time great songs of Malayalam film music. He was a regular singer in Merryland films until the 1970s. Most of his songs were written by

Thirunainar kurichi Madhavan Nair Thirunainar Kurichi Madhavan Nair (1916-1965) was an Indian poet, novelist and lyricist. He was also an employee of Travancore Radio Station in Trivandrum, which later got merged with All India Radio. He was very active in Malayalam films from 1 ...

and composed by Brother Lakshmanan. Later in his career, Kamukara Purushothaman, along with K. P. Udayabhanu and other senior singers formed a music troupe by name ''Old is Gold'' and performed stage programs all over India and abroad.

Death

Kamukara, who was a school teacher by profession, and retired as the Principal of Thiruvattar Govt. School, died suddenly on 26 May 1995 after suffering from a massive heart attack while on a journey to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. He was aged 64 at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife, children, children-in-law and grandchildren.

Popular songs

Kamukara Awards

Kamukara Award is instituted in the remembrance of Kamukara Purushothaman, to exemplary musicians. Awardees by the year are . V Dakshinamoorthy, K Raghavan, P Leela,

KJ Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a c ...

, PJayachandran,

P Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

, S Janaki,

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

, PB Sreenivas,

MS Baburaj Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs. Early years Baburaj was born on 9 March 1929 in Kozhikod ...

, B Vasantha, LR Eswari, KJ Joy, MS Viswanathan, MK Arjunan,

MG Radhakrishnan Malabar Gopalan Radhakrishnan (29 July 1940 – 2 July 2010) was an Indian music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala. Personal life M. G. Radhakrishnan was born on 29 July 1940 at Haripad, in Alappuzha district, Kerala as the eldes ...

Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include: ;Shyam *Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor *Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala * Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...

, KP Udhaya bhanu , P Madhuri ,

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film ...

Sujatha Mohan Sujatha Mohan (credited as Sujatha) is an Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. She has also sung for Kannada, Badaga, Hindi and Marathi movies. In a career spanning 48 years, she has recorde ...

and

K.S.Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic music, Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs ...

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References

External links

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBddfe2C7U0 on YouTube * http://www.devaragam.com/vbscript/MusicNew.aspx?ArtistID=113 on ''Devaragam'' * http://www.raaga.com/channels/malayalam/album/MC0000054.html on ''Raaga'' * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj90iwKzvyY on YouTube * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQO10CdixFY on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Purushothaman, Kamukara Indian male playback singers Malayalam playback singers Malayali people 1930 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Tamil Nadu People from Kanyakumari district 20th-century Indian male singers