Accompanying Neyyattinkara Vasudevan Sir

Neyyattinkara Vasudevan (1940–13 May 2008) was a

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, 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, an ...

vocalist from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in south

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Padmasree-winning Carnatic vocalist and disciple of

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day ...

and

Ramnad Krishnan Ramnad Krishnan (14 September 1918 – 29 January 1973) was a vocalist in the Carnatic music, Carnatic tradition. Krishnan did his schooling in Ramnad in Madras Presidency. His elder brother Prof. V Lakshminarayana took him to C. S. Sankarasivam ...

, he combined tradition and innovation in his widely acclaimed career. Vasudevan is famous as being one of the first from the

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

community to excel in the field which was previously the preserve of the upper castes.

Biography

Vasudevan born to a

family, in a village near

Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara, is a Municipal Town and a major industrial and commercial hub located at the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State, and also the headquarters of Neyyattinkara Taluk. The ...

in southern

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

. He did his formal music studies from the Swati Tirunal Music College,

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 ...

, chiefly under

. He also did advanced studies under Ramnad Krishnan. He passed Ganabhushanam in 1960 and Sangeetha Vidwan in 1962. He worked as assistant professor at the RLV College of Music,

Thrippunithura Thrippunithura or Tripunithura (), is a prominent historical and residential region in the City of Kochi in Kerala, India. Located about 7 km (4 mi) from the city centre, Tripunithura was the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin ...

, for nearly a decade before joining All India Radio as an A-grade staff vocalist in 1974. He retired in 2000 and was later ranked 'A Top', the highest honour given by AIR to classical musicians. He died on 13 May 2008 in Thiruvananthapuram aged 68.

Awards

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

in 2004 * Swati Puraskaram in 2006Swati award for Neyyattinkara Vasudevan
from "The Hindu" newspaper *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in 1970

Movies

He has also sung for some

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

movies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasudevan, Neyyattinkara 1940 births 2008 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Indian male playback singers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian male classical singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award People from Thiruvananthapuram district Singers from Kerala Malayali people Malayalam playback singers Film musicians from Kerala