Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and a cultural icon of Kerala. Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 50,000 songs in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Tulu, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades. He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan. Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day. He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair was an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He was a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and was one of the masters of post-Independence Indian literature. Randamoozham, which retells the story of the Mahabharata from the point of view of Bhimasena, is widely credited as his masterpiece.
Kerala music has a complex history distinct from Malayalam poetry, with which it is often associated. Though it is often driven by poetry, Kerala also has its roots in Carnatic music. Songs have always been a significant part of early Malayalam literature dating back to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in Kerala's culture can be deduced from the musical poetry that developed in the Malayalam language long before prose. As music evolved in the region, various branches emerged from it
Paliyath Jayachandran was an Indian playback singer and actor from Kerala. He collaborated with legendary composers, G. Devarajan, M. S. Baburaj, V. Dakshinamoorthy, K. Raghavan, M. K. Arjunan, M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, Koti, Shyam, A. R. Rahman, M. M. Keeravani, Vidyasagar and M Jayachandran. Over the course of his career, he recorded more than 16,000 songs in multiple languages and appeared in a few films.
Vallathol Narayana Menon was a Malayalam poet and one of the triumvirate of modern Malayalam poetry, along with Asan and Ulloor. The honorific Mahakavi was applied to him in 1913 after the publication of his MahakavyaChitrayogam. He was a nationalist poet and wrote a series of poems on various aspects of the Indian freedom movement. He founded the Kerala Kalamandalam and is credited with revitalising the traditional Keralite dance form known as Kathakali.
Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar (15 February 1899 – 14 January 1990) was a celebrated master performance artist and Sanskrit scholar from Kerala, India, considered to be the greatest Chakyar Koothu and Koodiyattam artist and authority of modern times. He was considered as the authority of Abhinaya and Nātyaśāstra.
The culture of Kerala has developed over the past millennia, with influences from other parts of India and abroad. It is defined by its antiquity and the organic continuity sustained by the Malayali people. Modern Kerala society took shape owing to migrations from different parts of India and abroad throughout Classical Antiquity.
Vineeth Radhakrishnan is an Indian actor, Bharatanatyam dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also appeared in a few Hindi and Kannada films. He has won several awards including 3 Kerala State Film Awards, Kalaimamani honour from Government of Tamil Nadu and Filmfare Award South nominations.
V. M. Girija is an Indian poet and essayist, writing in Malayalam language. She has published a number of books, which include Prem - Ek Album, the Hindi translation of her poetry anthology in Malayalam, Pranayam Oralbum. Kerala Sahithya Akademi awarded her their 2018 annual award for poetry and she is a recipient of 'Changmpuzha Award for literature', 'Basheer Amma Malayalam Puraskaram', and Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram.
V. K. Prakash is an Indian film director and actor. He makes films, music videos, and commercials, and works predominantly in Malayalam, but has also directed Telugu, Marathi, Kannada and Hindi films. Prakash's debut feature directorial was Punaradhivasam (2000) which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam and Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director. His film Nirnayakam (2015) won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues.
Vaishnav Girish is an Indian singer and live performer. He has appeared in several singing reality TV shows and has recorded songs for films in Malayalam language. Vaishnav rose to fame when his audition for the 2017 season of Zee TV's musical talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs became a viral video online, and led to a nationwide press coverage. He went on to finish the competition as runner up.
Shivajith is an Indian actor from Kerala, who made his debut in the film Veeram in 2016, directed by Jayaraj.
R. Narayana Panickar was an Indian essayist, playwright, translator, lexicographer, novelist and historian of Malayalam. He was credited with over 100 books but the best known among them are the seven-volume work, Kerala Bhasha Sahitya Charitram, a comprehensive history of Malayalam literature up to 1951 and Navayuga Bhasha Nighantu, a lexicon. He also wrote a number of novels and translated several works including Purananuru, Akanaṉūṟu and Silappatikaram. He was also a historian and published works such as Thiruvithamkoor Charitram and Kerala Charitram. Sahitya Akademi honoured him with their annual award in 1955.
Vijayarajamallika, known as Daivathinte Makal, is a transgender poet in Malayalam literature, She is a writer, teacher, social worker, inspirational speaker, and activist.
Kalamandalam Kuttan Asan was an Indian Kathakali artiste from Kerala. He was known as Dakshan Kuttan as he was popular in the role of Daksha. He received awards including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 2008 and Kerala State Kathakali Award 2019.
V. K. Hymavathy popularly known as Kalamandalam Hymavathy is a Mohiniyattam dancer and dance teacher from Kerala, India. She received several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Gurupooja Award and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award.
Akavoor Narayanan was a Malayalam language writer, scholar and critic from Kerala, India. His most important work is Venmani Prasthanam, which is a study on the nineteenth century Malayalam poetry movement known as Venmani Movement. He has authored more than twenty books, including three Aattakkathas.
Aryambika S. V. is a Malayalam language poet from Kerala, India. She received several awards including Yuva Puraskar by Sahithya Akademi and Kanakasree Award by Kerala Sahitya Akademi.
C. G. Rajagopal is a polyglot, poet and translator from Kerala, India. He received many awards including the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize 2019, a literary honour in India, presented by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.
The Kerala School Kalolsavam 2025, also referred to as the Kerala State School Arts Festival 2025, was the 63rd edition of the Kerala School Kalolsavam. It took place from 4 to 8 January in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The festival was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Central Stadium. Over 15,000 participants competed in 250 events held across 25 venues.
(1959 • 1991–1993 • 2001 • 2002 • 2004 • 2005 • 2007–2018 • 2023)