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.
The music of Kerala has a complex history. It is not the same as Malayalam poetry, although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music. Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry was developed long before prose. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it.
Thrippunithura is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. Thrippunithura is located about 7.1 km (4.4 mi) east of the Kochi city centre, and is a major satellite town of the city. Tripunithura being a prominent historical residential region in Kochi, was the capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin. The Hill Palace situated in Tripunithura was the palace of Maharaja of Cochin, the ruler of Kingdom of Cochin. Thrippunithura is known for its rich culture which includes the annual Vrishchikotsavam festival that takes place at the Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple.
Panchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four — timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka — belong to the percussion category, while the fifth, kombu, is a wind instrument.
Panchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam, is one of the major forms of Chenda Melam, and is the best-known and most popular in the kshetram vadyam genre. Panchari Melam, comprising instruments like Chenda, Ilathalam, Kombu and Kuzhal, is performed during many temple festivals in central Kerala, where it is presented in arguably the most classical manner. Panchari is also traditionally performed, albeit with a touch of subtle regional difference, in north Kerala (Malabar) and south-central Kerala (Kochi). Of late, its charm has led to its performance even in temples in Kerala's deep south.
Thayambaka or tayambaka is a type of solo chenda performance that developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, in which the main player at the centre improvises rhythmically on the beats of half-a-dozen or a few more chenda and ilathalam players around.
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was an Indian Carnatic music singer from Kerala. He was born in Kozhikode, and moved to Palakkad along with him family during his childhood. He is popularly known as Chembai, or sometimes simply as Bhagavatar. Chembai was noted for his powerful voice and majestic style of singing. His first public performance was in 1904, when he was nine. A recipient of several titles and honours, he was known for his encouragement of upcoming musicians and ability to spot new talent. He was responsible for popularising compositions like Rakshamam Saranagatam and Pavana Guru, among others.
Neralattu Rama Poduval or Njaralathu Rama Poduval (1916–1996) was an exponent of the ashtapadi/sopanam music form practised in Kerala in southern India. A recipient of the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, he hailed from a rugged village called Thiruvaazhaamkunnu, near Mannarkkad in Palakkad district and lived most of life in Angadipuram in Malappuram district, the place famous for the Thirumanthamkunnu Temple.
Ramesh Narayan is an Indian classical vocalist, composer and music producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He belongs to the Mewati gharana of Hindustani classical music. Narayan began his initial training in Carnatic music and later mastered the classical Hindustani style under the renowned Pandit Jasraj.
Sreevalsan J. Menon is an Indian Carnatic vocalist and a music composer from Kerala.
Malabar Gopalan Radhakrishnan was an Indian music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala.
Mahadeva Temple, Kalanjoor popularly known as Thrikkalanjoor Sree Mahadeva Temple is a Hindu temple. It is 80 kilometers to the south-west of the Sabarimala temple on the Punalur-Muvattupuzha highway in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. A majestic banyan tree, flanked by an Althara that is visible from a distance for any traveler on the main road, announces the presence of the temple to the devotee.
Rugmini Gopalakrishnan is a Saraswati veena artist in Carnatic music from India.
Peruvanam Kuttan Marar is a chenda artist. He leads several popular traditional orchestra performances in Kerala. He received Padma Shri, India's third highest civilian award, in 2011 for his contributions in the field of art.
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Aparna B. Marar is an Indian classical dancer, organiser, art educator, choreographer and singer. She is also an engineer with a postgraduate degree in wireless communication engineering from PSG College of Technology. She has received numerous honours including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy's Yuva Prathibha Award, Calicut University's Kalathilakam Award, and a national scholarship by Ministry of Culture.
S. Easwara Varma is a carnatic style violinist and teacher from Kerala, South India. Shri.Varma has taught in several music colleges in Kerala for over 30 years. He is a regular performer in various music events held in the country, both as a soloist and as an accompanying artiste. Easwara Varma has accompanied with his violin many greats in Carnatic music, like T.K.Govinda Rao, V.Dakshinamoorthy Swamy, Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma, Neyyattinkara Vasudevan, Neyyattinkara Mohanachandran, S.Retnakaran Bhagavathar, P.R.Kumara Kerala Varma, Perumbavoor.G.Raveendranath, Dr.K.J.Yesudas, T.V.Sankaranarayanan, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, T.M.Krishna, Prof.K.Omanakutty, M.K.Sankaran Namboothiri, Vayyankara.S.R.Madhusoodanan, and K.Venkataraman
Tripunithura N. Radhakrishnan is a Ghatam exponent from Kerala, India. He is the first artist to receive the noted Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship for Ghatam. He has played the Ghatam in tens of thousands of venues across hundreds of countries.
Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award is an award given by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous organisation for the encouragement, preservation, and documentation of the performing arts of Kerala, set up by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala. Instituted in 1962, the awards are given in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional arts, and for contribution/scholarship in performing arts. The award consists of Rs. 30,000, a citation and a plaque. The recipients of the award are also conferred the title Kalasree.
Prakash Ulliyeri is an Indian musician and instrumentalist from Ulliyeri, Kozhikode, Kerala. He is recognized for his skillful playing of the harmonium and keyboard.
