Neyyattinkara Vasudevan


Neyyattinkara Vasudevan was a Carnatic music vocalist from Kerala in south India. The Padmasree-winning Carnatic vocalist and disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Ramnad Krishnan, he combined tradition and innovation in his widely acclaimed career. Vasudevan is famous as being one of the first from the Dalit community to excel in the field which was previously the preserve of the upper castes.

Biography

Vasudevan born to a Dalit family, in a village near Neyyattinkara in southern Travancore. He did his formal music studies from the Swati Tirunal Music College, Thiruvananthapuram, chiefly under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. 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, 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

He has also sung for some Malayalam movies.
YearSongMovie
1968Sarasa SuvadanaEnipadikal
1987Parama PurushaSwathi Thirunal
1987Mamava Sada JananiSwathi Thirunal
1987KosalendraSwathi Thirunal
1987Pannakendra SayanaSwathi Thirunal
1988NagumomuChitram
1990Sree JaanaveedharamVachanam
2000Geyam hari naamadheyamMazha
2000PaarukkulleMazha