Neyyattinkara Vasudevan Biography 
Neyyattinkara Vasudevan was an acclaimed Carnatic music vocalist from South Kerala. He was a disciple of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Ramnad Krishnan. Through his own innovative methods and traditional style, he cultivated a singing style of his own. He is a recipient of Padmashree from Indian government. He has also received Swati puraskaram in 2006. He was born in August 24, 1940 in Neyyattinkara, 20 kms away from main capital city and passed away on May 13, 2008 in Thiruvananthapuram. He was one of the most popular Carnatic singers of Kerala during the second half of 1900’s and early 2000’s. His live concerts of Carnatic music are popular all over India.
Apart from being a good Carnatic singer, he has rendered his voice to a few film songs as well. His songs were mostly recorded during late 80’s and early 90’s and all of those compositions solely dependent on Carnatic music. His songs of Chitram and Swathi Thirunal need special mention. His film songs include - Sarasa Suvadana of Eni padikal (1968), Parama Purusha of Swathi Tirunal (1987), Nagumomu of Chitram (1988), Sree Jaanaveedharam of Vachanam (1990), Geyam hari naamadheyam and Paarukkulle of Mazha (2000). Scripts of movies like Swathi Thirunal, Chitram and Mazha were deep rooted in carnatic music and that’s the reason why Vasudevan’s voice chosen. Poornam Vishwanathan played the role of a NRI in Chitram, deeply interested in music and Vasudevan’s voice suits him the best.
Vasudevan was born in Neyyattinkara of southern Travancore (during the reign of Maharajas). That’s the reason why ‘Neyyattinkara’ tag got added to his name. He did his formal music studies from the Swathi Tirunal Music College, Thiruvananthapuram. He was guided by Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer during his studies. Vasudevan did his advanced studies under Ramnad Krishnan. He passed Ganabhushanam in 1960 and Sangeetha Vidwan in 1962.
He started his career as assistant professor at the RLV College of Music, Thripunithura for about 10 years. Then he joined All India Radio as an A-grade staff vocalist in 1974. He retired from his service in 2000. He was later ranked ‘A Top’, the highest honour given by AIR to classical musicians. His home town has celebrated his 75th birth anniversary in a grand way last week. The program was organised by Manirang The Neyyattinkara Vasudevan Foundation - The Foundation, named after Vasudevan.
Published: N/A
Updated: October 01, 2013
