V. V. Ravi Biography 
V. V. Ravi is the short name of Vadakkanchery Veeraraghava Ravi, a Carnatic violinist from Vadakkanchery, Kerala. Along with his brother V.V. Subrahmaniam, this accomplished artist has toured in many countries across the globe. His wife Visalam Ravi is a singer and a dubbing artist, while both his kids are into the singing field. His daughter Harini Ravi sang the popular song - Kichu Kichu Thambulam for the Tamil Movie Mynaa. His son V.R. Raghava Krishna is also a young vocalist.
He was born into a family with strong music background. His father Vadakkanchery Veeraraghava Iyer was a vocalist and violin vidwan who served as a court musician of King of Travancore, the patron of arts and music. His uncles - Mani Bhagavathar, Rama Bhagavathar, Lakshminarayanan and Krishna Iyer were all accomplished vidwan. Started his music studies from his father he later learnt music from his elder brother V.V. Subramaniam. He also got opportunity to study under great legends - Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Puliyur Subramaniam Narayanaswamy.
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a friend of his father, and he used to teach Ravi when he returns from school. Chembai was excellent in playing violin too. He polished Ravi’s fingering techniques and taught him the nuances of accompanying vocal concerts and also playing kritis. He also taught Navavarnam, Navagraha and many other Dikshitar kritis. Later he practised with Thanjavur S. Kalyanaraman which opened him new paths of music.
As a violinist he got opportunity to accompany great Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, apart from several leading names of the 20th century. He initially accompanied T.K. Govinda Rao and Trichur Ramachandran. He performs in solos and duets. Since the year 1982 he also performed in All India Radio. Prior to that, he has won the Best Violin Artiste by AIR in the year 1973.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 12, 2016
