Marana Gana Viji Biography 
Marana Gana Viji, around 35 years old is a popular figure in North Chennai and many people recognize him with his name. He is a folk singer who is invited to sing at funerals. Born as an orphan and left among beggars his destiny was something else. He, along with 4 friends managed to escape from a destiny of begging and now he is the top rated funeral singer of North Chennai, who earns 25,000 rupees for one program. Till now he has sung for 3,7000 occasions including ‘gana’ songs on various themes at many events. Now he is interested in finding new meanings of life and death, composing his own songs with his own grammar and rules. Viji wears a silver skull medallion around his neck.
He was conceived in a liaison intended only to produce children for begging. His first memories are of his suffering life in the sands of the Marina as a rag picker, with four other friends - Peeda, Sekar, Babu and Egmore Lakshmi. They were all sent for begging. Someone they managed to escape and later they took care of him. It was a sex worker who gave food to him and gave him the name Viji. He has never gone to school. But he has authored three books on his life, and his experiences with death and dying.
He was drawn towards death and spirituality at the age of 7 and since then he has travelled several places including Kashi in search of truth of death. He learned this folk form and its basics from Karuppu Parayanar. For the first funeral he performed he was given a few rupees and a bowl of rice of the previous day. Now he earns 25,000 for each event and also ‘gana’ songs on various themes at many events. His genre is marana gana, which is slightly different from Chennai’s gana songs.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 09, 2016
