Thiruvizha Jayashankar (born 1940) is an Indian

classical musician Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" ...

and a well known Nadaswaram expert in South India.

Early life and education

Born in the family of musicians in a small village Thiruvizha, Alleppey, Jayashankar was keen to learn music and drawing in his childhood. He is the son of nadaswara maestro Thiruvizha Raghava Panickar and grandson of Thiruvizha Sanku Panickar. Jayashankar opted for preliminary lessons in the nagaswaram under his grandfather and later received advanced training from his father with whom he began playing in the temples of central Travancore almost on a regular basis. His debut performance ( Arangetram) was in the year 1955 at the age of 16 which was held at the Pathiyoor Devi Temple,

Kayamkulam Kayamkulam is a town and municipality in the ''Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in Kerala. It is the second biggest town in Alappuzha district. It is located on the western coast of India, and was an ancient maritime trading center. O ...

. He has completed his diploma (Ganabhooshanam) in music from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts (University of Kerala) in 1957. noted Indian playback singer

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

was his batch mate. After the completion of diploma course, he has taken BA degree in music from Government College, Chittur (University of Caicut) near

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

and post graduate diploma (Ganapraveena) from

Swathi Thirunal College of Music Swathi Thirunal College of Music is a music college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was founded in 1939. It was first named as "The Music Academy". The name was renamed as Swathi Thirunal College of Music in 1962. The founder of this ...

(University of Kerala),

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Career

Jayashankar opted for a central Government job in

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, Thiruvananthapuram in 1965 and worked there till retirement. He was also a visiting professor at Annamalai University, Chidambaram. His musical journey with great Tavil mastro Valayapetty Subramaniam proved to be a landmark in live Nagaswara concerts. Haripad Murukadas and Vettikkavala Sasi Kumar are few of his famous disciples.

Awards and recognition

* Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award and Fellowship * Kalaimamani from the Government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

* Central Sangeet Natak Academy Award 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayashankar, Thiruvizha 1940 births Living people Nadaswaram players People from Alappuzha district University of Calicut alumni University of Kerala alumni All India Radio people Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award