Thiruvizha Jayashankar (born 1940) is an Indian

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

and a well known

Nadaswaram The ''nadaswaram'' is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala and in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. This i ...

expert in South India.

Early life and education

Born in the family of musicians in a small village Thiruvizha,

Alleppey Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

, 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 municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Alappuzha and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kayamkulam has ...

. He has completed his diploma (Ganabhooshanam) in music from

RLV College of Music and Fine Arts RLV College of Music and Fine Arts is an academic institution situated in Thripunithura, Kochi in the state of Kerala, India. It is affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University and offers graduate and postgraduate courses in music, performing ...

(University of Kerala) in 1957. noted Indian playback singer

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas ( /jeːʃud̪aːs/; born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian m ...

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 (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

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 as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Career

Jayashankar opted for a central Government job in

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, Thiruvananthapuram in 1965 and worked there till retirement. He was also a visiting professor at

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

, 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 Akademi Award *

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship The Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship is an honour presented by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, an autonomous organisation for the encouragement, preservation, and documentation of the performing arts of Kerala, set up by the Depar ...

2000 * Kalaimamani from the Government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

* Central

Sangeet Natak Academy Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

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 Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship