K J YESUDAS

One of the greatest South Indian musicians of all times, was born on January 10, 1940 in Fort Cochin, Kerala, India. His father Mr. Augustine Joseph Bagavathor, was a well known malayalam classical musician and stage actor of his time, who rode the Kerala stage like a colossus for over a quarter of a century. His mother, Mrs. Alikkutty Joseph, devoted her time and energy in bringing up her children. In his childhood Yesudas had to face a great deal of hardships because of the meager financial resources of his parents. His father could recognize the boy’s musical talent at a very young age and decided to provide him musical education at any cost. Augustine Bhagavathor himself was his first music Guru. The boy was taught the fundamentals of Carnatic music at the tender age of five. Indian music world soon began to witness the appearance of a new bright star in the horizon. Later several music teachers in and around Cochin gave him valuable guidance he was seeking. It is his passion for music, hard work and dedication that created the musical legend we call Yesudas. Music came as divine grace and paternal inheritance to K.J.Yesudas, one of India’s foremost exponents of classical carnatic vocal music and leading playback singer in all-Indian languages. His classical concerts and film songs programs continue to captivate millions of listeners at home and abroad. Eldest of the four sons and one daughter of the Joseph couple, Yesudas took to music at a very early age. His first Guru was his beloved father himself, who lovingly and painstakingly led little Yesudas through the basic precepts of Carnatic Music while he was hardly five years old. From there, the budding singer took lessons under several musical wizards in and around Cochin and nurtured his native talents with discipline, dedication and determination. Yesudas is a reciepent of the Padmabhushan Award from the president of India and progress each day towards achieving musical knowledge through Classical Indian Music, Carnatic Music, Challenging Film and Independent compositions.

Dr. Yesudas is happily married to Prabha and has three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The second son Vijay Yesudas, is a singer. The family is currently settled in Madras, India and visit Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA time and again for business reasons.

On January 21'st 2007 Vijay Yesudas tied knot to Darshana whome he was in love with for the last four years and was waiting for the parents blessings all this while.

MUSIC AND ITS ORIGIN IN KERALA

Music has the power to enliven the spirits and transfer us to a world of ecstasy. Music is the worldwide language which can be comprehended by anybody and the melodious strains are ever- delighting. Kerala with its elaborate range of rich traditional, vocal and instrumental music has enhanced the cultural heritage of India. The music of God’s Own Country owes its origin to the ancient, illustrious traditional heritage of the land and the unique culture of the people. The significance of the music of Kerala , its crudity, indigenousness and spontaneousness can be evaluated from its fundamental usage stored in the agrestic musical and an assortment of dance forms.

The rule of Swati Tirunal, the ruler of Travancore, is noted as "the Augustan Age of Kerala Music". He patronized art to a great instant and his court boosted of a galaxy of musicians. The South Indian Carnatic Music originated and flourished during his reign. The eminent Karnatic musicians of Kerala are Vina Kalyanakrishna Bhagavatar, Kathakalashepam Anantarama Bhagavatar, Palghat Mani and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

The different forms of Kerala Music are-

Sopanam Style - Kerala has its own indigenous music system, known as Sopanam Sangeetam, which consists of step-by-step version of raga-based songs. These songs are sung in the bhakti (loving devotion to God in the form of music and poetry) tradition in front of sopana (steps in front of the holy place) and are dedicated to the deity of a temple. Musicians normally stand on the left side of the steps or sopana and and sing devotional songs with the accompaniment of musical instruments like edakka drum (a typical Kerala percussion instrument), and chengila. So the name Sopanam Sangeetam has been derived from the term Sopana or Sopanam meaning 'Sanctum Sanctorum' of the temple. Sopana Music or Sopana Sangeetam was an exponent of the Kerala Bhakti Cult Movement and most of the lyrics (asthapathi) are rooted in famous poet Jayadeva’s immortal work, 'Geeta Govinda'. The traditional Kathakali music is the perfect instance of the uniqueness of Sopana sangeetam.

Folk Songs - Kerala is very rich in its folk song tradition and has many varying folk songs as there are there are variances in the climate, land, people and their occupations.The nadanpattu (nadan-native, pattu-songs) of Kerala or Kerala folk songs narrate unrecorded tales of the land and people. These lyrical songs are evoked from the emotions and simple wisdom of agrestic folk. Almost every aspect of life and occasions such as childbirth marriage, festivals, the glee of the harvest season, weddings, war, the union of man and woman, mythology and religion and death finds a place in Kerala folksongs. Mappilapattukal, Pallipattukal, Onapattukal, Mappilapattu, Vilppattu and Vanchipattukal, are some of these native songs of different castes and communities of Kerala.

Mizhavu - Kerala has its individual heritage in instrumental music like Mizhavu and Panchavadyam. Mizhavu or Mizhav is a large drum made of copper or clay and is played as an accompanying percussion instrument in the famous ceremonial temple performances of Kerala- Koothu and Koodiyattam .It resembles a big jar and has a narrow mouth with a leather covering. This musical instrument is solely played with hands. Only the traditional Ambalavasi Nambiar community, Chakkiyar and the Nangiars were entitled to play the Mizhavu inside the temples or Koothambalams. The reverberating beat of the Mizhavu is still unparalleled when compared with the sonata of other percussion instruments. Panchavadyam- Panchavadyam is a classical performance of various musical instruments that are endemic Kerala. As the term “pancha” in Sanscrit means five, Panchavadyam consists of five percussion instruments- Edakka, Elathalam, Kombu, Shudha Madhalam and Timila. Edakka, Shudha Madhalam and Timila are different kind of drums while Elathalam is a cymbal and the Kombu is a kind of trumpet. Altogether symphony of these five musical instruments captivates the listeners. The performance of Panchavadyam is an integral part of the festivals of the Temples in Kerala, especially in Central Kerala. The most celebrated performance is put up at Thiruvambadi Temple during the Thrissur Pooram.

Instrumental Music - The instrumental music of Kerala is dramatic and lively with with a large number of musical instruments such as Chenda , Dolak, Edakka, Mizhavu, Mridangam, Udukku, Takil and Timila and a few percussion instruments. Wind instruments include Kombu, Kuzhal, Nadaswaram and Mughavina and so on.

The varied stringed instruments include Tamburu, Sarangi, Swarabi, Vina and Violin. The Chendamelam has become an inseparable part of all the temple festivals of Kerala. 'Thayampaka' is another unique temple vadya. 'Panchavadyam' consists of five musical instruments which are played together to create a melodious tune.

EVEN NOW MUSIC OF KERALA PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC........................

HARRY POTTER IN KERALA

After spending sleepless nights, hundreds of tiny Harry Potter fans in Kerala today laid their hands on the final volume of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.Curious to discover the fate of their favorite boy wizard, a majority of them preferred to read the book from the climax as soon as they bought it.''On the request of parents and children, we opened our bookshop at 0600 hrs today and all the books were sold in two hours,'' said a staff member at Pai Co, a book distributor here. This was the situation across the state as almost all bookshops, which distributed the book, opened their shops well before 0600 hrs.''As a majority of the copies were booked in advance, we had no problem and our work finished in two hours,'' said DC Books, another distributor, which sold more than 6,000 copies through its outlets in the state.India Book House Manager Hari said, ''more than 12,000 copies were sold across the state in two hours and we have placed more orders following demands from parents.'' Many bookshops celebrated the occasion by organising various programmes in the state in connection with the release of the book, the seventh and final volume of the fantasy series by J K Rowling.In a bid to get more bookings, bookshops offered complements like CDs on National Geographic Quiz Master and Oxford Talking Dictionary to those who booked the copies in advance.Meanwhile, a little Harry Potter fan from Kannur claimed he had discovered a mistake in the sixth volume of the series.Shardhul Sreekumar, a seventh standard student of Amritha Vidyalaya, Kakkad, who read all six previous volumes several times, noted that the author had mistakenly used Harry Potter's friend Ron's name as Rubert.Though he wrote to the author pointing out the mistake, no reply was received, he added.

THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD UNDER WATER

TOUR THROUGH KERALA - THE LAND OF BEAUTY

KERALA - GODS OWN COUNTRY

The name "Kerala" comes from two words: "Kera" + "Alam". ("Kera" means coconut (tree) and "Alam" means land or location). The State of Kerala was formed by the amalgamation of three regions: the Kingdom of Thiruvithamcoore (Travancore), the Kingdom of Kochi (Cochin), and the Province of Malabar. Thiruvithaamcoore and Kochi, former princely states, were merged to form Thiru-Kochi on July 1, 1949. Malabar was merged with Thiru-Kochi to form the State of Kerala on November 1, 1956, based on the recommendations of the State Reorganisation Commission set up by the Government of India.
Alleppey

Alleppey

Bekal - Kasargod

Canannore

Kochi

Kochi

Ponmudi - Trivandrum

Veli lake - Trivandrum

Idukki