This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since December 2009. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since December 2009. It may be confusing or unclear to readers. Tagged since December 2009.

Swami Ayyappan
God Ayyappan
Fertility
Sanskrit Transliteration	Swami Ayyappan
Tamil script	ஐயப்பன்
Malayalam Script	അയ്യപ്പന്‍
Affiliation	Deva, incarnation of Dharma Sasta
Abode	Sabarimala, Kerala state, India
Mantra	Om Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
Weapon	Bow and arrow
Consort	None
Mount	Tiger, horse
Region	southern India

An article related to Hinduism
Hindu • History
Deities Trimurti Brahma • Vishnu • Shiva Devis and Devas Saraswati · Lakshmi · Parvati Shakti · Durga  · Kali Ganesha · Subrahmanya · Ayyappa Rama · Krishna Hanuman Prajapati · Rudra Indra · Agni · Dyaus Bhumi · Varuna · Vayu
Philosophy Concepts Brahman · Om · Ishvara Atman · Maya Karma · Samsara Purusharthas (Dharma · Artha · Kama · Moksha) Nirvana Schools Astika-Orthodox Samkhya · Yoga Nyaya · Vaisheshika Purva mimamsa Uttara mimamsa (Vedanta) (Dvaita, Advaita, Vishishtadvaita) Nastika-Heterodox Charvaka Buddhism Jainism Other Orthodox Schools Pasupata · Saiva Pratyabhijña · Raseśvara Pāṇini Darśana
Scriptures Vedas Rigveda • Yajurveda Samaveda • Atharvaveda Divisions Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishad Upavedas Ayurveda • Dhanurveda Gandharvaveda • Sthapatyaveda Vedangas Shiksha · Chandas · Vyakarana Nirukta · Kalpa · Jyotisha Upanishads Rig vedic Aitareya Yajur vedic Brihadaranyaka · Isha Taittiriya · Katha · Shvetashvatara Sama vedic Chandogya · Kena Atharva vedic Mundaka · Mandukya · Prashna Puranas Brahma puranas Brahma · Brahmanda Brahmavaivarta Markandeya · Bhavishya Vaishnava puranas Vishnu · Bhagavata Naradeya · Garuda · Padma Shaiva puranas Shiva · Linga Skanda · Agni · Vayu Itihasas Ramayana · Mahabharata Other scriptures Bhagavat Gita Dharma Shastra · Manusmriti Artha Shastra · Yoga Vasistha Sutras · Stotras · Tantras Yoga Sutra others Classification of scriptures Śruti · Smriti Timeline Hindu texts
Practices Worship Puja · Japa · Bhajana Tapa · Dhyana Yajna · Homa Tirthadana · Naivedhya Temple · Vigraha · Bhakti Samskaras Garbhadhana · Pumsavana · Simantonayana · Jatakarma · Namakarana · Nishkramana · Annaprashana · Chudakarana · Karnavedha · Vidyarambha · Upanayana · Praishartha · Keshanta · Ritushuddhi · Samavartana · Vivaha · Antyeshti Varnashrama Dharma Varna Brahmin · Kshatriya Vaishya · Shudra Ashrama Brahmacharya · Grihastha Vanaprastha · Sanyasa Festivals Navaratri Vijayadashami (Dasara) Deepavali · Shivaratri · Holi Kumbha Mela · Ratha Yatra · Vishu · Bihu · Baisakhi · Puthandu Ganesh Chaturthi · Onam Rama Navami · Janmashtami Raksha Bandhan
Philosophers Ancient Gautama · Angiras · Ashtavakra · Jaimini · Kanada · Kapila · Pāṇini · Patañjali · Uddalaka · Valmiki · Vyasa · Yajnavalkya Medieval Adi Shankara · Basava · Dnyaneshwar · Chaitanya · Gangesha Upadhyaya · Gaudapada · Jayanta Bhatta · Kabir · Kumarila Bhatta · Madhusudana · Madhva · Namdeva · Nimbarka · Prabhakara · Raghunatha Siromani · Ramanuja · Srimanta Sankardeva · Vedanta Desika · Tukaram · Tulsidas · Vachaspati Mishra · Vallabha · Vidyaranya Modern Aurobindo · Coomaraswamy · Dayananda Saraswati · Gandhi · Krishnananda · Narayana Guru · Prabhupada · Ramakrishna · Ramana Maharshi · Radhakrishnan · Sivananda · U. G. Krishnamurti · Vivekananda · Yogananda
Other topics Hindu denominations Hinduism by country Mythology • Hindu calendar Hindu law • Hindu iconography Hindu nationalism • Hindutva Hindu pilgrimage sites Persecution • Criticism Glossary
Hinduism Portal Hindu Mythology Portal v t e

Ayyappan (Malayalam: അയ്യപ്പന്‍,Tamil: ஐயப்பன்) (also called Sartavu, or Sasta) is a Hindu deity worshiped in a number of shrines across southern India. Ayyappan is believed to be an incarnation of Dharma Sasta, who is the offspring of Shiva and Vishnu (as Mohini, in his female form) and is generally depicted in a yogic posture, wearing a bell around his neck. Ayyappan may bear a historical relationship to the tutelary deity Aiyanar in Tamil Nadu.^[1]

By the 20th century, there has been an increase in the number of worshipers of Ayyappan from many different groups, spurred by vast improvements in transport and communication in southern India.^[2]

Ayyappan's annual festival is a time of pilgrimage for ever-growing numbers of men from throughout South India. The most prominent and famous Ayyappan shrine is the one at Sabarimala, in the hills of Pathanamthitta in Kerala, with over 30 million devotees visiting it every year,^[3] making it one of the largest pilgrimage sites in the world. These devotees fast and engage in austerities under the leadership of a teacher for weeks beforehand and then travel in groups to the shrine for a glimpse of Ayyappan. Bus tickets are hard to obtain for several weeks as masses of elated men, clad in distinctive ritual dhotis of various colors, throng public transportation during their trip to the shrine.^[4]

The name "Ayyappan" is used as a respectful form of address in the Malayalam language, spoken in the Indian state of Kerala. The mantra Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa can be translated as, "Oh Ayyappa! I seek refuge in you".^[5]

Etymology[link]

Ayyappa is known as "Hariharasuta" because he is the son of Hari (Vishnu), the saviour and Haran (Shiva), the destroyer. His most common name is "Manikantha" because when the king of Pandalam found little Ayyappan in a forest, there was a "mani" (gem) tied around his neck^[6][7].

As Dharma Sastha, some consider him to be born out of the union between Mohini (an avatar of Vishnu) and Shiva.^[8]

Legends surrounding Ayyappan[link]

The asura princess Mahishi was burning up with anger at the trick the gods had pulled on her brother, the asura king Mahishasura. As Mahishasura was blessed with invulnerability to all men, the gods had sent goddess Durga, to fight and kill him. Thus, Mahishi began performing a fearsome set of austerities, and pleased the creator god Brahma. She asked for the boon of invulnerability, but Brahma said it was not possible so Mahishi planned and asked invulnerability to all men except by the son of Shiva and Vishnu. He granted her the boon of ruling the universe and being invulnerable except by the son of Shiva and Vishnu. Since such a person did not exist, she thought she was safe and began conquering and plundering the world.

The gods implored Shiva and Vishnu to save them from this catastrophe. Vishnu found a possible solution to the problem. When Vishnu had taken on the Kurma Avatar, he also had to manifest himself as Mohini, the enchantress, to save the nectar of immortality (ambrosia or amrit) from the demons who were not willing to share it with the gods. If he became Mohini again, then the female Mohini and the male Shiva could have the divine child who would combine their powers and beat Mahishi.

Some versions give a slightly more detailed version of the union of Shiva with Vishnu. One version tells that the asura Bhasmasura had so pleased Lord Shiva with his austerities that Shiva gave him a boon of anything he wished. So Bhasmasura asked for the ability to burn to ashes anything which he placed his hand over. No sooner had Shiva granted this, than Bhasmasura ran after the god, threatening to turn him to ashes.

Shiva called to Lord Vishnu for help. He hid himself in a peepal tree as Bhasmasura ran here and there searching for the god. Vishnu became aware of the events, and decided that he would take the female form Mohini, "the Enchanting", and try to trump the asura's powers. When Bhasmasura saw Vishnu in this form, he was bewitched by her beauty. He earnestly tried to court her. So Vishnu instructed Bhasmasura to hold his hand over his head, and vow fidelity. With this act, Bhasmasura was reduced to ashes.

Vishnu found Shiva and explained the whole affair to him. Shiva asked if he too could see Vishnu in this female form. When Vishnu appeared thus, Shiva was overcome with passion, and united with her. The two gods thus became "Harihara Murthi", that is a composite form of Shiva and Vishnu as one god.

From this union, Lord Sree Dharma Sastha was born. He combined in himself the powers of Vishnu and Shiva. Lord Ayyappan is a incarnation of Lord Sree Dharma Sastha and Lord Ayyappan is a visible embodiment of their essential identity. Sri Ayyappa belongs to Pandya Royal Community. He was the head of a clan. It is believed Sri Ayyappa merged to sri dharma sastha. Lord Vishnu gifted the new-born deity with a little bejeweled bell necklace, so this god is called Manikanthan Swamy. He is also called as Shasthappan by most South Indian communities.

In most Tamil versions of the story, the legend ends with the birth of the god, and with his passage around the region. But in Kerala, the story continues with Ayyappan's adoption by the Pandalam Raja, and the subsequent encounter with Mahisi.

Others legends[link]

There are many popular stories associated with Him among the devotees. The stories differ, but there are certain common elements:

• Ayyappa lived in the Pandalam Palace as the son / savior of the King.
• He had super-human or divine knowledge, wisdom, and courage and loved the King and his people.
• He protected the King and the kingdom from the attacks of enemies.
• At the end of His life in Pandalam, He vanished into the forests and is ever since worshiped at the Sabarimala temple.

The most popular and widely accepted story tells that Lord Ayyappa had His human sojourn as the son of the Raja of Pandalam. At that time, Raja Rajasekhara ruled the kingdom of Pandalam. During one of his hunting expeditions, the Raja was puzzled to hear the wails of a child on the banks of the river Pampa, and was surprised to find a resplendent infant there. The beautiful baby with radiant face wore a bead ('mani') around his neck. The King, though pious, charitable, just, and God-fearing, had no children. He accepted the child as God's gracious response to his fervent prayer for an heir to his throne. Manikantan grew into a boy well versed in academic lore and martial arts. Meanwhile the Rani gave birth to a son. The King regarded Manikantan as his elder son. He decided to crown him as the Yuvaraja. The King's corrupt Minister had a deep dislike for Manikantan, and made the innocent Queen believe that ill would befall her if Manikantan was crowned Yuvaraja and that the kingdom actually belonged to her son.

They conspired to get rid of Manikantan by hook or crook. They bribed the royal physician into becoming an accomplice of theirs. The Rani pretended to be afflicted with severe pain in the stomach, and the physician prescribed the milk of a tigress as the only cure. The King knew that none could be deputed for a mission that was so patently suicidal. However, the youthful and valiant Manikantan stepped forth and volunteered to fetch the milk. Despite the worried protestations of his foster-father, he set out for the fearful forests.

Days later, Manikantan entered the palace precincts riding a fierce tigress and followed by a pack of its cubs. The schemers were frightened into confessing their nefarious plot. They and others now knew that Manikantan was no ordinary being. They were convinced of His divine origins, and prayed to Him to be with them for their own salvation and for the safety of the kingdom. However, Manikantan was now determined to leave the place.

Filled with happiness, grief, fear, wonder and 'bhakthi' (devotion to God) and self-surrender, the king prayed for the mercy and blessings of Manikantan. He repented he could not fully visualize the truth of the divine powers of the Lord and repeatedly requested Him to forgive him for behaving as if He were only his son. The Lord lovingly embraced the King who continued to pray: " Lord, kindly bless me by freeing me from my egos and the worldly life of birth and rebirth and grant me ' moksha’ (salvation). Kindly continue to be the saviour of my family and stay eternally in my kingdom.” Manikantan then enlightened the King on the path of attainment of 'moksha'. These words of the Lord are contained in ‘Bhuthanathageetha'. To the King who is by now mentally cleansed and completely immersed in 'bhakthi', Lord Ayyappa said: "I am to free you from all worldly sorrows & worries and to grant you 'moksha'. All those who are and would be born in your family shall have my blessings unfailingly. I am always accessible to 'bhakthi' and only 'bhakthi." The Lord told the King that he could construct a temple at Sabarimala, north of the holy river Pampa and install His deity there. Ayyappa also explained how the Sabarimala pilgrimage shall be undertaken, emphasizing the importance of 'vrutham' and what the devotees can attain by His 'darshan'.

The Lord further consoled the King saying that the devotees who held him and his descendants in 'bhakthi' shall happen to be devoted to Him as well. Manikantan then blessed the King and all others assembled there, and vanished. The King duly constructed the temple at Sabarimala, dedicated to Him.

There are various tales connected with Lord Ayyappa: the discovery of the child at Pampa, Manikantan's youthful days in the Pandalam palace, bestowing the power of hearing and speaking upon the deaf and dumb son of His teacher as Guru-dakshina, His friendship with Vavar, bringing the tigress's milk, accomplishing His divinely destined mission of annihilation of the demoness Mahishi, eliminating the forest-thug Udayanan, bestowing moksha on Sabari, blessing His foster-father with moksha and so on. Legend also goes to say that Manikantan was the incarnation of Lord Dharma Sastha. Raja Rajasekhara was in his previous birth a rich and pious 'Brahmin ' by name Vijayan who was a very strong believer and devotee of Lord Dharma Sastha.

A collection of legends called Ithihyamala, first published in 1904, gives a slightly different version. In it, the Raja of Madurai finds Ayyappan, as a young man well versed in archery, in a forest. The story follows the same pattern as above except that the Raja recognises him as an Avatar or incarnation of Shastha. This story explains why members of the Pandalam Royal Family even today do not stand directly in front of the sanctum sanctorum at Sabarimalai. This version puts Ayyappan as a Senapathi, or Captain, of the Pandyan army whose popularity and influence with the King was disliked by locals.

See also[link]

• Sabarimala
• Makara Jyothi
• Gurunathanmukadi
• Harivarasanam
• Maalikapurathamma
• Ayyanar
• Tazhamon Madom
• Temples of Kerala
• Aranmula kottaram (Aranmula palace)
• Pathanamthitta District
• Ayyapuram

References[link]

• Ayyappan History

External links[link]

• Malaysian Lord Ayyappa Charity and Welfare Organisation
• Oldest site on Lord Ayyappan (Non profit Org)
• Lord Ayyappan History (Non profit Org)
• Ayappa Temple, Nigdi, Pune
• London Ayappan Temple, UK
• Sastha Ayyanar and Ayyappan
• Ashta Sastha Temple

v t e Hindu deities and texts Gods Deva Ganesha Brahma Vishnu Shiva Rama Krishna Murugan Hanuman Indra Surya more Goddesses Adi parashakti Devi Saraswati Lakshmi Sati Parvati Durga Shakti Kali Sita Radha Mahavidya Navadurga Matrikas more Texts Vedas Upanishads Puranas Ramayana Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita more Hinduism Hindu mythology

References[link]

K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Background information
Birth name	Kattassery Joseph Yesudas
Also known as	Gana Gandharvan, Dasettan
Born	(1940-01-10) 10 January 1940 (age 72) Fort Kochi, Cochin, Indian Empire
Origin	Kochi, Kerala, India
Genres	Indian classical music, playback singing, music director[1]
Occupations	Singer, composer
Years active	1961–present
Website	www.yesudas.com

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.

Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English during a career spanning five decades.^[2][3] He has performed in most Indian languages except Assamese, Konkani and Kashmiri.^[4][5] He also composed a number of Malayalam film songs in the 1970s and 1980s.^[1] Yesudas is fondly called Gana Gandharvan (English: The Celestial Singer)^[6][7]

He has won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer seven times (the most by any Indian singer) and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer 43 times, which consists of awards by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts.^[8]

In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai; the 16th song won him a Kerala State Award.^[9]

Early life and background[link]

K. J. Yesudas was born at Fort Kochi,in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin, into a Latin Catholic family to Augustine Joseph and Alicekutty. His father, who was a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru. Later he joined the R.L.V. Music Academy at Thrippunithura and underwent training. Later he studied at Sree Swati Thirunal music college, Thiruvananthapuram under the late Semmangudy Sreenivasa Iyer. But he could not complete his studies due to financial constraints. For a brief period, he was with Sri Vechur Hari Hara Subramania Iyer, after which he took advanced training from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.In 2011 he completed his 50 Years as a Play Back Singer.

• Completed the Ganabooshanam course at R.L.V. Music Academy, Thripunithura, Cochin
• Graduated from the Sree Swathithirunal Music Academy, Trivandrum
• Trained under K. R. Kumaraswamy (former principal of the Music College, Kochi), Kunjuvelan Aasan (a disciple of Nadaswara Vidwan Rajaratnam Pillai), Augustine Joseph (his father), Dekshinamoorthi Swamikal V. Dakshinamoorthy, Ramankutti Bagavathar, Sivaraman Nayar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

Playback singing career[link]

Debut and Early career: In 1960's[link]

The first song sung by Yesudas is Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: M B Sreenivasan) on 14th Nov 1961, which he usually sings on all the special occasions in front of the audience. Yesudas began his career in playback singing in the Malayalam movie Kaalpadukal^[3] and Tamil movies in the early 1960s.

He got the first break in his music career with the hit malayalam film named Bharya ( music by G. Devarajan and lyrics by Vayalar Ramavarma). He sang in Tamil for Bommai first (music: S. Balachander), but the first released movie was Konjum Kumari (music: Veda).^[10]

The trio combination of Salil-Yesudas -Prem Nazir (the evergreen hero of Malayalam Cinema) took the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 70's by storm. It was generally agreed that Yesudas's voice was the most suited one for Prem Nazir.^[11]

In 1970 he was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post.^[12]

Bollywood entry: In 1970's[link]

By the 1970s Yesudas entered Bollywood.The first Hindi song he sung was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (1971), but the first released movie was Chhoti Si Baat. He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol Palekar and Jeetendra. He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury.^[13]

Yesudas's most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given by Ravindra Jain. The greatest tribute to Jesudas was paid by Ravindra Jain, in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if ever he happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see would be Yesudas.^[11]

Prominence over the world[link]

Yesudas has performed in many major cities around the world. In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan.^[12][14] Yesudas became one of the senate members in the International Parliament for Safety and Peace.^[15] On November 14, 1999, Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by UNESCO for "Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace" at the "Music for Peace" event in Paris.a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta.^[16]

In 1971, during the Indo-Pakistani War, Yesudas traveled all around Kerala with his musical troupe to raise funds for the Indian Prime Minister's National Defense Fund.^[13]

In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit, Latin and English and in a mix of styles including New Age and Carnatic.^[17] In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style.^[18] He frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for India through his performances abroad, promoting Indian music.

In 2009 Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'.^[19] Kavita Karkare, wife of Hemant Karkare, handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the 'Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra'.^[20]

Personal life[link]

Yesudas is married to Prabha. They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The second son Vijay Yesudas is a budding musician who won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2007. The family is currently settled in Chennai and Trivandrum. He also owns estates in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA and Flower Mound, TX, USA for personal and business reasons.^[21]

Role models[link]

Sree Narayana Guru’s great message, "One caste, One religion and One God for all humanity", influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Mukesh and Balamurali Krishna are the ones he admires the most.^[22]

Spiritualism[link]

For the past 30 years Yesudas has been visiting Kollur Mookambika temple, Udupi, Karnataka on his birthday to sing keerthans of Saraswati devi, the Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. The music festival started on his 60th birthday. The nine-day music festival begins every January at Kollur Mookambika Temple. On Sunday, January 10, 2010, he celebrated his 70th birthday (Sapthathi) at Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple with ‘Sangeetharchana’ (classical devotional songs), along with 70 singers before goddess Mookambika. The Sangeetharchana included "Pancharatna Gayana" of Thyagaraja’s poems. He also took part in the Vidyarambha function. All India Radio broadcasted the special Sangeetharchana all over Kerala.^{[23] [24] [25] [26]}

Music company[link]

In 1980 Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio at Trivandrum. In 1992 the office and studio were moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and the company was incorporated in the US in 1998. Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records became a recording center in Kerala which, for the first time, brought out audio cassettes of Malayalam film songs in stereo. The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Studio27, Chennai. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas both for film and Indian classical music concerts throughout the world.^[27]

Notable facts[link]

• After winning the Kerala State Award for Best Playback singer on numerous occasions, he asked that he be ruled out of contention so as to give his peers and newcomers a chance of winning the award. Despite his request, he was still given this award several times in the following years.
• Playback singer Unni Menon, who was singing track songs for other prominent singers, got a break when Yesudas, after hearing the track songs Unni Menon had sung for the Malayalam film Kadathu, asked the music director Shyam to record and release the songs as they were. Yesudas was of the opinion that the songs did not need to be rendered by him as Unni Menon had already done it well and there was no need for improvement.
• Harivarasanam, a devotional song musical version composed by G. Devarajan, recited before closing the temple at Sabarimala was sung by Yesudas. Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers, Sabarimala officially uses Yesudas' voice for Harivarasanam every day.^[2]
• Swaralaya Yesudas award is a prestigious award for music artists in recognition of their outstanding performance. The award is instituted jointly by Swaralaya, an organization that promotes music and Kairali Channel, based in Trivandrum, Kerala. Awards have been given annually since 2000. Yesudas presents the awards at a Gandharva Sandhya every January.^[28][29][30]

Awards and honours[link]

Yesudas has recorded over 50,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975), Padma Bhushan (2002)^[31] and seven National Awards for Best Playback Singer. He is the only singer who has been accorded the title Asthana Gayakan (official singer) of Kerala State.

• National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer a record seven times by the Government of India
• Kerala State Film Awards a record 24 times for the best playback singer by the Government of Kerala
• Tamil Nadu State Film Awards five times for the best playback singer by the Government of Tamil Nadu
• Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards four times for the best playback singer by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
• Karnataka State Film Awards five times for the best playback singer by the Government of Karnataka
• West Bengal State Film Awards one time for the best playback singer by the Government of West Bengal
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1992)
• D. Phil by Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu (1989)
• D. Litt by Kerala University, Kerala (2003)
• D. Litt by Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala (2009)
• Swaralaya - Eenam Awards 2010 - Decade's Best Talent in Malayalam Music
• Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram in 2011, highest music award given by Government of Kerala

Filmography[link]

As Actor[link]

Discography[link]

See also[link]

• List of K. J. Yesudas concerts
• Swaralaya Yesudas Award
• List of Carnatic singers

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: K. J. Yesudas

• "Site dedicated to yesudas: ‘kjyesudas.com’". The Tribune. June, 2001. http://www.kjyesudas.com. 
• "Article on Yesudas: ‘For me music is God’". The Tribune. October 15, 2005. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051015/saturday/main1.htm. 
• Interview with Yesudas: "Religions and races should not be obstacles but challenges for us"
• K. J. Yesudas at the Internet Movie Database
• K.J.Yesudas Tamil Songs

Sarath Babu (Telugu: శరత్ బాబు) is an Indian film actor, who has acted in almost all the major south Indian languages - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.^[1] He has been in the industry for nearly 37 years and has acted in more than 200 movies, most of them in a supporting role. He has acted in 80 films each in Telugu and Tamil, 20 in Kannada and a few in Malayalam.^[1] He entered the film industry in 1973 through a Telugu movie and later became popular through the Tamil movie Nizhal Nijamagiradhu directed by K. Balachander. He is well known for his supporting roles to actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and Nandamuri Balakrishna. He refers to K. Balachander as his mentor and has acted in some of his fims.

He has received numerous awards, including eight Nandi awards from the government of Andhra Pradesh for his roles in Telugu movies.

Career[link]

He is reported to have said that

My dad was a hotelier, he wanted me to handle his business but I wanted to be a police officer. During college days, I developed shortsightedness and my dreams crashed as clear eye sight was a pre requisite to join the police. People told my mother that her son was good looking and he should try to get into films.. the lecturers in college said the same and that was playing on my mind. My father was against it but my mother supported me. I thought even if I failed, I could fall back on the family business. In my heart, I knew that I don't fit into business or politics. I responded to an advertisement in the paper for fresh faces for a film and I got through the audition more easily than I had expected. My first break was in Tamil directed by Balachander. The same was remade in Telugu as Idhi Katha Kadu with me, Kamal Haasan and Chiranjeevi and the movie was a hit.^[2]

Selected filmography[link]

This is partial filmography of Sarath Babu.

Awards[link]

Sarath Babu has received numerous awards, including eight Nandi awards as the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for his roles in Telugu movies.^{[citation needed]}. In an interview, he said that he came close to winning the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Nenjathai Killadhe in 1980.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sarath Babu at the Internet Movie Database