K J Yesudas- Portrait in a riot of colors

Versatile singer K J Yesudas, musical maestro of playback singing, has earned a name for himself as a talent to reckon with. Indian classical, devotional and Filmy compositions, Yesudas has recorded nearly 50,000 songs in diverse languages, in a career spanning five decades.

Yesudas has effortlessly sung in Malayalam,Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English. Yesudas had also composed songs for Malayalam films during the 1970s and 1980s.In 2006, Yesudas sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages all on the same day. Nominated as head of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy in 1970, Yesudas became the youngest person to occupy the post.

Winner of the National Award for a record seven times, Yesudas has been conferred with the State Award for the Best Playback Singer for 43 times from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. Honored with the Padma Shri in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2002, he is referred to as Gana Gandharvan or Celestial Singer.

Honoring the singer for his contribution to Music, the All India Malayali Association has created a 12,000 square feet Rangoli portrait. The aim is to create a record in the Limca Book of World Records. The St. Georges’ Anglo Indian School in Chennai wore a festive look, submerged in color.The painstaking effort is a fitting tribute to the legendary singer.