Yesudas was the first recipient of the Harivarasana Puraskaram, an award jointly instituted by the state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board.
Published Jan 12, 2024 | 2:21 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 12, 2024 | 2:21 PM
Playback singer KJ Yesudas. (Wikimedia)
In the sacred precincts of the renowned Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, the Travancore Devaswom Board organised special prayers for legendary singer KJ Yesudas, who celebrated his “pirannal” (birthday as per the Malayalam calendar) on Friday, 12 January.
Yesudas’s birth star is Uthradam (Uttara Ashadha).
As the doors of the Lord Ayyappa temple opened for the pooja today, marking Uthradam according to the Malayalam calendar, priests conducted Ganapatihomam.
Neyyabhishekam and Sahasranamarchana, among other special offerings, were also performed for the singer.
In a statement, the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the hill shrine, said that arrangements had been made to send the prasad of the offerings to Yesudas, who is currently in the US.
Yesudas is an ardent devotee of Lord Ayyappa and was a regular visitor to the Sabarimala Temple before shifting to the US.
The legendary Carnatic music vocalist and playback singer, affectionately known as Ganagandharva (celestial singer), has sung several revered Ayyappa devotional songs, including the iconic “Harivarasanam.”
The Lord Ayyappa Suprabhath, awakening the deity in the morning, and the Harivarasanam, lulling him to sleep, sung by Yesudas, is played in the hill-lock shrine.
Yesudas was the first recipient of the Harivarasana Puraskaram, an award jointly instituted by the state government and the Travancore Devaswom Board.
Recognised as one of the greatest playback singers in the country, Yesudas began his music career in Tinsel Town with the Malayalam song “Jathi bhedam matha dwesham” in 1961 and sang mainly in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films, apart from songs in other languages as well.
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