Hyderabad: India’s famous singer P. Jayachandran, also known as ‘Bhava Gayakan’ for his beautiful singing, died on January 9 in Thrissur, Kerala. He breathed his last at a private medical college at the age of 80.
Hospital sources said the singer died during treatment on Thursday evening at around 7.55 pm. He was taken to the hospital after his health deteriorated at his residence on Thursday (January 9). He was ailing for a long time, they said.
P. Jayachandran is survived by wife Lalitha, daughter Lakshmi and son Dhinanathan, who is also a singer. His body will be brought to his residence in Poomkunnam, Thrissur on Friday and kept for the public to pay their last respects at the Sahitya Akademi Hall. His last rites will be performed at his ancestral home in Chendamangalam on Saturday at 3 pm.
P. Jayachandran was honoured with the National Film Award and the Kerala Government’s JC Daniel Award in 2020 for his contribution to cinema. The JC Daniel Award is Kerala’s biggest film award in the film industry. Apart from this, he won the Kerala State Film Award five times and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award twice. His performance of ‘Shiva Shankar Sharan Sarva Vibho’ in the film Sree Narayana Guru won him the National Award.
Born on 3 March 1944 in the Cochin royal family, Jayachandran graduated in zoology and after working for some time, made singing his passion. In a singing career spanning over six decades, he recorded over 16,000 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
In his long film career, he worked with many composers, including Oscar award-winning composers MM Keeravani, G. Devarajan, Ilaiyaraaja, AR Rahman and others. Apart from music, Jayachandran also acted in several films including ‘Trivandrum Lodge’, ‘Nakhkshathangal’ and ‘Srikrishnaparuntha’.