He was born in the small village of Alangudi in a Devadasi family[N 1] near Needamangalam located on the route going from Thanjavur to Tiruvarur.
[citation needed] He commenced his training first as a vocalist under Nadaswaram maestro Kandaswamy Pillai.
Later on, he underwent further training from Tiruvisanallur Pallavi Narayanaswamy Iyer and then from Pandanallur Chinnaswamy Pillai.
His teachers opined that his music talents were more suited to be a violinist than to be a singer.
Most of the time he performed as an accompanist to Carnatic singers rather than giving solo concerts.