He was born as the son of Tripunithura Vadakkekkotta Chakkalamutt Pallisserrimadathil Krishnarao and Kamalammal.
The first Malayalam film background song Subhaleela in the movie Nirmala was sung by him.
He took an initial training under Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bhagavathar and Later became the disciple of Musiri Subrahmanya Iyer and turned to Carnatic Classical Music.
He was the president of Sri Tyagaraja Sangita Vidvat Samajam, Tyagarajapuram, Chennai.
He published the works of Thyagarajar, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Syama Sastri in English with their meaning.