User:Pandalam Balan/sandbox

Thankappan Balan, popularly known as Pandalam Balan, (born May 30, 1970) is an Indian Musician, Playback Singer, Music Composer, Performer and Record Producer. He Sings and Composes Indian Classical, Devotional and Cinematic Songs. He is best known for his energetic and distinct Ganamela Show performances. In his career spanning more than 33 years (1986 - Till date) he has performed in more than 10,000 stages worldwide. He was born in Pandalam, in the erstwhile Alappuzha District, (now Pathanamthitta) to late K. Thangappan and Kamalakshi. His father was a well-known Mathematics Teacher and later the Headmaster of Puzhikaad Government School (Pandalam). He is maried toLakshmi and have 2 sons - Akhil and Amal, who both are musicians. His first Guru in Music was Vennmani Sukumaran. Later he learned Classical Carnatic Music from Ambalapuzha Vijayan, Cherthala Gopalan Nair, Aryanad Raju and Anayadi Prasad. After Completing Higher Secondary Education, he Joined Swathi Thirunal Music College in Thiruvananthapuram and passed Graduate Diploma course in Music (Ganabhooshanam). In 1986, Murali Sithara, (who was a part then famous music Troop Sitara,Thiruvananthapuram) had come to attend a function at Swathi Thirunal Music College. He heard Balan singing a Song at the stage and was impressed. He invited Balan to join Sitrara Music troop and Balan accepted the invitation. Later, when CPI (M) 13th Party Congress was held in Thiruvananthapuram, Balan got in touch with the Legendary Music Maestro G Devarajan and sang in Sakthi Gadha, his Choral Group. Later Balan became the Lead Singer in G Devarajan&#39;s Choral Group. The acclaimed Film Director P.A Bakkar, shot a film based on the life story of P Krishna Pillai (Founder of Communist Party in India) in 1989, called Sakhav. G Devarajan was the music director of that film. Pandalam Balan debuted as a Playback singer in that film and sung 2 songs. He had sung multiple songs for the famous Music Directors like G Devarajan, M K Arjun, Raveendran Master, Johnson Master, Ramesh Narayanan, Jaya Vijaya, Kumarakam Rajappan, Murali Sitara, Nooranad Krishnankutty and Berny-Ignatius. Even though he sung playback for movies, Music &amp; Devotional Albums, he became famous and popular for his Ganamela Shows. He had sung in multiple troops like Mangalam Orchestra, Singing Birds, Kalabhavan, Sitara, Old is Gold and Swathi Orchestra. He later started his own Ganamela troop and Orchestra in 1992 and have performed worldwide ever since. From the end 80&#39;s till end of 90&#39;s, he was regarded as the superstar of Ganamela shows. Till date, he has sung in more than 10000 stages all over the world and is still going strong. Along with Ganamela Shows, he also conducts classical music concerts and teaches classical music. He ventured into Music Direction in 2000 and have released multiple albums. His song &#39;Akannakannu Akalay Nee&#39; from the album Ormapookkal had become a great hit in social media. He has won Multiple Awards like Devarajan Award, Brahmanandan Award, Vayalar Award, SakthiGadha Award, Manamalar Award, Castalia Award, Mahadeva Award, Rotary Royal Excellency Award and Ys Mens International Excellency Award. Fisheries Department had felicitated him for completing Ganamela in 8000 Stages. He is settled in Vazhayila, Thiruvananthapuram. He can be contacted on +91 9496200862 /pandalam.balan@gmail.com