As many of you know, Raagalaya was founded in Mumbai in 2004 as a charitable trust with a simple yet heartfelt mission to promote Indian music and honour legendary singers, lyricists, and music directors through the Raagalaya Lifetime Achievement Awards.
As I look back on this remarkable journey, I feel deeply grateful and humbled to have had the privilege of honouring some of the greatest legends of Indian music, including V. Dakshinamurthy, P. Leela, P. Jayachandran, O. N. V. Kurup, S. Janaki, Sreekumaran Thampi, Arjunan Master, Baburaj, Udayabhanu, Raveendran Master, Johnson Master, K. J. Yesudas, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, M. G. Radhakrishnan,Raghavan Master, M. S. Viswanathan, Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, K. Jayakumar IAS, Alamelu Mani,T. S. Radhakrishnan, Jerry Amaldev, Rajeev Alunkal, Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma, Bijibal, Rex Isaac, Alphonse Joseph, and Salil Chowdhury. (In that order).
Unlike many well established organisations, Raagalaya’s journey was largely a one man mission, driven solely by my passion for music and sustained by God’s grace.
Over the years, our programmes were enriched by the presence of renowned singers such as K. S. Chithra, Sujatha Mohan, M. G. Sreekumar, Unni Menon, G. Venugopal, Biju Narayanan, Madhu Balakrishnan, Vidhu Prathap, Sudeep Kumar, Sabu kalabhavan,Jyotsna, Shweta Mohan, Kallara Gopan,Manacaud Gopan, Preeta Kannan, Radhika Thilak, and Sannidhanandan, among many others.
Our events were further elevated by the participation of celebrated anchors like Jayaraj Warrier , renjini Haridas, and Suresh Kumar (Paatupetti fame), Geetha Poduval, Ashish Abraham ,Prasad Shoranur, and Sreekumar Mavelikkara ,eminent dancers Shobana, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, and Sudha Chandran, as well as popular mimicry artist Kottayam Nazeer and several artists from Asianet Cinemala team and others.
None of these achievements would have been possible without the unwavering support of our audiences, sponsors, friends, well wishers, and countless music lovers who stood by me throughout this journey. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each one of you for believing in Raagalaya and helping transform a dream into a cherished legacy.
The past two decades have been filled with unforgettable experiences—moments of joy, challenges, laughter, and invaluable lessons. In the coming days, I look forward to sharing many of these memorable stories with you through this page.
Thank you all for being an integral part of the Raagalaya family. The journey continues….✨
Regards
Vijaykumar