K. Omanakutty

Kamalakshi Omanakutty (born 1943), commonly known as K. Omanakutty or Dr. K. Omanakutty, is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, music educator, academic, and researcher. She is renowned for her contributions to Carnatic music through performances, teaching, and scholarly work, particularly her doctoral research on the origin and evolution of Kathakali music.

Omanakutty serves as a professor and former Head of the Department of Music at the University of Kerala. She is the founder, chairman, and secretary of Sangeeta Bharati, a Thiruvananthapuram-based institution dedicated to music education, research, and the promotion of young talent, including initiatives in music therapy. She has also been associated with the Music Therapy Department at Pankaja Kasthuri Ayurvedic Medical College in Kattakada, Thiruvananthapuram, as a senior faculty member.

A prominent guru in Carnatic music, her notable disciples include vocalists such as K. S. Chithra, B. Arundhathi, K. S. Harisankar, Manjari, and K. S. Resmi.

Born into a family of musicians in Kerala, she is the elder sister of music director M. G. Radhakrishnan and playback singer M. G. Sreekumar. For her lifetime contributions to Carnatic music, education, and research, she has received several honors, including the Padma Shri award in 2025.

Early life and education K. Omanakutty was born in the year 1943 near Haripad in Kerala. She was born into a family of musicians. Her father, Malabar Gopalan Nair, was a harmonium player and Carnatic musician, who was a regular presence in stage shows across South India. Her mother, Medayil Kamalakshi marasyar, was also a Carnatic musician.

She had her formal education at a school in her village. Later in 1963, she completed her graduation in Zoology from a degree college affiliated with Kerala University. Due to her interest in music, she joined the Thiruvananthapuram-based Music Academy to pursue a Gana Praveena course in Music. On successfully completing the course in Music from that organization, Omanakutty Amma started working as a lecturer in the Music Department of Government Maharaja's College for Women in Thiruvananthapuram. While working in the Music department of the college, she completed her part-time degree course in Music. After successfully completing the degree course in Music, Omanakutty became a Second Grade Professor in the same department of the college. In this designation, she continued to teach students of the department with dedication for a period of 6 years.

Career

Musician While working as a senior faculty of Music at Government College for Women, the septuagenarian regularly took part in music concerts in different parts of the country. While preparing for the concerts, Omanakutty came across the works of the composer-musician king Swathi Thirunal. That point in time, many of his works were lying in oblivion. With the help of her disciples, she painstakingly analyzed his works and put them to make them presentable to the present-day audience. Later, she and her disciples started using Swathi Thirunal's compositions in their concerts to popularize them. One such discovery that was made during this period was a work on Tillana, a composition created by Swathi Thirunal.

Awards 1997 – Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award (Classical Music) 2012 – Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship (Classical Music) 2020 – Swathi Sangeetha Puraskaram 2025 - Padma Shri Gallery