Renowned playback singer P Jayachandran was cremated with full state honours at his ancestral home in Chendamangalam near North Paravur in Kerala on Saturday, January 11, 2025. The veteran singer passed away on January 9, leaving behind a legacy of six decades in Indian music.
A brief public homage was held at the Paliam ancestral home, where people gathered to pay their last respects. The Kerala police accorded a ceremonial guard of honour before Jayachandran's son, Dinanath Jayachandran, lit the funeral pyre at around 1:20 pm.
Earlier in the morning, hundreds of people paid their respects when his mortal remains were brought to his residence in Punkunnam, Thrissur. Among those who paid homage were Ministers MB Rajesh and R Bindu, along with Opposition Leader VD Satheesan.
Jayachandran was one of India's most versatile playback singers, with an illustrious career that spanned nearly six decades. He recorded an impressive 15,000 songs across five languages—Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi. Born in 1944 to musician Ravi Varma Kochaniyan Thampuran and Subhadra Kunjamma, Jayachandran's musical journey began with the song ‘Manjalayil Mungithorthi’ for the 1966 film Kalithozhan. Although he had earlier recorded ‘Orumullappoomalayumayi’ for Kunjali Marakkar in 1965, Kalithozhan was released first, making the P Bhaskaran-penned song his official debut.