Vazhenkada Vijayan is a senior Kathakali

Kathakali

Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...

 exponent and a retired principal of Kerala Kalamandalam

Kerala Kalamandalam

Kerala Kalamandalam , lately renamed as Kalamandalam Deemed University of Art and Culture, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the southern state of India, with the special emphasis on Kerala. It is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy in...

, the performing art institute where he was trained in the classical dance-drama from Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 in southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

A son of late Kathakali artiste Padma Shri

Padma Shri

Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...

 Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair

Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair

Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair, also spelt Kunju Nair, was a prominent Kathakali exponent of the 20th century and the first principal of Kerala Kalamandalam, the premier performing arts institute of Kerala in south India....

, Vijayan is noted for his roles in the categories of the virtuous pachcha, the anti-heroic Kathi and the semi-realistic minukku roles. He figures as Duryodhanan in the storyplay Uttaraswayamvaram on a VCD that has been brought out by the cultural forum called the Vazhenkada Kunchu Nair Memorial Trust.

Vijayan is also a noted scholar on Kathakali, thus more known as a teacher than a performer.

A native of Vazhenkada

Vazhenkada

Vazhenkada is a village, known for its Kathakali heritage, on the banks of the river Thootha in Malappuram district of Kerala in southern India...

 in Malappuram

Malappuram

Malappuram is a municipality in the South Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 33.61 km2. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Malappuram district. As per the 2011 census Malappuram urban agglomeration is the fourth largest UA in kerala with a total population of...

 district, he now lives in the Kathakali village of Vellinezhi

Vellinezhi

Vellinezhi is a small but culturally crucial village located in Palakkad district of Kerala in southern India. The sylvan, rugged land is located on the banks of the Kunti, a slender rivulet that forms tributary to the broad, west-flowing Bharatapuzha that criss-crosses central Kerala in southern...

 in Palakkad

Palakkad

Palakkad , formerly known as Palghat, is a municipality and a town in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km2.The city is situated about north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District...

district.