Jayakumar Sundararaman

Carnatic Indian classical musician

India

With an expertise spanning across History, Art, Architecture, Mythology and Iconography of South India, connecting the above to curate and conduct heritage tours & trails was a natural progression. To make people ‘live the stories of South Indian culture and heritage’, he founded Courtyard Tours, a heritage travel company in Chennai, India.

Being a performing Indian classical musician from the Carnatic tradition, he had had the opportunity to have been trained and associated with one of the finest performing arts institutions in India, the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai.

He holds a Master’s degree in Music along with one in History and Heritage Management, apart from a diploma each in Sound Engineering, Music and Saiva Siddhanta. He had the fortune of being trained in Epigraphy under the tutelage of Padma Bhushan Dr. R. Nagaswamy and Prof S. Ramachandran of the State Archaeological Department, Tamil Nadu.

With the aim of increasing awareness amongst the general public about History and Heritage, he founded an NGO, Prastara seven years ago in Chennai. Prastara has been created with an initiative to identify, document, preserve and share the sources of cultural information.