Vinayakram's concert career began at the age of 13. His first performance was on 5 March 1957 at the
Rama Navami festival in
Thoothukudi. While proceeding for the
arangetram the tuned ghatam instrument was broken by a child named Ganesh, which by itself had been a good omen for his bright career. where he accompanied V.V.Sadagopan. He was soon accompanying many vocalists in Carnatic music at the time, including
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar,
M K Thiagaraja Bagavathar,
Dr Sirkazhi S.Govindarajan,
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna,
G. N. Balasubramaniam,
Madurai Mani Iyer,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,
M. S. Subbulakshmi and
Maharajapuram Santhanam. His brother, T. H. Subhash Chandran, also excelled in the field. The Ghatam rose to fame as a percussion instrument that required nimble fingers and strong stomach muscles to control the mouth of the pot. Vinayakram's tryst with the international music platform came in the early 1970s when he joined
Shakti to play along with John McLaughlin and
Zakir Hussain. His combination with Mandolin
U.Srinivas and Violin
A. Kanyakumari was also famous. He has also performed at Basant Utsav, the annual fund raiser for the Banyan. Vinayakram is Principal of Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya in Chennai, India – the academy established by his late father and teacher in 1958. It continues to produce new stars of Carnatic percussion. Vinayakram's son
V. Selvaganesh is a percussionist, especially after tours with
John McLaughlin's group,
Remember Shakti. ==Awards==