Eranholi Moosa – The voice of Kerala Mappila songs

Eranholi Moosa was a legendary Mappila singer from Malabar known for popularizing many Mapilla songs in the 20^th century and later. He has also sung numerous devotional songs of Islam. He served as Kerala Folklore Akademi vice chairman when he passed away in May 2019, aged 75. He was fondly called Moosakka by his fans. With many hit songs to his credit, he is widely regarded as the most popular Mappila singer of present times. Manikya Malaraya Poovi is one of his popular songs which was later used in Malayalam film, Oru Adaar Love. Though many singers have sung this song earlier, Moosakka’s version still remains the most popular.

Valiyakathu Moosa, better known as Eranholi Moosa hailed from Thalassery. Eranholi is his native village. He initially sang at wedding functions. His unique voice and singing style caught everyone’s attention easily. He later gained popularity in Malayalam films. Slowly he reached number one position among the Mappila singers of modern Mappilappattu era. He took musical lessons from Sharathchandra Marar for two years and has been associated with AIR.

‘Mihraaj Raavile Kaatte’ is his masterpiece song, followed by Manikya Malaraya Poovi. Samanin Koorirul, Kettukal Moonum Ketti, Misrile Raajan, Mailanji Arachallo, Thaif Nagari, Nafsu Nafsine etc are his other hit songs. He is also known for promoting young talents in many ways. He stayed away from awards during his later years to promote and encourage budding singers.

Eranholi Moosa – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He started his career in singing at the age of 14.

2. It was musician and music composer Raghavan Master who recommended him to sing for Akashavani, after completing his musical studies for two years.

3. He owns more than 1,000 stage performances to his credit, and no other Mapilla singer has done so many programs as Moosa did in gulf countries. He has done more than 300 shows in Gulf.

4. His rendition of Manikya Malaraya Poovi still remains the best loved version of this old iconic song. He popularized the song singing in many versions.

5. He played an important role in popularizing Mapilla songs among Malayalis in the present times.

6. He played the character role of Luyice, a musician running an old music store in 2003 Malayalam film, Gramaphone.

7. Three months prior to his death, there were fake news about his death.

8. “Kettukal Moonnum Ketti” is one of the popular songs about death sung by Moosa. Its lyricist Prem Surat died a few days after penning its lyrics. Prem was a good friend of Moosa.

9. Many of his songs have become a part of studies and researches related to Kerala’s music.

10. He used to be called as ‘Isal Rajan’ by his fans and many of them welcomed him on stage using garlands made of currency notes.