T. Vaikuntam was born in Andhra Pradesh in 1942. He completed a Diploma in Painting at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad in 1970, followed by another Painting and Printmaking degree from the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, in 1972. It was only, however, later that he developed his own distinct style under the guidance of his tutor K G Subramanyan whom he fondly called Mani da. Vaikuntam finds his inspiration in villages around his state of Telangana. Today a Vaikuntam is on every Indian art collector’s list.