Kaithapram Damodaran was born in the village of Kaithapram, near Payyanur in Kannur district of North Malabar region in India and he is currently residing in Thiruvannur in Kozhikode District. He is the eldest son of the late singer Kannadi Illath Kesavan Namboothiri, a disciple of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and Adithi Antharjanam, followed by two brothers and two sisters. He got his Veda education from his grandfather. Later on he continued his education under well-known gurus (teachers) including Pazhassi Thamburan (A descendant of Pazhassi Raja) and SVS Panicker. He pursued his studies in acting and music at Natyagruha. He is married to Devi Antharjanam who is the daughter of actor Unnikrishnan Namboothiri; they have two children, Deepankuran and Devadarshan. His elder son Deepankuran is a singer who has sung for various films including Desadanam, as well as Devotional Songs. Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri's youngest brother, Kaithapram Viswanathan, is a Malayalam cinema music director who runs the Sruthilaya Music School at Payyanur.Kaithapram made his entry into Malayalam cinema as a lyricist for the hit song "Devadundubhi Sandralayam" in the film Ennennum Kannettante directed by Fazil. Since then he has written lyrics for more than 346 films. He has also acted in many films, including Swathithirunal, Aaryan, His Highness Abdulla, and the film Theerthadanam, based on the story of famous Malayalam writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair. He has played the character of a classical or semi-classical singer in most of the films. The songs from Desadanam, his first film as a music composer, were a hit. The film Sopanam, directed by Shri Jayaraj, was based on a story and screenplay written by Kaithapram.