Vaikuntam was born in Burugupalli, Karimnagar district, Telangana. His father used to run a grocery shop.
He studied at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad, and Painting and Printmaking, Faculty of Fine Arts, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (On a Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship from Andhra Pradesh). He was under the tutelage of K. G. Subramanyan at Baroda.
The love for women in his paintings can be traced back to his childhood fascination with the impersonations of women characters by the male artists of the theatre groups performing in his village.
Vaikuntam paints colorful and elaborately dressed Telangana region, men and seductive women. His muse is the sensuous and voluptuous women of Telangana with their omnipresent vermilion bindis, draped in colourful sarees that highlight their dusky skin.
The stylisation of a painting are a perfect foil to Indian classical dance as the figures seem to dance, as if following their creator in a statuesque movement, reminiscent of temple friezes. He uses the brightest of reds and yellows.
Vikash Kalra is a self-taught artist and writer based in New Delhi whose work has been exhibited across India and is held in several private and corporate collections.