A stalwart of Carnatic vocal music, Parassala Ponnammal was born to Mahadeva Iyer and Bhagavati Ammal in Parassala of Trivandrum district in 1924. From an early age she started studying music and Sanskrit under the guidance of Ramaswamy Bhagavatar. The first recognition for her musical genius came at the age of 13 when she won a gold medal in a talent contest held to mark the birthday celebration of Chithira Thirunal Maharajah. 

Soon after, she was allowed to join Swathi Thirunal Music Academy of Trivandrum and became the first woman to pass the Gana Bhooshanam course from the Music Academy. Her rigorous training in music was under distinguished vidwans like Muttaiah Bhagavatar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, K.R. Kumaraswamy Iyer, K.S. Narayanaswamy Iyer and other stalwarts. In 1952 Ponnammal became the first woman teacher at the Swathi Thirunal Music Academy. In 1970 she was appointed as Principal of RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Tripunithura where she served up to 1980 till retirement. Ponnammal also has the unique distinction of being the first woman to sing at the Navaratri Mandapam at Thiruvanathapuram during the Navaratri Music festival in 2006. 

Her outstanding classical renditions include 'Guruvayoor Puresa Suprabhatham', 'Thrissiva Peroor Suprabhatham', 'Ulsava Prabandham, Navaratri Kriti, Meenambika Sthothram, compositions of Irayimman Thampi and K.C.Kesava Pillai. Her repertoire further includes Padmanabha Shathakam of Swathi Thirunal. 

An 'A' grade artiste of All India Radio, Ponnammal is the recipient of several awards and titles including 'Gayaka Ratnam' by Princess Karthika Thirunal in 1996, Kerala Government Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976 and fellowship in 2002, 'Acharya Kala Bharati Award' from Chennai in 2008, 'Acharya Ratnakara Award' from Cleveland Thyagaraja Ulsavam in USA in 2009, and many more.