Vaikuntam completed his Diploma in Painting from the College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Hyderabad in 1970. He received a fellowship from Andhra Pradesh Lalit kala Academy to study painting and print making at the M.S. University of Baroda from 1971 to 1972. He has held several solo shows and has taken part in important group exhibitions at Salarjung Museum in 1989, the 7th Triennale, New Delhi 1991, Art Encounter at Kassal, Germany in 1992.
He has won several awards notably at the Bharat Bhavan Biennale, Bhopal in 1988, the National Award for Art Director, Film ?Dasi? in 1989, and the National Award for Painting in 1993.
Vaikuntam lives and works in Hyderabad.