Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair

In the betwixt of eminent artists in Kerala, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair glitter as a renowned and distinguished artist.  He took birth in 1914 at Kunnubram, Cheruthazham in the Chirakkal Taluk.  He was forced to say farewell to the formal education before he completes his primary education. Then he started practising Kathakali under the tutelage of Guru Chandu Panicker at Vaaranokottillam Kathakali Convention.  Krishnan Nair grown up and clustered with the Kathakali Art - the possessive and traditional art of Kerala - as a synonym of Kathakali.   Krishnan Nair's Life was a great epic like the Kathakali Art, and has gained laudable admiration for his contribution to the art.

Taking birth in Kunnubram, he lived in the cradle of poverty, young Krishnan transfigured his life into Kathakali Art and vice versa. His boundless journey of achievements is accounted for his incredible support of inner strength and accumulated morale. His life is a true story of unbeatable triumphant epic.   A story of a devoted and dedicated soul, accessing and arraying all flakes and flavours of modes and expressions of the great art Kathakali, beading and drawing in the same string, he contributed a luminous individual trail to the exquisite art.  With this splendid work in the heartland of Kerala, he stood as a glossing tower of the art. Contributing  a perpetual and noteworthy position to Kathakali Art and enriched its sanctity eternally, Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair courted his death in 1990.  His departure was an irreparable loss to the consecrated art of Kerala.

[Courtesy: Mr.Radhakrishnan and Mr.Rajendran]