Pathiyoor Sankarankutty

Sankarankutty was born on December 30, 1964, as the fourth child of Mathiltheketil Krishna Pillai who was a Kathakali singer and Mazhupeil Lakshmikuttyamma in Keerikad, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha District.[1][2] Although Krishna Pilla did not interested to teach his son Kathakali music, seeing his love for Kathakali he decided that the stage would be better for him.[3] While studying in the 5th standard, he studied Kathakali acting under the tutelage of Parameswaran Nair and Shankarapilla.[1] In 1978, he made his Kathakali acting debut as Sri Krishna in 'Gurudakshina' at the Avur Sri Krishna Swamy Temple.[1] After that, he played many child roles in various Kathakali programs.[1]

After his pre-degree studies in commerce, he passed Ganabhushanam diploma from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts and then attended a short term music class at Kerala Kalamandalam to study Kathakali music.[4][3] It was his guru Gangadharan who encouraged him to take Kathakali music seriously.[4] At Kalamandalam he studied Kathakali music under many noted artists including Madambi Subramanian Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Ramawaryar and Kalamandalam Gangadharan.[2]

Pathiyoor Sankarankutty is one of the disciple of Kalamandalam Hyderali.[5] Sankarankutty also followed the Carnatic touch given to Kathakali music by musicians including his guru Hyderali.[6] Besides performing in Kerala and outside Kerala, he has also performed in countries like Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Germany and France.[5] For nearly twenty five years he has sung the accompaniment music for kathakali performances of Kalamandalam Gopi.[1]

In 1990, Shankarankutty became a music teacher in Pakalkuri near Kottarakkara.[7] From 2003, he is working as a music teacher at Sandarshan Kathakali Vidyalaya, Ambalapuzha.[8]

• Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award 2018[5]
• Kerala Kalamandalam award 2009[8]
• The Pannissery Award 2021, given by the Pannissery Nanupilla Memorial Kathakali Club for overall contribution to Kathakali.[9]