Sankaran Embranthiri

Who was Sankaran Embranthiri?

Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri was one of the most popular Kathakali musicians, credited with initiating a new wave in the rendition of songs for the classical dance-drama from Kerala in south India. His shruti-aligned music was glistened by a velvety voice, easy reach of the three octaves and command over stage proceedings that won him massive fan following even as his form received an abrupt setback in 1990 when he suffered a major ailment from which he could never recover fully.

Embranthiri was born into a poor Brahmin family in Vellayoor village of Malappuram district in Malabar. After completing his schooling, during which he learnt classical Carnatic music from a local teacher named Govinda Pisarody, teenaged Sankaran joined Kerala Kalamandalam in 1958. Madambi Subrahmanian Namboothiri, Kalamandalam Tirur Nambissan and Kalamandalam Hyderali joined Kalamandalam in the same year. His Kathakali music tutors at the institution were Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan, Gangadharan, Sivaraman Nair and Madhava Panikkar.