Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair
Indian dancer
Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair (27 March 1914 – 15 August 1990) was a Kathakali dancer from Kerala in India.
Life
He is a recipient of Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award, and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship.
A native of Cheruthazham in Payyanur Taluk of Kannur district in North Malabar, Kerala he was initiated into Kathakali in his early teenage years under the tutelage of Guru Chandu Panikker. By 19, he was noticed by Kerala Kalamandalam co-founder, poet Vallathol Narayana Menon, who inducted Krishnan Nair into his institute, then near Mulankunnathukavu, north of Thrissur in central Keralawhere that Krishnan Nair trained under Pattikkamthodi Ravunni Menon, Thakazhi Kunchu Kurup, Kavalappara Narayanan Nair and Mani Madhava Chakyar.
Krishnan Nair had his higher studies on Rasa-abhinaya (facial emotions which stressed on eye exercises) from the Kudiyattam maestro Natyacharya Māni Mādhava Chākyār, who too won the Padma Shri. Krishnan Nair was deeply influenced by Shri. Chakyar.
Krishnan Nair, towards the second half of his life, had made Tripunithura near Kochi his home. Kathakali was always traditionally performed by men. In 1975 a women's group was formed and they were trained by Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair.
The public source identifies “Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair” as indian dancer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kalamandalam, Krishnan and Nair.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6350343. VIAF identifies the subject as 33595021. The Library of Congress control number is n89261211. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1914, 1990 and 1975.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.