Gemini Shankaran Explained

Gemini Shankaran
Birth Name:Moorkkoth Vengakkandi Sankaran
Birth Date:13 June 1924
Birth Place:Kolassery, Malabar District, Madras Presidency, British India (now Kannur district, Kerala, India)
Nationality:Indian
Occupation:Circus owner, businessperson
Known For:Pioneering circus industry in India
Spouse:Shobhana
Children:3
Mother:Moorkoth Kalyaniyamma
Father:Kavinisheri Raman Nair
Awards:Government of India Lifetime Achievement Award

Moorkkoth Vengakkandi Sankaran (13 June 1924 – 23 April 2023), popularly known as Gemini Shankaran, was an Indian circus owner, businessperson and one of the pioneers of the circus industry in India. Sankaran was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Government of India.

Biography

Shankaran was born to Kavinisheri Raman Nair and Moorkoth Kalyaniyamma on 13 June 1924, in Kolassery, a village in Kannur district, in the south Indian state of Kerala.[1] His schooling was limited to 7th standard, after which he studied Kalaripayattu and circus from Keeleri Kunhikannan before starting a small time grocery store. The grocery business failed and Sankaran joined the Indian Army where he worked until the end of World War II. After leaving the military, he joined the Boss Lion Circus as a trapeze artist. In 1951, he purchased Vijaya Circus for a sum of INR 6000 and renamed it as Gemini Circus.[2] He later purchased Jumbo Circus.[3] [4] [5]

Sankaran, as one of the pioneers of the India circus industry,[6] wrote his autobiography, Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham, which was published in 2012.[7] [8] [9] His life is also recorded in another biography, Gemini Shankaran and the Legacy of Indian Circus.[10] The Government of India honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.[11]

Sankaran was married to Shobhana, and the couple had two sons, Ajay Shankar and Ashok Shankar, and a daughter, Renu Shankar. He died on 23 April 2023, at the age of 98.[12]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: News8Plus . 24 April 2023 . Circus patriarch Gemini Shankaran passed away - News8Plus . 24 April 2023 . en-GB.
  2. Web site: Obituary: Gemini Sankaran, the Malayali who founded the famous Gemini Circus . 24 April 2023 . OnManorama.
  3. Web site: 24 April 2023 . Gemini Shankaran, pioneer of Indian circus, passes away . 24 April 2023 . English.Mathrubhumi . en.
  4. Web site: 6 September 2019 . Malayali artists bid adieu to circus rings in India . 24 April 2023.
  5. Web site: 20 August 2017 . The show can't go on, circus ready for final bow . 24 April 2023 . The Times of India.
  6. Web site: Circus legend Gemini Sankaran gets Covid-19 Vaccine in . 24 April 2023 . world360news.com . 24 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230424035229/https://world360news.com/en/circus-legend-gemini-sankaran-gets-covid-19-vaccine . dead .
  7. Web site: Tree of Compassion . 24 April 2023 . Deshabhimani . ml.
  8. Web site: Gemini Sankaran . 24 April 2023 . Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham . 24 April 2023 . www.amazon.in . en-in.
  9. Web site: Gemini Sankaran - Speaker in Kerala Architectural Festival KAF –2019 . 24 April 2023 . www.keralaarchitecturefestival.com.
  10. Web site: Shrihari Nair . 2013 . Gemini Shankaran and the legacy of Indian circus . 24 April 2023 . Gayathri designs.
  11. Web site: 24 April 2023 . Gemini Sankaran Passed Away: സർക്കസ് കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു . 24 April 2023 . Zee News Malayalam . ml.
  12. Web site: Web Desk . 24 April 2023 . ഇന്ത്യൻ സർക്കസിന്റെ കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു . 24 April 2023 . www.mediaoneonline.com . ml.