• Source: Gemini Shankaran

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. 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. He later purchased Jumbo Circus.
Sankaran, as one of the pioneers of the India circus industry, wrote his autobiography, Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham, which was published in 2012. His life is also recorded in another biography, Gemini Shankaran and the Legacy of Indian Circus. The Government of India honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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.




See also






References






Further reading


Gemini Sankaran (24 April 2023). "Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham". Amazon. Retrieved 24 April 2023.




External links


"Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham". dcbookstore.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
Pavithra D. "Gemini Sankaran, Doyen of Circus, Opens Out". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd (in Malayalam). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
"പുള്ളിപ്പുലിയെ കറിവച്ച നാട്ടിൽ സ്വന്തം ‌എസ്റ്റേറ്റിൽ പുലിയെ വളർത്തിയ ഒരാൾ!". ManoramaOnline (in Malayalam). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
"നന്മയുടെ പൂമരം". Deshabhimani (in Malayalam). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
"സര്‍ക്കസ് കുലപതിയെ വീട്ടിലെത്തി കണ്ട് മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി; നൂറാംപിറന്നാളിലേക്ക് കടന്ന് ജമിനി ശങ്കരൻ". Manoramanews. Retrieved 24 April 2023.

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• Gemini
• Deaths in April 2023
• June 1924
• Keeleri Kunhikannan
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• 2023 in Kerala
• Aadi Perukku (film)
• History of Indian circus