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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

• Keeleri Kunhikannan
• History of Indian circus

References

1. News8Plus (24 April 2023). "Circus patriarch Gemini Shankaran passed away - News8Plus". Retrieved 24 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. "Obituary: Gemini Sankaran, the Malayali who founded the famous Gemini Circus". OnManorama. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
3. ^ "Gemini Shankaran, pioneer of Indian circus, passes away". English.Mathrubhumi. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
4. "Malayali artists bid adieu to circus rings in India". 6 September 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
5. "The show can't go on, circus ready for final bow". The Times of India. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
6. "Circus legend Gemini Sankaran gets Covid-19 Vaccine in". world360news.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
7. "Tree of Compassion". Deshabhimani (in Malayalam). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
8. Gemini Sankaran (24 April 2023). "Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham". www.amazon.in. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
9. "Gemini Sankaran - Speaker in Kerala Architectural Festival KAF –2019". www.keralaarchitecturefestival.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
10. Shrihari Nair (2013). "Gemini Shankaran and the legacy of Indian circus". Gayathri designs. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
11. ^ "Gemini Sankaran Passed Away: സർക്കസ് കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു". Zee News Malayalam (in Malayalam). 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
12. Web Desk (24 April 2023). "ഇന്ത്യൻ സർക്കസിന്റെ കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു". www.mediaoneonline.com (in Malayalam). Retrieved 24 April 2023.

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.

• 1924 births
• 2023 deaths
• 20th-century Indian businesspeople
• Circus owners
• Indian businesspeople
• Malayali people
• Businesspeople from Kerala