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 The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

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 Kalaripayattu (), also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated on the southwestern coast of India, in what is now Kerala, during the 3rd century BCE. Etymology Kalaripayattu is a martial art which developed out of co ...

and

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

from Keeleri Kunhikannan before starting a small time grocery store. The grocery business failed and Sankaran joined the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

where he worked until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After leaving the military, he joined the ''Boss Lion Circus'' as a

trapeze artist A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes, metal straps, or chains, from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or ...

. 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

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.

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shankaran, Gemini 1924 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Indian businesspeople Circus owners Indian businesspeople Malayali people Businesspeople from Kerala

Biography

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