Kavalam Narayana Panicker

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Kavalam Narayana Panicker or Kavalam Narayana Panikkar (born 28 April 1928 is an Indian dramatist and poet.

He was born into an ancient family from Kuttanad in Alappuzha, Kerala, India. His family name is Chalayil and he is a nephew of Sardar Kavalam Madhava Panikkar and a cousin of Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker, a poet writing in Malayalam.

He attended CMS College in Kottayam whose alumni included K.P.S.Menon and his uncle Sardar K. M. Panikkar. He obtained a degree in Economics from S D College, Alappuzha and later a Bachelor of Law degree from Madras Law College, then practised law for six years from 1955 before devoting himself to art and literature. In 1961 he was nominated as Secretary of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and shifted his base to Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala. His work has always been rooted in both the classical and folk traditions of Kerala.

In 1974, Kavalam shifted his residence to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and in this period his play Avanavan Katampa, was filmed by G. Aravindan. He has worked in many countries, including the former Soviet Union. In Greece he worked with Greek artists on a production of the Ilyayana, a fusion of the Indian Ramayana and the Greek epic Iliad.

He is married with two sons and lives in Thiruvananthapuram with another house in his native village.