Akkitham Narayanan was born in 1939 at Amettikkara, near
Kumaranallur in
Palakkad district of the south Indian state of
Kerala to Akkithathu Manayil Vasudevan Namboothiri and Checkur Manaykkal Parvathy Antharjanam. In 1956, he joined the
Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai from where he secured a diploma in 1961 and, on receiving a Government of India scholarship, he did advanced studies until 1964. His days at the Government College of Fine Arts gave him the opportunity to come in contact with
D. P. Roy Choudhury, the then principal and
K. C. S. Paniker, who was the vice principal of the institution, and Narayanan was also involved with Paniker's efforts to found
Cholamandal Artists' Village in 1966. In between, he worked at
Ethiraj College for Women for a short while, as a teacher of
batik painting. He received another scholarship, this time from the Government of France, which assisted him to move to Paris to study at
École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied until 1970; at the institution, he studied monumental art under
Jean Bertholle and engraving under Lucien Couteau.
Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, noted Malayalam poet, is Narayanan's elder brother. == Awards ==