Kanayi Kunhiraman

Kunhiraman was born on 25 July 1937 at Kuttamath in Hosdurg Taluk of Kanhangad in Kasaragod District of the south Indian state of Kerala. After early schooling at the local schools in Kuttamath and Puthaott, he joined Raja's high school, Nileshwaram to pass the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination in 1957. A teacher at his school, by name Krishnan Kutty, encouraged him to pursue his artistic interests but he did not get encouragement from his family which forced him to flee home to Chennai where he studied sculpture at the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai. It was during his days here, Kunhiraman had the opportunity to come in contact with K. C. S. Paniker who was a faculty and later, the principal of the institution. After completing the course, he worked as a part-time teacher at Ethiraj College for Women from 1961 but when he received the Commonwealth Scholarship, he moved to England to study at the Slade School of Fine Art == Legacy ==

building On his return to Kerala from Chennai, Kunhiraman was commissioned by the irrigation department of Kerala, on recommendation from K. C. S. Paniker, for an art work to be installed at the Malampuzha dam garden and he created Yakshi, a statue of a naked woman, sitting on the lawns; the sensuality of the sculpture drew protests from traditionalists. He also created a sculpture, Fertility at Ambalamedu premises of the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore. In 1990, he completed the Jalakanyaka (Mermaid), a sculpture at Shankumugham Beach, in Thiruvananthapuram; The beach also has another of his sculptures titled, Snake. and the bust of K. C. Mammen Mappillai are two conventional sculptures created by Kunhiraman. Conch, Seats, Nandi and Embrace at Veli Tourist Village, are some of his other works. Melathara and Kalithara, dedicated to public with the accompaniment from a violin concert by L. Athira Krishna in Kollam in 2008. and the Aksharashilpam, at the premises of the public library in Kottayam feature among his more recent works. He has also published on poetry anthology, titled, Kānāyi Kuñhirāmant̲e Kavitakaḷ. == Awards and honours ==

Kunhiraman, who has designed many of the statuettes for various awards in Kerala, was selected by Kerala Lalithakala Akademi for their annual award, Raja Ravi Varma Award, in 2005, making him the first sculptor to receive the honour. He received the Thikkurissy Award in 2006 and Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath awarded him the inaugural MS Nanjunda Rao National Award for Art in 2018. Lalit Kala Akademi, the national academy of India for fine arts, published a book on Kunhiraman's works in 2008. In 2011, he received the T. K. Ramakrishnan Award instituted by Abu Dhabi Sakthi Theatres for his overall contribution. He was conferred the Kerala Sree award instituted by Government of Kerala in 2022. ==Selected works==

== Books on Kanayai Kunhiraman ==

File:Mermaid-Shankumukham.jpg|Mermaid (Jalakanyaka) at Shankumugham Beach, Thiruvananthapuram. File:Yakshi-kanai.JPG|Yakshi at the Malampuzha dam garden File:Kanayi & Jalakanyaka.jpg|Kanayi with the photo of Jalakanyaka in the backdrop File:Kanai Shamghumukhan Thiruvananthapuram.JPG|Another sculpture at Shankumugham Beach File:Kanayi Kunhiraman and Yakshi.jpg|The sculptor and Yakshi File:Kanayi Kunhiraman at Thiruvananthapuram 03.jpg|Kanayi Kunhiraman at Thiruvananthapuram File:Kumaran Asan Smarakam, Thonnakkal (50).JPG|Kumaran Asan Smarakam at Thonnakkal File:Sculpture kanayi kunhiraman.jpg|Aattam at Veli Tourist Village File:Kanayi Kunhiraman Portrait.jpg|alt=Kanayi Kunhiraman ==References==