At Kalamandalam, he received training from gurus like Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan, Sivaraman Nair and Kalamandalam Gangadharan. His contemporaries at the institution included Madambi Subrahmanian Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Sankaran Embranthiri and Kalamandalam Tirur Nambissan. A while after passing his course, M. K. K. Nair, a patron of the arts, offered him a job in the FACT Kathakali school in Ambalamedu off Kochi.
