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.
[1] His schooling was limited to 7th standard, after which he studied Kalaripayattu and circus from Keeleri Kunhikannan before starting a small time grocery store.
The grocery business failed and Sankaran joined the Indian Army where he worked until the end of World War II.
After leaving the military, he joined the Boss Lion Circus as a trapeze artist.
[3][4][5] Sankaran, as one of the pioneers of the India circus industry,[6] wrote his autobiography, Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham, which was published in 2012.