He was instrumental in introducing and popularising Kathakali, the illustrious dance drama of Kerala, lying in obscurity, to the outer world.

He carved out a contemporary style of dancing, classical in form but popular in appeal, through which the fame of Kathakali spread far and wide in the beginning of the 1930s.

He was invited for higher studies when poet Vallathol Narayana Menon started Kerala Kalamandalam at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur.

He brought to my mind glimpses of the great past when dancing was one of the most treasured arts in India and not as today, a mere device of whetting up the jaded appetite of the idle rich.

His presence in our midst was a great lesson and now that dancing is again coming into vogue amongst us, his style should give us a correct lead, for in want of it, we are yet groping in the dark."

The Natananiketan in Chennai and the Viswa Kala Kendra in Trivandrum the International Kathakali Centre in Delhi were institutions founded by him.

He died on stage, as he wished, with makeup, attire and anklets while enacting the role of King Dasharatha in his famous ballet Ramayana on 9 October 1987 at Fine Arts Hall Eranakulam.

He was invited as a judge of Classical Dances in the Eighth World Youth Festival held at Helsinki, Finland in 1961.

He was born on 24 June 1908, as the second son of Madhavi Amma and Kaippilli Sankara Pillai, in Champakulam, Kuttanad now in Alappuzha district of Kerala.

The show was on and at midnight suddenly uncle came to the sleeping boy and did some minimum make up to him to look like a maharshi – a hermit – and asked him to sit on a chair on the stage.

Kavalappara Narayanan Nair was his main teacher at 'Kerala Kalamandalam' where he was asked to join as a special student for higher studies in northern style, which gives importance to gestures movements and footsteps.

Guru Gopinath was married to Mulakkal Thankamani Amma, a great Mohiniyattam dancer and exponent of Kerala Natanam.

She was the first student of Mohiniyattam at Kerala Kalamandalam in early 30s, when Poet Vallathol Narayana Menon and Manakkulam Mukunda Raja started a course to revive this dying art form.

The youngest daughter Vinodini Sasimohan was a child artist in Malayalam movies in the 60s and she is now the Chief Administrative Officer of Viswa Kala Kendra, Trivandrum.

Guru Gopinath developed his own style that was appealing to the masses who were then devoid of art and dance, without compromising on the classical background.

He was instrumental to bring Kathakali out from the courtyards of upper class Brahmins and Nairs and rajas and dance chambers of temples to the masses.