[citation needed] Kunju Kurup's marriage with a relative of Palayil Karunakara Menon, a Kathakali exponent living near Palakkad in 1910, cemented his ties with central Kerala.
Soon, he was made a tutor at the famous Kerala Kalamandalam following an invitation from its co-founder, poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.
He later had brief stints as a Kathakali guru in Bangalore (1943) and Madras (or Chennai, in 1914, during which Mrinalini Sarabhai was his student), and later (1948–52) at Chembakassery Natana Kalamandalam in Ambalappuzha, his home territory.
[citation needed] Kunju Kurup, a Padma Bhushan awardee of 1971,[1] wasn't exactly an exemplary tutor, but he had lot of fans as a performer.
Kurup was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Kathakali in 1956 for his unique contributions to the four-century old classical dance-drama from the southern Indian state.