Kanaran Gurukkal was born in a Chekavar Thiyyar[1] Tharavad, a large Landlord family near Mukkali, Vadakara, Kozhikode.
He was unmarried and lived a life fully devoted to the preservation of Kalaripayattu[2][3] Kalaripayattu, a martial art from Kerala, was banned by the British in the aftermath of the Cotiote War, and as a result, the Kalaris and institutions that existed far and wide in Kerala declined.
He learned Sambrathayams, Mantra Tantravidya and Dhyana Seva from the Gurus.
He has also mastered six different styles of Kalaripayyatu including Arapillakai, Otimurassery, Vattayanthiruppan, Pillatangi which he had taught these to his disciples .
[4][2] Later, after studying from the gurus' training, he came to Thiruvangat in Thalassery at the age of 65 and established his own Kalari for the first time.