For his contributions in the field of Kalaripayattu, he has won several noted awards including Kerala Folklore Academy Award and India's fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri.
[1] Menon was born in 1929 on 15 February, to Mudavangattil Sankunni Panicker and Chundayil Kalyanikutti Amma, in a family of Kalaripayat experts at Niramaruthur near Tirur in present day Malappuram district of Kerala.
[4] In 1957, the family established a Kalarippayattu school called Vallabhatta Kalari in Chavakkad.
[3][5] At the age of six, Menon started learning Kalaripayattu from his father Sankunni Panicker.
[2] His wife Soudamini Amma is from Malappuram, from the Ozhur Kozhissery Punnakal family.