[citation needed] She is the second of seven children born to S. K. Krishnan Nair, a civil engineer, and Vishalakshy Amma.
After completing her school education, she joined Kerala Kalamandalam for a four-year diploma course in dance in 1960.
[citation needed] While working as a dance teacher in the Jawahar School at Neyveli Lignite Corporation, she married Viswanatha Menon.
She has a son, Vinod and a daughter Vinduja Menon who acted in several Malayalam films, including Pavithram and Njan Gandharvan.
She won the Senior Fellowship Award for her research work in "Ramanattom in Mohiniyattom" by the Government of India's Cultural Department in 2004.