Sankaranarayana Iyer Ganesa Iyer, commonly named as S Ganesa Iyer was 8th descendant of Subbayyan Dalawa. He was born in Varkala.

S. Ganesa Iyer
Born(1912-12-24)24 December 1912
Died25 May 2005(2005-05-25) (aged 92)
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity College Thiruvananthapuram
Occupation(s)Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Kerala, One of Founders of Margi[1]
SpouseT K Seethalakshmi Ammal
ChildrenG.S. Iyer, G. Lakshmi Ammal, G. Radha, Dr.G. Krishnan, Dr. G. Parvathi, G. Anand
Parents
  • S. Sankaranarayana Iyer (father)
  • Lakshmi (mother)
AwardsAward for comprehensive contribution to Kathakali by Kerala Kalamandalam

Career

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He started as a teacher and subsequently rose to the position of Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Kerala. While he was the headmaster of Cherthala high school, the then Director of public instruction, Venkiteswara Iyer accepted his idea of conducting a state level school youth festival and entrusted him with the job of conducting the first one of its kind, in Thiruvananthapuram. This was taken forward and today the Kerala State Youth Festival is the biggest school children's art festival of the World.[citation needed]

Post-retirement

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He took keen interest in the classical arts of Kerala with a focus on Kathakali,[2] Koodiyattam[3][4] and Carnatic Classical Music. He was one of the three founder Directors of Margi[5] in Thiruvananthapuram. The trio included Rama P. Iyer and D Appukkuttan Nair. He used to write the Aattaprakaaram; a detailing of the performance of characters in Kathakali, for various Attakatha and used to get it performed in Margi.[6] His work on Kathakali won the award from Kerala Kalamandalam. He is the co-author of the first book on Kathakali in French with his disciple Martine Chemana Kendra Sahitya Academy, India has published a book authored by him, which was a collection of abridged form of selected works of notable Malayalam littérateur.

References

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  1. ^ "Welcome to margitheatre".
  2. ^ Zarrilli, Phillip (2 September 2003). Kathakali Dance-Drama: Where Gods and Demons Come to Play. ISBN 9781134651108.
  3. ^ Cheerath, Bhawani (10 October 2013). "Abode for Koodiyattam". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ^ Bibliography of Kūṭiyāṭṭam.
  5. ^ "History".
  6. ^ "Welcome to margitheatre".