Kerala Kalamandalam was founded by poet Vallathol Narayana Menon and Manakkulam Mukundaraja as a Kathakali training centre

Background

Kerala Kalamandalam was founded in 1930 by the poet Padmabhooshan Vallathol Narayana Menon and his associate Manakkulam Mukundaraja, under the patronage of Kakkad Karanavappad.
At the beginning it was exclusively a training centre for Kathakali.
Its first venue was Madappattil, at Kunnamkulam near Thrissur.
In 1936 it moved to its own plot on the banks of the river Bharathapuzha in Cheruthuruthy village of Thrissur District.
It is a residential institution following the Gurukula Sampradaya, teaching Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Thullal, Kutiyattam, Panchavadyam and Carnatic Music among other disciplines.
In 1975 it began functioning as a grant-in-aid institution, and in 1990 formal schooling from the 8th grade was introduced.