BeckyK8455 at 20:59, 12 March 2026

2026-03-12T20:59:01Z

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{{Short description|Indian businessperson (1924–2023)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Gemini Shankaran
| honorific_suffix =
| image = 
| image_upright =
| birth_name = Moorkkoth Vengakkandi Sankaran
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|6|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kolassery, [[Malabar District]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] (now [[Kannur district]], [[Kerala]], India)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|4|23|1924|6|13|df=y}}
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Circus owner, businessperson
| years_active =
| era =
| employer =
| organization =
| known_for = Pioneering circus industry in India
| notable_works =
| spouse = Shobhana
| children = 3
| parents = 
| mother = Moorkoth Kalyaniyamma
| father = Kavinisheri Raman Nair
| relatives =
| awards = Government of India Lifetime Achievement Award
| signature =
| signature_size =
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Moorkkoth Vengakkandi Sankaran''' (13 June 1924 – 23 April 2023), popularly known as '''Gemini Shankaran''', was an Indian circus owner, businessperson and one of the pioneers of the [[History of Indian circus|circus industry in India]]. Sankaran was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[Government of India]].

== Biography ==
Shankaran was born to Kavinisheri Raman Nair and Moorkoth Kalyaniyamma on 13 June 1924, in Kolassery, a village in Kannur district, in the south Indian state of Kerala.<ref name="Circus patriarch Gemini Shankaran passed away - News8Plus">{{Cite web |last=News8Plus |date=24 April 2023 |title=Circus patriarch Gemini Shankaran passed away - News8Plus |url=https://news8plus.com/circus-patriarch-gemini-shankaran-passed-away/ |access-date=24 April 2023 |language=en-GB}}</ref> His schooling was limited to 7th standard, after which he studied [[Kalaripayattu]] and [[circus]] from [[Keeleri Kunhikannan]] before starting a small time grocery store. The grocery business failed and Sankaran joined the [[Indian Army]] where he worked until the end of [[World War II]]. After leaving the military, he joined the ''Boss Lion Circus'' as a [[Trapeze|trapeze artist]]. In 1951, he purchased ''Vijaya Circus'' for a sum of INR 6000 and renamed it as ''Gemini Circus''.<ref name="Obituary: Gemini Sankaran, the Malayali who founded the famous Gemini Circus">{{Cite web |title=Obituary: Gemini Sankaran, the Malayali who founded the famous Gemini Circus |url=https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2023/04/24/gemini-sankaran-founder-gemini-jumbo-circuses-dies.html |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=OnManorama}}</ref> He later purchased ''Jumbo Circus''.<ref name="Gemini Shankaran, pioneer of Indian circus, passes away">{{Cite web |date=24 April 2023 |title=Gemini Shankaran, pioneer of Indian circus, passes away |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/gemini-shankaran-pioneer-of-indian-circus-passes-away-1.8502682 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=English.Mathrubhumi |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Malayali artists bid adieu to circus rings in India">{{Cite web |date=6 September 2019 |title=Malayali artists bid adieu to circus rings in India |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/060919/malayali-artists-bid-adieu-to-circus-rings-in-india.html |access-date=24 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="The show can’t go on, circus ready for final bow">{{Cite web |date=20 August 2017 |title=The show can't go on, circus ready for final bow |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/the-show-cant-go-on-circus-ready-for-final-bow/articleshow/60148939.cms |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=The Times of India}}</ref>

Sankaran, as one of the pioneers of the [[History of Indian circus|India circus industry]],<ref name="Circus legend Gemini Sankaran gets Covid-19 Vaccine in ">{{Cite web |title=Circus legend Gemini Sankaran gets Covid-19 Vaccine in |url=https://world360news.com/en/circus-legend-gemini-sankaran-gets-covid-19-vaccine |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=world360news.com |archive-date=24 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424035229/https://world360news.com/en/circus-legend-gemini-sankaran-gets-covid-19-vaccine |url-status=usurped }}</ref> wrote his autobiography, ''Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham'', which was published in 2012.<ref name="Tree of Compassion">{{Cite web |title=Tree of Compassion |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/news/kerala/news-kerala-24-04-2023/1087616 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Deshabhimani |language=ml}}</ref><ref name="Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham">{{Cite web |last=Gemini Sankaran |date=24 April 2023 |title=Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham |url=https://www.amazon.in/Books-GEMINI-SANKARAN/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AGEMINI+SANKARAN |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=www.amazon.in |language=en-in}}</ref><ref name="Gemini Sankaran - Speaker in Kerala Architectural Festival KAF –2019">{{Cite web |title=Gemini Sankaran - Speaker in Kerala Architectural Festival KAF –2019 |url=http://www.keralaarchitecturefestival.com/speakers_more.aspx?id=MTE4 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=www.keralaarchitecturefestival.com}}</ref> His life is also recorded in another biography, ''Gemini Shankaran and the Legacy of Indian Circus''.<ref name="Gemini Shankaran and the legacy of Indian circus">{{Cite web |last=Shrihari Nair |date=2013 |title=Gemini Shankaran and the legacy of Indian circus |url=http://libopac.kannuruniversity.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=65951 |access-date=24 April 2023 |publisher=Gayathri designs }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The [[Government of India]] honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref name="emini Sankaran Passed Away: സർക്കസ് കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു">{{Cite web |date=24 April 2023 |title=Gemini Sankaran Passed Away: സർക്കസ് കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു |url=https://zeenews.india.com/malayalam/kerala/circus-legend-gemini-sankaran-passes-away-136486 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Zee News Malayalam |language=ml}}</ref>

Sankaran was married to Shobhana, and the couple had two sons, Ajay Shankar and Ashok Shankar, and a daughter, Renu Shankar.<ref name="Gemini Shankaran, pioneer of Indian circus, passes away" /> He died on 23 April 2023, at the age of 98.<ref name="emini Sankaran Passed Away: സർക്കസ് കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു" /><ref name="ഇന്ത്യൻ സർക്കസിന്റെ കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു">{{Cite web |author=Web Desk |date=24 April 2023 |title=ഇന്ത്യൻ സർക്കസിന്റെ കുലപതി ജെമിനി ശങ്കരൻ അന്തരിച്ചു |url=https://www.mediaoneonline.com/kerala/gemini-shankaran-passed-away-2n15802 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=www.mediaoneonline.com |language=ml}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Keeleri Kunhikannan]]
* [[History of Indian circus]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite web |last=Gemini Sankaran |date=24 April 2023 |title=Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham |url=https://www.amazon.in/Books-GEMINI-SANKARAN/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AGEMINI+SANKARAN |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Amazon}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |title=Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham |url=https://dcbookstore.com/books/malakkam-mariyunna-jeevitham |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=dcbookstore.com}}
* {{Cite web |last=Pavithra D |title=Gemini Sankaran, Doyen of Circus, Opens Out |url=https://www.asianetnews.com/video/onapathippu/interview-with-gemini-sankaran-pxgig0 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd |language=ml}}
* {{Cite web |title=പുള്ളിപ്പുലിയെ കറിവച്ച നാട്ടിൽ സ്വന്തം ‌എസ്റ്റേറ്റിൽ പുലിയെ വളർത്തിയ ഒരാൾ! |url=https://www.manoramaonline.com/news/latest-news/2021/01/26/gemini-sankaran-feeds-lions-and-leopards-in-his-estate.html |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=ManoramaOnline |language=ml}}
* {{Cite web |title=നന്മയുടെ പൂമരം |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/news/kerala/news-kerala-24-04-2023/1087616 |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Deshabhimani |language=ml}}
* {{Cite web |title=സര്‍ക്കസ് കുലപതിയെ വീട്ടിലെത്തി കണ്ട് മുഖ്യമന്ത്രി; നൂറാംപിറന്നാളിലേക്ക് കടന്ന് ജമിനി ശങ്കരൻ |url=https://www.manoramanews.com/news/kerala/2023/03/24/chief-minister-pinarayi-vijayan-came-to-meet-circus-patriarch-jamini-shankaran.html |access-date=24 April 2023 |website=Manoramanews |language=en}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankaran, Gemini}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:Circus owners]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kerala]]

Gemini Shankaran - Revision history

BeckyK8455 at 20:59, 12 March 2026