Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was one of the most famous Malayalam film actors during the 80s and 90s. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonist in Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Elippathayam. He is best remembered for his roles in the cult comedy film Pattanapravesham as 'Prabhakaran Thampi', Agnidevan (as Vasudeva Warrier) and in Sphadikam (as Fr. Ottaplakkan). His last role was as Fr. Paulose in the movie FIR.

He played the lead role in the K. G. George directed film Mattoral, supported by Mammootty, which was released in 1988.

Personal life

He was born to Karamana Kunjuveettil Ramaswami Iyyer and Bhargaviyamma on July 27, 1936. He had his primary education from Govt Model Boys High School,Chalai. After doing B.A. he pursued L.L.B. from Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. He also holds Masters in History from University College Thiruvananthapuram. While at college he was an active member of Student's Federation. He worked at Employees Provident Fund Oraganisation in Pattom and Akasahvani. He was an active member of Thiruvananthapuram drama clubs. He went to study at National School of Drama in 1962.

Karamana is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. It is one of the most densely populated, but green part of Thiruvananthapuram. The land of Karamana is made fertile by the river, Karamana River which starts from the southern tip of the Western Ghats at "Agastyakoodam". The river flows 68 km westward and merges into the Arabian Sea at Thiruvallom-Karumam area near Kovalam.The Juma Masjid in Karamana is a famous landmark. Karamana is also known for its busy "Daily market" (a Farmers/Produce market) and is a major transit point for both trade and people travelling to or coming in from the Kanyakumari district of neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Etymology

According to myths, 'Karamana' the place name came from a famous namboothiri (Kerala Brahmin) family who lived in the bank of the river. The life of people at that time was sticking around the Brahmin family. So, simply referring as the 'mana', meaning house on 'kara' meaning bank, became "Karamana". In the flow of time, this family became extinct and still the name is there.