Gemini Sankaran, the founder of the famous Gemini Circus, died of age-related ailments at Kannur on Sunday. He was 99. He also owned Jumbo and Great Royal circuses.

His mortal remains was shifted to his house at Varam in Kannur in the morning for people to pay their last respects. The funeral will be held at Payyambalam on Tuesday.

As a ten-year boy, Sankaran was fascinated by the acrobatics of Kittunnni, a street performer in his hometown of Kolassery near Thalassery.

He learned kalarippayattu with the firm belief that skills acquired from a Kalari would prove useful in his yearning to be a circus artist.

Sankaran's schooling ended with the seventh standard, but in Keleri Kunhikannan he found a guru who taught him the art of circus for three years.

To make a living, he also ran a stationery shop, which wasn't profitable. Then came the calling of the army and Sankaran fought in World War II before returning home in 1946.

He wished to continue his circus education, but his guru, Kunhikannan was no more. The education, nevertheless, continued under MK Raman. After two years, equipped with enough to impress in the big cities, Sankaran reached Kolkata and joined the Boss Lion Circus.

There he made a name for himself as a trapezist and continued his circus journey with the National Circus.

Birth of Gemini
Sankaran bought Vijaya Circus for Rs 6,000 in 1951. He renamed it Gemini after the zodiac sign associated with his birth month of June. Gemini debuted at Bilimora in Gujarat on August 15, 1951, on India's Independence Day.

Soon, Gemini clicked and MV Sankaran was transformed into Gemini Sankaran. For years, Gemini was the biggest circus company in the country making him friends with the most powerful people in the land.

When Sankaran telegrammed Indira Gandhi
India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the most popular patrons of the Gemini Circus. At Nehru's bidding, Gemini represented India at a world circus carnival in Russia in 1963.

Martin Luther King Jr, Edwina Mountbatten, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova were some of the international personalities who were reportedly awed by the Gemini Circus.

Indian presidents Rajendra Prasad, S Radhakrishnan and Zakir Husain too were among his guests.

Once, it is said, Sankaran's troupe couldn't get hold of a wagon to transport the animals after a performance in Bihar. He telegrammed Indira Gandhi and the railways were at his disposal.

In Kolkata, when the unavailability of a ground posed a challenge, a letter from EMS addressed to Jyoti Basu did the trick.

Raj Kapoor's iconic 'Mera Naam Joker' and Kamal Haasan's 'Apoorva Sagodharangal' were entirely filmed at Gemini. He also co-produced a few films, notably 'Sreemath Bhagavatheeyam' and 'Remanan'.

Bigger than a zoo
In its prime, Gemini housed 20 elephants, 40 lions, 15 tigers, 30 horses, six camels, three bears, three zebras and two sea lions. It is said, there were more animals in Gemini Circus than in a zoo. Later, with restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Gemini pack thinned down. But Sankaran, reportedly, took care of a number of them at his estate in Wayanad before handing them over to the Forest Department.