Noted Kerala Kathakali artist Mathoor Govindan Kutty passed away at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday. He was 81. The artist is renowned for the female characters he portrayed in Kathakali. The Kathakali artist was under treatment for COVID-19 and was discharged a few days ago. However, he was admitted again in the intensive care unit (ICU) as his condition worsened, reports Malayala Manorama. His funeral was held with state honours at his son’s house in Kudamaloor in Kottayam on Thursday.

According to the Manorama, Mathoor Govindan Kutty garnered many awards, including Kerala Sahitya Akademi award, Sahitya Akademi Award, a senior fellowship of the Union government and the Kerala government’s Kathakali award. He has also received Kerala Kalamandalam fellowship and Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair award, among others, states reports.

Mathoor Govindan Kutty was born on October 5, 1940, at Nedumudi in Alappuzha district. He was reportedly drawn to Kathakali as a teen and started practising it at the age of 14. Noted Kathakali doyen Kudamaloor Karunakaran Nair was Mathoor’s master. He eventually got married to Kudamaloor Karunakaran’s daughter.

The artist, who was originally named Narayana Govinda Kunju Panicker, was later renamed as Mathoor Govindan Kutty, reports Madhyamam.

Mathoor was formerly a member of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.

He is survived by two sons, Chenda artist Gopikrishnan and Kathakali artist Kudamaloor Muralikrishnan.

Former Kerala Minister and CPI(M) leader MA Baby condoled the death of the artist. “He was one of those gurus with whom I had shared very close personal ties,” he wrote on Facebook.

Many others, especially Kathakali enthusiasts, have also taken to social media to condole the death of the doyen.

“Yet again another doyen has left the stage. He approached all artists equally without differentiating if they were experts of amateurs,” performing artist Renjini Kizhakke Pisharom wrote on Facebook.