Mahe Malayala Kalagramam founder and managing trustee A.P. Kunhikannan, 96, passed away in Chennai on Sunday.
He had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia at a private hospital in Chennai for about a week.
The body will be kept for public to pay homage at his house at Kodambakkam till 11 a.m. on Monday, and will be brought to Thalassery by road for the funeral rites.
An ardent Gandhian and a socialist, he was born to Akul Poyil Krishnan and Chirutha on December 9, 1928, as the eldest of seven children at Chokli in Thalassery.
He went to Chennai at the age of 18 in search of a job and started his career as a night watchman at Shanti Bhavan Lodge near the railway station.
He then met freedom fighter M.P. Damodaran, who ignited his passion for reading. He gradually transitioned into business, starting with canteens at Madras Harbour, Race Course and Army camp. Later, he established Western Agencies.
His Kashmir Lodge in Madras became a haunt for Malayalam writers. He developed close friendship with writers T. Padmanabhan, M.V. Devan, K.A Kodungallur and Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.
The vision of establishing an art institution in his homeland led to the birth of the Malayala Kalagramam on the banks of the Mayyazhi river in Mahe in 1993.
Over the past three decades, hundreds of students have learned classical art from the Kalagramam.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of A.P. Kunhikannan. Mr. Vijayan said he lost a close friend, who nurtured many people through Kalagramam and contributed greatly to dance, music and art.
