Edakka expert, aged 113, dead

Padmanabha Marar, veteran edakka exponent at the Sreeramaswamy temple at Ramapuram, is no more. Marar is said to be 113 years old, though there are no official records to prove the claim.

He was in the news in 2015 when his family members succeeded in corroborating his birthday day, celebrated on the basis of his moon sign, date, day and year in the Malayalam calendar with that of the Gregorian calendar, which was found to be 1905. Marar, who arrived at the temple at the age of eight years, had joined the temple as an employee two years later, at the age of ten. By 2015 he is said to have completed a century at the service of the deity.