Father Abel Biography 
Father Abel was a great patron of arts. He was a Christian priest and lyricist, best known as the founder of Kalabhavan, Kochi – the leading mimicry troupe of Kerala. Kalabhavan has given countless talented actors and comedians to Malayalam cinema since 1990s. He started Kalabhavan as a Christian Arts Club in a small room in Kochi in the late 1960s, which flourished as the leading mimicry troupe of Kerala in the 1990s. K J Yesudas, a struggling young singer then and K. K. Antony, a music teacher were also associated with its formation. It was started to train young artists in formal music education.
Fr. Abel Periyappuram was born on 19 January 1920 in Mulakulam, a village spread across Kottayam and Ernakulam districts. Mathen Vidyan and Aleyamma were his parents. His birth name is Mathew. He took pastoral studies at Mannanam, Thevara and Koonammavu in his 20s and was ordained as a priest in 1951 at Mangalore. The following year he joined the Deepika Daily at Kottayam as a journalist for a short period. Later he moved to Rome to take Doctorate in Journalism and Political Science. He rejoined the Deepika Daily on his return and was associated with it till 1961.
It was during this time he got interested in literature and started writing poetry. He reached Ernakulam to do the translation works of Christian prayer books from Syriac to Malayalam, as requested by Joseph Parecattil. During this time he started writing Christian devotional songs, and those songs were composed by K. K. Antony. Joined hands with K. J. Yesudas, they set up an institute to promote arts in the late 1960s. The trio worked together during the formation of Kalabhavan. Father worked wonders on the talented youth of Kochi and immortalized the institute as a cultural icon, contributing many mimicry artistes to filmdom and theatre.
Published: N/A
Updated: April 24, 2016
