 Born on 27 July 1942 in Thiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India, Sankaran had his early musical training first under his cousin, P. A. Venkataraman, and later became the star disciple of the legendary "mridangam" maestro, Pazhani Subramania Pillai.He made his debut at the age of 13 in a concert given by the Alathoor Brothers at Nanrudayan Temple in the town of Thiruchirapalli.Since then he has performed with many significant Carnatic musicians, including Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and T. R. Mahalingam.