Nartakaratnam Kanna Peruvannan is a living legend in the art of Theyyam. He performed various Theyyams at numerous venues in and outside Kerala. Kanna Peruvannan, son of  Kuttiyambu Manakkadan was born at Kodakkad, a small village near Karivellur. He started performing Theyyam at a very young age of six and he got a chance to perform the most brilliant Theyyam of Kathivannur Veeran  when he was 14 years old.  From then he had performed the same Theyyam of Kathivannur Veeran for more than six hundred times which is a record in this field.  The rituals and Thottam songs of almost all the Theyyams are by heart for this veteran artiste.  He believes in following the customs and traditions of Theyyam strictly. 

His sixty-five years long Theyyam experiences has been put in the form of book by Kuttamath Sreedharan.  He was awarded with the title of “Nartakaratnam” at the Folklore seminar conducted by Karnatak University, Dharwad in 1974.   Kanna Peruvannan, who is also an expert in the treatment of children, is still active  in this work at his Mookambika Vaidya Sala at Kodakkad.