Narayana Bhattathiri, a celebrated artist from Kerala, graduated in painting in 1982.
For over four decades, he has explored the beauty of Malayalam alphabets, crafting stunning titles for stories and poems. His calligraphy exhibitions have been held in prestigious venues across New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Banaras, and various locations in Kerala.
Bhattathiri has received the esteemed Jikji Excellence Award in International Calligraphy for four years: 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021. His work was featured in the 5th Annual International Calligraphy Exhibition, San Francisco, in the US, as part of Calligraphers in Conversation. Notably, his calligraphy is permanently displayed at the Calligraphy Stone Park in Harbin, China, among the world’s finest works.
A regular participant in the International TypoDay, he presented a paper on Malayalam calligraphy in 2023. He has also conducted workshops at renowned events, including the Kochi Biennale (2016-17), Callifest 2018 in Navi Mumbai, Kalakshar at Banaras Hindu University (BHU ), Varanasi, and TypoDay 2023, also held at BHU.
In 2023, Bhattathiri served as the Festival Director for the First International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK). Additionally, he has contributed significantly to Malayalam typography by designing three Unicode fonts.