Kalanilayam Rajasekharan was born on April 24, 1963. His father is Parameswara Panickar and mother is Chinnamma.

After passing SSLC, he learned Kathakali from Unnayi Varrier Smaraka Kalanilayam from 1978 to 1988 and passed Diploma in Kathakali 'Vesham' of 6 years and Post Diploma of 2 years and 2 years with Central Govt Scholarship. Has practised under Pallippuram Gopalan Nair, Kalamandalam Kuttan, Kalanilayam Raghavan, and Kalanilayam Gopalakrishnan. His expertise is in "Pacha", "Kathi", "Vellathadi", "Kari", "Hamsam" etc characters.

He has received Pallipuram Gopalan Nair Award. Has performed Kathakali in all around Kerala. He was a participant of Asiad in 1982.