Born on 17th November, 1963, in Thrissur, Kerala,Shri Manikandan M.N. began his career working in the field of Art and Craft in the year 1980. He joined as a trainee at S.M.M Theatre Crafts Trust, Mehrauli, New Delhi, in the year 1980, where he worked as a craftsmanwith materials such as Plaster of Paris, Paper Mache, Wood and Paper, till 1990.

He has a rich experience of over 29 years in the field of Painting, Art Objects and Monumental Conservation. He has been working in the field of conservation of stained-glass windows since 1996.

In the year 1990, he joined INTACH – Art Conservation Centre, New Delhi, where he worked under Dr. Sukanta Basu on several projects of painting conservation, monumental conservation, paper conservation, mural conservation and so on. He participated in a stained-glass conservation workshop under the guidance of a team of foreign conservators in Delhi, in the year 1996.

Shri Manikandan M.N. was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship, British Council India, in 1997. Through the scholarship he undertook a three-month long course on conservation of stained-glass, that took place in different studios across UK such as the York Glaziers Trust, Hollywell Glass and Studio Nineteen, supervised by Alfred Fisher MBE and other experts in the field. He has worked on stained-glass conservation projects with Alfred Fisher and other studios in UK.