C Narayana Iyer was born in December 1919 and lived and schooled at Koduvayur, in Palakkad District, Kerala, India. He married Parvathy (Thangam) in 1947. Later they lived in Ooty, where Narayana Iyer worked at the Government Rest House, as caretaker. subsequently they moved to Penang, Malaysia (then Malaya), working at the Chettiars Sivan Temple.
They had three sons and three daughters.
In 1971, the family moved to Coimbatore, India, where Narayana Iyer subsequently bought a house at 173 NVN Layout, Tatabad. Having enrolled the children in school and college, Narayana Iyer returned to Penang, where he continued to work. In 1980, he quit his job at the Sivan Temple, but continued to freelance as a priest, living with his eldest son, Dorai (Markandan) until the late eighties, when he retired and returned to Coimbatore. He continues to live in Coimbatore.
CHILDREN Dorai | Subramaniam | Saraswathy | Savithri | Lakshmi | Viswanathan |