Bhattathri was from Melputhur at Athavanad, on the north banks of Bharathapuzha River, and very close to the Tirur River,as well as the holy town of Thirunavaya, near Tirur, that was famed as the theatre of the Mamankam festival. He was born in 1560 in a pious Brahmin family, as the son of Mathrudattan Bhattathiri, a pandit himself. Bhattathiri studied from his father as a child. He learned the "Rig Veda" from Madhava, Tharka sastra (science of arguments in Sanskrit) from Damodara and Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar) from Achyuta Pisharati. He became a pandit by the age of 16. He married his guru Achuta Pisharati's niece and settled at Thrikandiyur near Tirur.