 He published his first poem at the age of 16, published in the Mathrubhoomi Weekly.He did his Intermediate at Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode, and BA Honours in English Literature from the University College, Thiruvananthapuram in 1951, thereafter he received his master's degree from the University of Kerala.Paniker took his doctorate from Indiana University with a doctoral dissertation on the poetry of Robert Lowell, supervised by Prof. Robert E. Gross, subsequently he did post-doctoral research in Yale and Harvard University (1981–82).