 At MCC he was a contemporary of Puthezhath Raman Menon, Nandyelath Padmanabha Menon and Sadasiva Reddy among others.He left for England in April 1914 to read history at Christ Church, University of Oxford.After leaving Oxford, Panikkar read for the bar at the Middle Temple, London.He was the first president of the Kerala Sahitya Academy.