Mathan was born in the village of Kidangannoor, Kerala, India, into an aristocratic family of Tharakans, a noble family in the Kingdom of Travancore.
This is the mother church of all other churches in Mezhuveli-Kidangannoor.
Writer, poet, journalist, and blogger John P. Matthew, who also hails from Puliyelil family was born in Kidangannoor, though he later settled in Bombay.