He was born into a feudal family, known as "Kallil" in Methala, near Perumbavoor in Kerala.
Benny Behanan was born to O. Thomas and Chinnamma Thomas on 22 August 1952 at Vengola, near Perumbavoor in present day Kerala state, South India.
He worked with notable musicians including his mentor Kalavoor Balan, N.P. Prabhakaran, Alleppey Vivekanandan, Alleppey Rishikesh, Kumarakam Rajappan, Vypin Surendran, K.M.Udayan, T.S.Radhakrishnan, Sebi Nayarambalam, Samji Aarattupuzha, M.G.Anil, Raveendran Thiruvalla, Vidhyadharan master, R.Somasekharan, Jerry Amaldev, Johnson, Raveendran, M.G.Radhakrishnan, Perumbavoor G.Raveendranath, V.Dakshinamoorthy, M.K.Arjunan, and G.Devarajan.