Kannal studied sculpture at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda and established himself as a sculptor early in his career. After this he pursued Art History in which he received his second post-graduate degree. He completed his doctoral thesis in 1993 in which he worked on the sculpture of Ellora caves.

Kannal worked as the Head of the department, UGC/DSA coordinator and the Dean of the Faculty. He has several notable publications that includes a book “Ellora-An Enigma in Sculptural Styles’’, a monograph, four co-edited volumes - one of them on Ellora Sculpture and Architecture, three edited journals, these are to be re-released soon as a single book.

Three full length plays, three dance dramas and more than seventy papers and articles on Art and Aesthetics to his credit. His dance drama named ‘Dipta Kailasa’ narrating the history of Kailasanatha monolith of Ellora and the myths associated with it was performed at Ellora, in the vicinity of the caves.

His most significant contribution in Art History is his teaching methodology and interpretation of Indian sculpture and Indian Aesthetics. He is an authority on Ellora cave sculpture. And has dedicated his entire life in studying the subject.

He has organized and participated in many National/Inter National seminars, has delivered series of lectures, for coveted institutes in India, US and UK and was invited on prestigious chairs instituted by various Academies, Museums and Universities. He is a recipient of a number of awards, scholarships and distinctions in Sculpture, Theatre and Art History including the Charles Wallace fellowship for his post doctoral project at Cambridge, UK, National Lalit kala honorable mention, A.P. Council National award, The Gujarat Gaurav Puraskar, Raja Ravi Verma Samman and the Tagore National Fellowship in 2018 under which, he is working on the correspondence between Indian Linguistic Theories and Indian sculpture.

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