P. Kunhiraman Nair

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P. Kunhiraman Nair
British India
Died27 May 1978(1978-05-27) (aged 72)
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
OccupationTeacher, Poet
NationalityIndian
GenrePoetry
Notable awards
SpouseKunjilakshmi
ChildrenRaveendran Nair, Leela, Radha and Balamani
RelativesPuravankara Kunjambu Nair (father)
Panayanthitta Kunjamma Amma (mother)

Panayanthitta Kunhiraman Nair (4 October 1905 – 27 May 1978), also known as Mahakavi P, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. He was known for his romantic poems which detailed the natural beauty of his home state of Kerala in South India as well as the realities of his life and times. He received the inaugural Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1959. He was also a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Biography

Koodali High School
.

P. Kunhiraman Nair was born on January 5, 1906, at Bellikoth near

vedantin and his wife, Panayanthitta Kunjamma Amma.[2] His early schooling was with traditional teachers as well as at the local primary school before studying Sanskrit at the school run by Punnassery Nambi Neelakanda Sharma in Pattambi (the present-day Sree Neelakanta Government Sanskrit College Pattambi) where he was reported to be a lazy student.[2]

It was during this time, Nair started writing poems. He also fell in love with a local girl by name, Vattoli Kunjilakshmy. Subsequently, he moved to

Koodali High School as a Malayalam teacher ad after a while, moved to Rajas High School Kollengode from where he superannuated from service.[3] He died on May 27, 1978, at the age of 72, while he was staying at C. P. Sathram, a lodging facility in Thiruvananthapuram.[2] He is survived by his son, P. Ravindran Nair[4] and daughter, Radha.[5]

Legacy

P. Memorial at Kanhangad

P., as he was popularly known, was a habitual nomad and was reported to have led a

bohemian lifestyle, wandering across Kerala, living in several places, meeting their people and making them part of his life and literature.[6] Poetry formed his main genre of work, though he has also written novels, short stories, articles and plays.[7] While during the initial stages of his literary career, Nair wrote spiritual poems, Nirapara published in 1944, started a new phase which showed his leaning towards nature and symbolism.[8] His autobiography, Kaviyude Kaalpaadukal (The Footprints of a Poet), with foreword by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, is one of the celebrated works in prose in Malayalam.[4] Thamarathoni, written during his days in Kollengode,[3] Kaliyachan, Vayalkarayil, Ratholsavam and Pookkalam are a few of his known poems.[7][8]

Honours

A short handwritten poem

The Raja of Nileshwaram honoured Nair with the title Bhakthakavi and presented him with a veerashrungala (golden bracelet) in 1949 and he received the title of Sahitya Nipunan in 1963 from the Raja of Kochi.[2] Kerala Sahitya Akademi selected Kaliyachan of Kunhiraman Nair for their inaugural Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1959.[9] He received the Kendra Sahithya Academy Award for his work, Thamarathoni, in 1967.[10]

In 1981, Eyamkode Sreedharan, with the help of Venugopala Varma, the then Raja of Kollengode who donated a plot of land, initiated the efforts to build a memorial for the poet in Kollengode which was subsequently taken up by the Government of Kerala to establish the Mahakavi P. Memorial Art and Culture Centre.[6] The centre houses music school, a library, Kerala Kalabhavan which is a school for kathakali. The centre also holds performances in folk and classical art forms such as Kathakali, Kanyarkali and Porattukali.[11]

A government vocational school at Nair's native place, Bellikoth, has been named after him as Mahakavi P. Smaraka Government Vocational Higher Secondary School

eponymous organizations, Mahakavi P Foundation, based in Thiruvananthapuram and Mahakavi P. Smaraka Samithi, based in Kanhangad; the former has instituted an annual literary award, Kaliyachan Award[4] and the latter manages two awards for recognising excellence in Malayalam poetry, the Mahakavi P Memorial Award for Poetry and Poetry Award for Young Poets.[15][16]

In popular culture

2012 Kerala State Film Awards.[20]

Bibliography

Poetry

Short stories and novels

Plays

Prose

Memoirs and biography

Translations

References

  1. ^ "Men of Letters". kasargod.net. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal". Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b Muralikrishnan, Story: C. Ashraf Photos: B. "Kollengode, where time stands still". Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "MT Vasudevan Nair unhappy with removal of foreword in P Kunhiraman Nair's biography". Deccan Chronicle. 28 August 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  5. ^ കുഞ്ഞിരാമന്‍, എം. "പി യുടെ ഓര്‍മകളില്‍ ജന്മനാട്; ഇന്ന് 112-ാം ജന്മവാര്‍ഷികദിനം". Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Remembering Mahakavi P." The Hindu. 10 June 2006. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  7. ^ a b "List of Works". Kerala Sahitya Akademi. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b Abraham, Vinu (29 June 2017). "The eternal seeker". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry". Kerala Sahitya Akademi. 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Kendra Sahitya Academy Awards (Malayalam)". Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 24 May 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Mahakavi P. Memorial Art & Culture Centre at Kollengode". keralaculture.org. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Mahakavi P. Smaraka Government Vocational Higher Secondary School" (PDF). Government of Kerala. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  13. ^ "Mahakavi P Memorial Hall" (PDF). kfogkerala.com. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  14. ^ Staff Reporter (7 November 2011). "Memorial museum for Mahakavi 'P'". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  15. ^ "This year's Mahakavi P memorial award for poetry will be given to P P Ramachandran". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Winners list of P. Kunhiraman Nair Award". www.keralaculture.org. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  17. ^ P. K. Ajith Kumar (19 November 2010). "Poetic venture". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  18. ^ Parvathy Nambidi (24 September 2013). "Kaliyachan: Portrait of an artist". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Poetic frames". The Hindu. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  20. ^ Kumar, P. K. Ajith (14 March 2013). "Poetic frames". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 March 2019.

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