Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri | |
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| Born | (1926-03-18)18 March 1926 |
| Died | 15 October 2020(2020-10-15) (aged 94) |
| Pen name | Akkitham |
| Occupation | Poet,social worker |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
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| Relatives | Akkitham Narayanan, brother |
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Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri (18 March 1926 – 15 October 2020), popularly known asAkkitham, was an Indian poet and essayist who wrote inMalayalam. He was known for a simple and lucid style of writing, exploring themes of profound love and compassion in his works.[1] Some of his prominent works includedIrupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (English: Epic of the 20th century),Balidarshanam (English: The vision of Bali), andNimisha Kshetram (English: Holy moment).[1]
Akkitham was the recipient of India's highest literary honour, theJnanpith Award in 2019,[2] and other awards includingPadma Shri,Ezhuthachan Award,Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award,Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry,Odakkuzhal Award,Vallathol Award,Vayalar Award,Aasan Prize andO. N. V. Literary Award. He died on 15 October 2020, aged 94, inThrissur.[3]
Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri was born on 18 March 1926 at Amettikkara, nearKumaranellur inPalakkad district of the south Indian state ofKerala to Amettu Akkithathu Manayil Vasudevan Namboothiri and Checkur Manaykkal Parvathy Antharjanam.[4] After schooling in Sanskrit, Astrology and Music, he started his college education but did not complete his graduate degree course.[5] He is the first president of Thapasya (group of artists and literary fellows), an organization under RSS.
Akkitham started his career as an editor ofUnni Namboothiri magazine, which he used as a platform for his social activities. He also worked as an assistant editor atMangalodayam andYogakshemam magazines. In 1956, he joined theKozhikode station of theAll India Radio (AIR) where he served until 1975 after which he was transferred to theThrissur station of the AIR. He was also associated withAnaadi, a literary initiative for popularising studies ofVedas.[5]
His literary works began to gain wide attention in the early 1950s andIrupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (English: "Epic of the 20th Century"), akhandakavya is one of the first truly modernist poems inMalayalam literature, the book also won the Sanjayan Award in 1952.[6] He published approximately 45 books comprising poetry anthologies, plays and short stories.Balidarsanam (English: "The Vision of Bali"),Arangettam,Nimisha Kshetram,Idinju Polinja Lokam,Amritaghatika, andKalikkottilil are some of his notable poetry anthologies.Upanayanam andSamavarttanam, two collections of essays, feature among the writings in prose.Sree Mahabhagavatham, his translation ofSrimad Bhagavatam, composed of 14,613 verses, covers over 2,400 pages.[6] Some of the themes that Akkitham explored in his works included love and compassion.[1] He is acknowledged to have introduced "meaningful modernism" as a central theme in his poetry.[7]
Akkitham was involved in social reform activities and through his association withYogakshema Sabha, he strived to bring in reforms in the lives of theNamboothiri Brahmins of Kerala. He was associated with various centres inThirunavaya,Kadavallur andThrissur, for the promotion ofvedic studies. He was also associated with thePaliyam Satyagraha, a peaceful protest againstuntouchability in 1947.[6]
Akkitham received the Sanjayan Award in 1952, for his work,Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam[6] and theKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1971 forBalidarshanam.[8] He received two major honours in 1973, theSahitya Akademi Award forBalidarshanam[9] and theOdakkuzhal Award forNimisha Kshetram.[10] He was selected for theAsan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram in 1994[11] and, two years later, for the 1996Lalithambika Antharjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award,[12] followed by theVallathol Award in 1997.[13]
The next major honour for Akkitham came by way ofVayalar Award which he received in 2012.[14] The Government of Kerala awarded himEzhuthachan Puraskaram, their highest literary award in 2016.[15][16][17] He receivedPadma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the Government of India in 2017.[18][19] He could not attend the investiture ceremony due to ill health and the award was later handed over to him by the district collector of Palakkad.[20] In 2019 he received theO. N. V. Literary Award.[21] He received theJnanpith Award, the highest Indian literary award, in 2019.[22] Reflecting on his lifetime contribution to Malayalam literature, the Jnanpith Award citation specifically noted him as "A poet of rare integrity" and noted that his poetry reflected "unfathomable compassion, imprints of Indian philosophical and moral values and a bridge between tradition and modernity, and delved deep into human emotions in a fast changing social space."[1]
He was also a recipient of several other honours such as Krishna Geedhi Award, Nalappad Award(2012), Puthezhan Award,Deviprasadam Trust Award (2000),[23] Moorti Devi Award ofBharatiya Jnanpith andAmrita Keerti Puraskar (2004).Arikil Akkitham is a documentary film directed by E. Suresh, which details the life of the poet from the perspective of his daughter, Sreeja.[24]
Akkitham was married to Sreedevi Antharjanam and the couple had two sons, Narayanan and Vasudevan, and four daughters Sreeja, Indira, Parvathy and Leela. The family lives in Amettikkara.[25] Antharjanam, died on 13 March 2019, at the age of 85. Noted painterAkkitham Narayanan is his younger brother.[24]
Akkitham died on 15 October 2020, at the age of 94 inWest Fort Hi-Tech Hospital inThrissur.[3][26] His funeral took place with full state honours at his home inKumaranellur, on the same day.[7]
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