P. Kunhiraman Nair | |
|---|---|
 Drawing of P Kunhiraman Nair | |
| Born | (1905-10-04)4 October 1905 |
| Died | 27 May 1978(1978-05-27) (aged 72) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Occupation | Teacher, Poet |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Kunjilakshmi |
| Children | 4 |
Panayanthitta Kunhiraman Nair (4 October 1905 – 27 May 1978), also known asMahakavi P, is an Indian writer ofMalayalam literature. He was known for his romantic poems which detailed the natural beauty of his home state ofKerala inSouth India as well as the realities of his life and times. He received the inauguralKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1959. He was also a recipient of theSahitya Akademi Award.
P. Kunhiraman Nair was born on 4 October 1905, at Bellikoth nearKanhangad,[1] inKasaragod district of the south Indian state ofKerala to Puravankara Kunjambu Nair, aSanskrit scholar, physician andvedantin 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 inPattambi (the present-daySree 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 toTanjavur to continue his Sanskrit andVedanta studies when his family arranged his marriage with Puravankara Janaki Amma, his cousin and bride-designate as per local customs. However, he declined the proposal and instead, married his lover, Kunjilakshmy.[2] After marriage, he founded a magazine,Navajeevan, which was published fromKannur but after the publication became defunct, he worked at Saraswathi Press inThrissur and Sree Ramakrishnodayam Press inOlavakkode. Later, he joinedKoodali High School as a Malayalam teacher ad after a while, moved to Rajas High SchoolKollengode from where he superannuated from service.[3] He died on 27 May 1978, at the age of 72, while he was staying at C. P. Sathram, a lodging facility inThiruvananthapuram.[2] He is survived by his son, P. Ravindran Nair,[4] daughter Leela, Radha and Balamani.[5]
P., as he was popularly known, was a habitual nomad and was reported to have led abohemian 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 byM. 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 andPookkalam are a few of his known poems.[7][8]
The Raja ofNileshwaram honoured Nair with the titleBhakthakavi and presented him with aveerashrungala (golden bracelet) in 1949 and he received the title ofSahitya Nipunan in 1963 from theRaja of Kochi.[2]Kerala Sahitya Akademi selectedKaliyachan of Kunhiraman Nair for their inauguralKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1959.[9] He received theKendra 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 theGovernment of Kerala to establish theMahakavi P. Memorial Art and Culture Centre.[6] The centre houses music school, a library, Kerala Kalabhavan which is a school forkathakali. 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 asMahakavi P. Smaraka Government Vocational Higher Secondary School[12] and a town hall inKanhangad has been namedMahakavi P Memorial Hall.[13] Kanhangad also has another memorial of the poet,Mahakavi P. Memorial which was designed byM. V. Devan and houses a library and a public reading room. The upper floor of the building has since been converted into a museum and all the books and articles written by the poet, the chair and dresses used by him, as well as a gold chain presented by theGuruvayur Devaswomm on his 60th birthday are in display there.[14] There are twoeponymous organisations,Mahakavi P Foundation, based in Thiruvananthapuram andMahakavi 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, theMahakavi P Memorial Award for Poetry andPoetry Award for Young Poets.[15][16]
Ivan Megharoopan, a 2012 Malayalam biopic, written and directed byP. Balachandran withPrakash Bare in the lead role, is based on the life of poet as detailed in his autobiography,Kaviyude Kalpadukal.[17] His 1959 poemKaliyachan, has been adapted into a feature film produced by theNational Film Development Corporation underthe same name withManoj K. Jayan in the lead;[18][19] the film received three awards at the2012 Kerala State Film Awards.[20]
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