Thursday 14 April 2016

Leaders of Renaissance in Kerala - Kumaranasan (1873-1924) (Chapter-1)


1. Kumaranasan was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala (the other two were Vallathol Narayana Menon and Ulloor S.Parameswara Iyer) who was also a philosopher, a social reformer and a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru.

2. He is dubbed as ‘Sneha gayakan’ (Poet of Love) of  Malayalam as he expounded the philosophy “Snehamanakhilasaramoozhiyil” (Love is all in this world) in his writings.


3. The richness of themes earned him the title “Ashayagambhiran’.

4. He was born in Ezhava community on 12th April 1873 at Kayikkara in
Thiruvananthapuram district of erstwhile Travancore.

5. His father was Narayanan Perungudi and mother was Kaali. The childhood name was ‘Kumaru’.

6. He undertook a studentship in poetry under Manamboor Govindan Asan.

7. After becoming the disciple of Narayana Guru, Kumaru was sent to Bangalore for 3 years for higher studies in Sanskrit.


8. In 1917 Asan married Bhanumathiamma daughter of Thachakudy Kumaran – younger brother of Dr.P.Palpu’s father.

9. Kumaran Asan initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry in the first quarter of the 20th century, transforming it from the metaphysical to the lyrical.

10. His first notable  work was “Veena Poovu’ (fallen flower) which was scripted  during his sojourn in Jain Medu, Palakkad in 1907 .

11. It was published for the first time in the publication ‘Mithavadi’ and it marked the beginning of ‘Khandakavya’ in Malayalam.


12. Kumaranasan was the only poet in Malayalam who became ‘mahakavi’ without writing a ‘mahakavyam’.

13. The prefix ‘Mahakavi’ awarded to him by Madras University in the year 1922.

14. Kumaranasan was honoured by Prince of Wales in 1922.

15. The major works of Kumaranasan are Oru Simhaprasavam (1909), Nalini (Subtitle: Allengkil Oru Sneham) (1911),Leela (1914),Sribuddhacharitham (1915), Graamavrikshattile Kuyil (1918),Prarodanam (1919),Chintaavishtayaaya Sita (1919),Duravasthha (1922),Chandaalabhikshuki (1922) and Karuna.

16. The work of Kumaranasan that depicts the fact ‘Mamsanibhadamalla ragam’ (Love is not an artifact of flesh) is Leela.

17. His elegy ‘Prarodanam’ mourns the death of his contemporary and friend A. R. Raja Raja Varma, the famous grammarian and academician.

18. Kumaran Asan’s longest work is ‘Sribuddhacharitham’ which is the translation of ‘Light of Asia’, a biography of Sri Buddha by Edwin Arnold.

19. Kumaranasan had prominent Buddhist influence in his writings.

20. He is the first poet to become a member in Travancore Legislature and also the first Malayalam poet whose picture was apperared on an Indian stamp.

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