N. Kumaran Asan (1873-1924)
also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, (the name prefix Mahakavi (Awarded by Madras University in the Year 1922) meaning great poet and the suffix Asan meaning scholar or teacher) was a famous triumvirate poets of Kerala. He was also a philosopher and a social reformer. More than that he is one of honoured disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. Kumaran Asan was known as one of the famous triumvirate poets of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century.
Kumaran Asan initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry in the first quarter of the 20th century, transforming it from metaphysical to lyrical.Deep moral and spiritual commitment is evident in Asan's poetry. His works are eloquent testimony of poetic concentration and dramatic contextualization.
Birth and Family
Asan was born in a merchant family belonging to the Ezhava community in April 1873 in Kayikkara village, Chirayinkeezhu taluk, north of Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, south India. Named Kumaru He was the second son in a family of nine children. His father, Narayanan Perungudi, was well versed in Malayalam and Tamil. Asan inherited his taste for Kathakali and classical music. Kumaru trained in mathematics and Sanskrit for which he had a passion. Even though through his father's efforts, he got a job as a primary school teacher and an accountant to a wholesaler at the age of 14, he quit the job two years later to pursue higher studies in Sanskrit. He undertook a studentship in poetry under Manamboor Govindan Asan. He wished to learn Yoga and Tantra and worked as an apprentice in a Muruga temple at Vakkom. It is said that the Muse of Poetry blessed him during this time. He composed a few devotional songs for the benefit of regular worshippers at this temple. In 1917 Asan married Bhanumathi Amma of Tharkauduyil family to which belonged Rao Bahadur Belayudhan and Dr.P.Palpu, prominent members of the community. Kumaran Asan had two sons.
Kumaran Asan and Sree Narayana Guru
Kumaran Asan (standing left) with Sree Narayana Guru (seated middle).Kumaran was dogged by ill-health all through his early life. When he was eighteen, Sree Narayana Guru visited his house at the request of his father. Kumaran was bedridden at that time. The great saint suggested that Kumaran should stay with him and become his disciple. The little boy found the invitation irresistible. Thus began a new phase of life for the young lad.
Kumaran’s meeting with Sree Narayana Guru can be compared to the meeting of Naren with Sri Ramakrishna. While Naren became a full fledged Swami, Kumaran continued as a lay disciple of Narayana Guru and made substantial contributions in the fields of poetry, literature and social renaissance.
Swamy took the fledgling devotee under his care and in 1895 Kumaran was sent to Bangalore for 3 years for higher studies in Sanskrit, at the Sree Chamarajendra Sanskrit College. He specialized in Tarka sastra. He could not take the final exam. Leaving Bangalore he came to Madras and after a brief stay, left for Calcutta to join the Sanskrit College. His teacher was Mahamahopadhyaya Kamakhya Nath who encouraged the poetic gift of his student and prophesised that he would one day become a famous poet.
Earlier works
Commemorative stamp issued on Kumaran Asan's birth centenarySome of the earlier works of the poet were Subramanya Sathakam and Sankara Sathakam, wherein Asan voiced his devotional aspirations. His short poem Veena Poovu(fallen flower) is a literary classic. It paved the way for a new movement in Malayalam literature. His elegy Prarodanam mourns the death of his contemporary and friend A. R. Rajaraja Varma, the famous Grammarian. His Khanda Kavyas ( poems) like Nalini, Leela, Karuna and Chandaalabhikshuki, won critical acclaim as well as popularity. In Chintaavishtayaaya Seetha (Seetha Lost in Thought) he displays his poetic artistry, while in Duravastha, he patiently and skillfully tears down the barriers created by feudalism, orthodoxy and casteism and consummates the dictum of the Guru, “One Caste, One Religion, One God for man”.
He wrote the epic poem Buddha Charitha for which he got inspiration from Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia. While in Duravastha, he revealed his revolutionary zeal for fighting caste distinctions; a few other poetic works had a distinct Hindu/Buddhist slant.
He also wrote "The Meditations of Seeta"
The Mahakavi lived for fifty years. His life was tragically cut short by a boat accident in January 1924 while travelling from Kollam to Alappuzha to attend a function as the chief guest. The boat capsized at Pallana. But the trail he blazed in the literary and social firmament of Kerala is an inspiration for any student of contemporary history.
Works
Sthothrakrithikal (1901)
This is a collection of poems. The poems published in this volume are longer than those published in Manimaala.
Saundaryalahari (1901)
Veenapoovu (1907)
It describes a fallen flower. Asan describes in such detail about its probable past and the position it held. It is an intense sarcasm on people on high powers/positions finally losing all those. The first word Ha, and the last word Kashtam of the entire poem is often considered as a symbolism of him calling the world outside "Ha! kashtam". This poem is somehow similar to the poem called "Dead Rose" written by Elizabeth Barret Browning who lived in the early 18th century.[citation needed]
According to Dr.Adoor Surendran,Veenappovu is only an improved version of "Presoona Charamam",a poem by Kuzhithura C.M.Ayyappan Pillai, published in 15th Karkkidakaom issu of Kana Kaumudi .Dr.Adoor got his PhD from Kerala university for his reserch in 1988.Dr.Adoor is available at 91 -9446066378
Oru Simhaprasavam (1909)
Nalini (Subtitle: Allengkil Oru Sneham) (1911)
Leela (1914)
A deep love story in which Leela leaves madanan, her lover and returns to find him in forest in a pathetic condition. She thus realizes the fundamental fact 'Mamsanibhadamalla ragam' (Love is not an artifact of flesh)
Sribuddhacharitham (1915)
This is an epic poem (perhaps Kumaran Asan's longest work), written in couplets and divided into five parts.
Baalaraamaayanam (1916)
This is a shorter epic poem consisting of 267 verses. Most of these verses are couplets, with the exception of the last three quatrains. There are, therefore, 540 lines in all.
Graamavrikshattile Kuyil (1918)
Prarodanam (1919)
Chintaavishtayaaya Sita (1919)
Pushpavaadi (1922)
Duravasthha (1922)
Chandaalabhikshuki (1922)
This poem, divided into four parts and consisting of couplets, describes an untouchable beggar-woman" (also the name of the poem) who approaches Lord Ananda near Sravasti.
Karuna (1923)
Manimaala (1924)
This is a collection of short poems.
Vanamaala (1925)
This is a larger collection of poems of varying length.
Kumaran Asan also wrote many other poems. Some of these poems are listed in the book Asante Padyakrthikal under the name "Mattu Krthikal" (Other Works):
Sadaachaarasathakam
Sariyaaya Parishkaranam
Bhaashaaposhinisabhayodu
Saamaanyadharmangal
Subrahmanyapanchakam
Mrthyanjayam
Pravaasakaalaththu Naattile Ormakal
This is another collection of poems that come from various letters Kumaran Asan wrote over the course of several years. None of the poems were longer than thirty-two lines.
Koottu Kavitha
The other poems are lesser known. Only a few of them have names:
Kavikalkkupadesam
Mangalam
Oru Kathth
This is another one of Asan's letter-poems.
Randu Aasamsaapadyangal
This is a set of two poems.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Ullor
19th century with Asan, who was temperamentally a pessimist—a disposition reinforced by his metaphysics—yet all his life was active in promoting his downtrodden Ezhava community. Ullor wrote in the classical tradition, on the basis of which he appealed for universal love, while Vallathol (died 1958) responded to the human significance of social progress.
Ezhuthachan
Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan was born in the 16th century. The birth place of Ezhuthachan is now known as Thunjan Prambu sources state that he was born into a Chakkala Nair (low subcast among Nairs) family, held low among Savarna hindu caste system of Kerala among the Nair. Some apocryphal legends have that Ezhuthachan's father was a Namboothiri . A few sources claim that he was of the Ezhuthachan (sometimes called Kadupattan) caste. Dr A.C. Burnell, a noted indologist, had categorically stated that Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan belongs to Ezhuthachan Caste only. He had stated this when he edited an article written by another important scholar F W Ellis when he published that article in "Indian Antiquery " in 1878 after the death of linguist F W Ellis. In that path breaking article F.W. Ellis articulated the evolution of Malayalam ("Malayanma") and other south indian languages.
WORKS
WORKS
- Ganapatistavam
- Devi Mahatmayam
- Kerala Natakam
Kunjan Nambiar (1705-1770)
Kunchan Nambiar had spent his early childhood at Killikkurussimangalam in KERALA state,India. his boyhood at Kudamaloor and his youth at . Scholars like Guru Mani Madava Chakyar the opinion that he and the Sanskrit Rama Pānivāda are the same. ( Pānivāda means Nambiar in Sanskrit ). In 1748 he moved to Trivandrum, first to the court of Martanda Varma later to the court of Varma. He had already written several of his works before leaving Ambalapuzha.
WORKS
WORKS
— In one of his poem "kaalanillatha kaalam"(roughly translated as Time without any death, Nambiar wonders how life would be if there were no death. He sees homes crowded with ever-shrinking aged ancestors.
— "Thottodiya Pada" is a poem that describes in witty detail how an army retreats from a losing battle.
Kumaran Asan
N. Kumaran Asan (1873-1924) also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, (the prefix Mahakavi awarded by Madras University in the year 1922 means "great poet" and the suffix Asan meaning scholar or teacher) was one of the Trimurthi of Kerala. He was also a philosopher and a social reformer. More than that he was one of honoured disciple of Sree Narayana Guru.
Kumaran Asan initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry in the first quarter of the 20th century, transforming it from the metaphysical to the lyrical. Deep moral and spiritual commitment is evident in Asan's poetry. His works are an eloquent testimony of poetic concentration and dramatic contextualization.
Asan was born in a merchant family belonging to the Ezhava community in April 1873 in Kayikkara village, Chirayinkeezhu taluk, north of Trivandrum district of Kerala,India. Named Kumaru He was the second son in a family of nine children. His father, Narayanan was well versed in Malayalam and Tamil. Asan inherited his taste for Kathakali and Classical Music.
Works
- Sthothrakrithikal (1901)
- This is a collection of poems. The poems published in this volume are longer than those published in Manimaala.
- Saundaryalahari (1901)
- Veenapoovu (1907)
According to Dr.Adoor Surendran,Veenappovu is only an improved version of "Presoona Charamam",a poem by Kuzhithura C.M.Ayyappan Pillai, published in 15th Karkkidakaom issu of Kana Kaumudi .Dr.Adoor got his PhD from Kerala university for his research in 1988.
- Oru Simhaprasavam (1909)
- Nalini (Subtitle: Allengkil Oru Sneham) (1911)
- Leela (1914)
- A deep love story in which Leela leaves madanan, her lover and returns to find him in forest in a pathetic condition. She thus realizes the fundamental fact 'Mamsanibhadamalla ragam' (Love is not an artifact of flesh)
- Sribuddhacharitham (1915)
- Baalaraamaayanam (1916)
- Graamavrikshattile Kuyil (1918)
- Prarodanam (1919)
- Chintaavishtayaaya Sita (1919)
- Pushpavaadi (1922)
- Duravasthha (1922)
- Chandaalabhikshuki (1922)
- This poem, divided into four parts and consisting of couplets, describes an untouchable beggar-woman" (also the name of the poem) who approaches Lord Ananda near Sravasti.
- Karuna (1923)
- Manimaala (1924)
- This is a collection of short poems.
- Vanamaala (1925)
- This is a larger collection of poems of varying length.
Kumaran Asan also wrote many other poems. Some of these poems are listed in the book Asante Padyakrthikal under the name "Mattu Krthikal" (Other Works):
- Sadaachaarasathakam
- Sariyaaya Parishkaranam
- Bhaashaaposhinisabhayodu
- Saamaanyadharmangal
- Subrahmanyapanchakam
- Mrthyanjayam
- Pravaasakaalaththu Naattile Ormakal
- This is another collection of poems that come from various letters Kumaran Asan wrote over the course of several years. None of the poems were longer than thirty-two lines.
- Koottu Kavitha
The other poems are lesser known. Only a few of them have names:
- Kavikalkkupadesam
- Mangalam
- Oru Kathth
- This is another one of Asan's letter-poems.
- Randu Aasamsaapadyangal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
