Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan

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Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan Profile

  • Name:
  • Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan
  • Profession / Known For:
  • Poet

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan Biography

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan is the greatest of all Malayalam poets who is respected for the greatest works of Malayalam - Adhyathmaramayanam (a translation of the Ramayana) and Mahabharatham (a translation of the Mahabharata) and both were written in Kilipattu Style (as narrated by bird). Ezhuthachan is regarded as the ‘Father of Malayalam Language’ and no doubt, his two translations of epics are the Holy Books of Kerala Hindus. – Adhyathmaramayanam written by him is recited in Hindu homes and temples during the holy month – Karkidakom. According to the researches done by historian Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, this greatest poet of Malayalam lived in 16th century in the period 1495-1575 AD.

 

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan is known in different names – Ezhuthachan (his caste name), Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan and Thunchathu Ezhuthachan. He was born in Trikkantiyur, in the town of Tirur, in Vettathunadu. Before his writings, Malayalam literature didn’t own any distinct style and its works have borrowed words from other languages also. He borrowed from Sanskrit language, its rich lexicography and used Tamil in writing style. He used vattezhuthu to write the script - that was used to write both Malayalam and Tamil that time. However, Ezhuthachan wrote his Malayalam poems in Arya-ezhuttu (Malayalam script), a Grantha-based script originally used to write Sanskrit. He did so to easily translate Veda Vyasa’s epics in Sanskrit to Malayalam easily.  Later his written Malayalam became popularized and thus he was given the name of ‘Father of Malayalam’. Every year thousands of kids do ‘Vidyarambham’ (the first writings) during the Vijayadasami festival at Thunchanparamb, his native place.

 

His chief original works are said to – Keralolpathi, Hari Nama Keerthanam, Ganapatistavam, Kilippatu Prasthanam, Devi Mahathmayam, Kerala Natakam and Harihara Sudham. As direct translation of holy books – Ramayana and Mahabharata were considered as bad omens, he used another style of narrating the epics. The whole epics were narrated by bird, thus indirectly telling the stories of Rama and Krishna. It gave rise to another branch of poems, ‘Kilipaatt (song of bird) Prasthanam’ and Ezhuthachan is regarded as founder too.

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Updated: October 17, 2013

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