Malayalam belongs to the Dravidian clan of languages. It is in close proximity to the rich Tamil and also has the indelible impression of Sanskrit.
- The pacha- Malayalam group of works .
- The Tamil ifluenced Malayalam group of works.
- The Sanskrit influenced Malayalam group of works.
The pacha-Malayalam body of works consists of compositions penned purely in Malayalam. It is very difficult to ascertain the date of composition of these works. Thottampattu, Sastrakali, Thiyattupattu, Bhadrakalipattu and several other religious rituals forms the predominant themes of the pacha-Malayalam. Songs sung during the various festivities like Krishipattu and Onapattu can also be traced to this body of work.
Tamil and Malayalam come together to form the next category of the early stages of Malayalam literature. The Tamil influence can be detected in the grammar. The Ramacharitam is the pioneering composition of this period.
Sanskrit imparted a stronger influence on Malayalam literature. The synthesis of these two languages gave birth to a whole new literature called the Manipravalam literature.
Manipravalam is coined from mani which means ruby in Malayalam and pravalam which means coral in Sanskrit. Lilathilakam is an important work of this period. It is a composition on grammar and traces the kinship between the pattu and pravalam. It also lays down the cardinal rules of writing Manipravalam poems, which found true connoisseurs in the elite Namboodiris. The performing art of Koothampalams bears the indelible stamp of Manipravalam.
Champus and Sandesha-kavyas also form important parts of the ancient Malayalam poetry. Unnunili Sandesam is the best known sandesha poem. Among the champus, Unniyaticharitam and Unnichirutevi Charitam are the cult compositions.
The Manipravalam period of Malayalam poetry is followed by the coming into being of the original Malayalam literature-one that is not an alloy of either Tamil and Malayalam or Sanskrit and Malayalam. Sankara Panikkar, Madhava Panikkar and Rama Panikkar are the founding fathers of the Niranam school of poetry. They hail from the village called Niranam in South Kerala and are Kannassa descendants. Their works bore the stamp of serious-mindedness. Madhava Panikkar was instrumental in translating The Bhagvad Gita into Malayalam and flagged off the first ever attempt to translate the sacred work into a contemporary regional language. The Bharatmala, a concentrated analysis of the events of Mahabharata is credited to Sankara Panikkar. Rama Panikkar is the author of Ramayanam, Bhagvatam, Bhartam and Sivarathri Mahatmyam.
Among the other famous ancient Malayalam poets, Cherusseri Namboothiri is the acclaimed bard of Krishna Gatha.
Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezuthachan is the luminary of the Malayalam language. Adhyathmaramayanam and Mahabharatam are two of his brilliant compositions. He also devised an alternative to the Vattezhuthu- the structure comprising thirty characters of the alphabet. He came up with a structure that contains fifty-one letters. This would facilitate the formation of a common alphabet structure. He laid down the foundation stone at Thunjan Parambu where he penned the Harinamakeerthanam. Kilipattu or the call of the parrot, a kind of metrical form is credited to Ezuthachan.
The Thullal and Attakatha are some of the other kinds of poetic traditions that can be traced back to the beginning era of Malayalam poetry. Kottayathu Thampuran is the leading light of the Attakatha genre. Bakavadham, Kalakeya vadham are among his prominent works. Erayimman Thampi and Unnayi Variyar are some of the other well-known poets practicing Attakatha.
The thullal is a form of poetry blended with histrionics, music and dance made famous by Kalakkaththu Kunjan Nambiyar(1705-1770). His poetry was comprised unadulterated Malayalam. Nambiyar’s art was graced by traces of Kolam thullal and Padayani and he consciously departed from the chakkiyar koothu. A thullal is a poetic narration of an event from that is read aloud before an assembled crowd. Parayan, Seethankan and Ottan are the different types of thullals that is largely dependent on the attire of the performing artist and the way he narrates his lines. The metrical composition is primarily that of Dravidian language and the bhav is essentially in the humorous vein. Nambiyar is credited with forty thullals- twenty one ottan, eleven seethankan and nine parayan. It is believed that he possessed a keen knowledge of music. Nambiyar is also the father of the Vaythari metres. His forte was satire on the vices of the society that he inhabited and as a result his compositions incurred the wrath of many. Syamantakam, Saugandhikam and Kalyana Saughandhikam are some of celebrated works.
Kumaran Asan(1873-1924) and K.C Kesava Pillai(1868-1914) are couple of the many poets of the ancient era.
Among the poets of the modern era, G. Sankara Kurup(1900-1978),is an eminent personality. He is the first ever recipient of the Jnanpith Award for his Odakkuzhal(the Flute,1950).Mahakavi G was also awarded the Soviet land Nehru Award in 1967 and the the Padma Bhushan in 1968. He is also credited with the translations of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat in 1932, Kalidasa’s Meghduta in 1944 and Tagore’s noble prize winning Gitanjali in 1959. He wrote several poems and essays. While Suryakanthi(The Sunflower,1933) and Nimisham(The Moment,1945) are some of his well-known poems, Gadhyopaharan(Honouring The Prose,1947) is a land mark essay.
Vayalar Ramavarma, O.N.V Kurup, Ayappan, Anvar Ali, Manoj Kurror, P Raman, S Joseph, S Jithesh are some of the well known modern and post modern Malayalam poets.
