Renowned Malayalam poet, priest and academician Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri died on Thursday. He was 81 years old. Though information on the cause of death has not been made available, Namboothiri was under treatment for neurology-related issues at the Sree Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram. He was bed-ridden at his residence at Thycaud in Thiruvanathapuram city, where he breathed his last. Namboothiri was born in 1939 at Iringolil, in Pathanamthitta’s Thiruvalla.
A winner of prestigious literary awards like the Ezhuthachan Award, the highest literary award instituted by the Kerala government and the Vayalar Award (instituted in the name of the late poet and lyricist Vayalar Rama Varma), the poet was an eminent presence in the world of Malayalam literature for decades. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2014. He also won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Kendra Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, Vallathol Award, Odakkuzhal Award and the Mathrubhumi Literary Award, among others.
He was also a noted scholar of language and the Vedas, as well as an orator.
Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri was known for his modesty. He worked as a professor of English in various government colleges in Kozhikode, Kollam, Pattami, Ernakulam, Thrippunithura and Kannur. He retired from the University College in Thiruvananthapuram.
He also worked in the Kerala Language Institute, Kerala Sahitya Samithi, Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi, Kerala Kalamandalam and Kerala Sahitya Akademi. In the 1990s, he presented a paper on the Vedas in London, while he was working as a priest in the Sree Vallabha temple in Thiruvalla.
Some of Namboothiri’s most celebrated works include Ujjayiniyile Rappakalukal, Pithrayanam, Swaathanthryathe-Kurichu Oru Geetham, Aparajitha, Bhoomi Geethangal, India Enna Vikaram, Mukham Evide, Athirthiyilekkoru Yathra and Karl Marxinte Kuteeram.
The poet is survived by his wife Savithri Antharjanam and their two daughters.