Sooranad P. N. Kunjan Pillai

Sooranad P. N. Kunjan Pillai was a researcher, scholar, poet, lexicographer, essayist, orator, literary critic, grammarian, and educationist. He was born on 24th June 1911 in Sooranad, Kingdom of Travancore, in British India, to Neelakanta Pillai and Karthiyani Pillai Amma. He held post-graduate degrees in English, Malayalam, and Sanskrit. He also held a D.Litt. PNK was married to Bhagavathi Amma and had 4 children: 3 daughters and a son, Dr K Rajasekharan Nair, an eminent neurologist.

Kunjan Pillai started his career as a teacher at St Joseph School in Trivandrum. He took English. He didn’t leave the job until he retired in 1971. Besides his knowledge of Malayalam, English, and Sanskrit, he also has knowledge of Tamil and Hindi. He wrote short stories and novels in Malayalam and Sanskrit. When he was in school, he collected poems and published them as a book, Smashanadeepam. His contemporaries wanted his forewords for their works, and he wrote more than 1000 forewords for their books. He initiated the work of having a Malayalam dictionary with a team of people, which was completed after his period. He translated from Sanskrit to Malayalam, Kathasaritsagara, a compilation of legends and folk tales.

Cochin’s Raja honoured him with the title Sahithya Nipunan. In 1976, Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him. In 1984, the Government of India honoured him with one of the highest civilian awards, Padma Shri. In 1992, Kunchan Pillai received the Vallathol Award. In 1993, the Kerala Government honoured him with Ezhuthachan Puraskaram.

Some of his novels are Amba Devi, Kalyana Sowdam, and Pushpanjali. Some of his poems are Vathil Thurappathukal, Kuchelavrutham, Unniyatee Charitam, Sabhapravesampan, and Leelathilakam.

On 8th March 1995, he died in Trivandrum at 83.