Thirunalloor Karunakaran (8 October 1924 – 5 July 2006) was a renowned poet, scholar, teacher and leftist intellectual of Kerala, India
Early life
Thirunalloor (variously spelt in English as Thirunelloor, Thirunellur and Thirunallur) Karunakaran – ‘Thirunalloor’, his family name, and ‘Karunakaran’, his given name – was born in the village of Perinad in Kollam (Quilon) district in Kerala to P.K.Padmanabhan and N.Lakshmy. He started learning Sanskrit in the traditional way before joining primary school and was associated with the working class political movement early in his life.He published his first book-the Malayalam translation of a poem by Oliver Goldsmith- while in school. During student days he wrote several poems, lyrics and articles in periodicals and made his mark during the Pink Decade in Malayalam poetry.By the time of his joining college his close contacts with Communist leaders like R.Sugathan and M. N. Govindan Nair had made him a staunch sympathiser of the Communist party.
Career
After taking his BA degree in History from S N College, Kollam, he worked as a tutor there for a brief stint. Soon he joined University college Trivandrum for post graduate studies in Malayalam where he did some advanced study of Kerala history under Prof. Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, famous historian and scholar who was a major influence in his intellectual life. After taking his MA in Malayalam he joined the government service as college lecturer and taught at Government Arts College and University College. He served as a member of the Kerala Public Service Commission for 6 years. Later he worked as the editor of Janayugam, a weekly cultural magazine of the Communist Party of India. In 1973 he visited the Soviet Union as a member of the delegation of Indian writers who participated in the Afro-Asian Writers Conference held in Kazakhstan
Awards conferred on him include Asan Award (1984), Vayalar Award (1988), Muloor Award (1992), Abudabi Shakthi Award, Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for lifetime contribution (2000) etc
Publications
Poetry
- Samagamam (Long poem)
- Manjuthullikal (Collection of poems)
- Premam Madhuramanu Dheeravumanu (Long narrative poem)
- Soundaryathinte padayalkal (Collection of poems)
- Rani (Long narrative poem)
- Rathri (Long narrative poem)
- Anthi Mayangumbol (Collection of lyrics)
- Tashkent (Long narrative poem)
- Thirunalloor Karunakarante Kavithakal (Collection of poems)
- Vayalar (Long narrative poem)
- Greeshma sandhyakal (Collection of poems)
- Puthumazha (Collection of poems for children)
- Meghasandesam (Translation of Meghaduta by Kalidasa )
- Omarghayyaminte Gadhakal (Translation of Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam )
- Gypsikal (Translation of Gypsiesby Alexander Pushkin)
- AbhijnanaShakunthalam(Translation of Abhijnanasakuntalam by Kalidasa )
Prose
- Malayalabhashaparinamam Sidhanthangalum Vasthuthakalum (A study on the origin and evolution of Malayalam language )
- Oru Mahayudhathinte Paryavasanam ( The Mahabharata retold through an independent angle)
- Praacheena Bharathathile Bhouthikavaadam (Translation of In Defence of Materialism in Ancient India by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya)
- Anusmaranangal (Collection of articles)
Content Credits: Wikipedia
