N. Kumaran Asan, also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan, was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India. He was also a philosopher, a social reformer and a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru.
Born: August 12, 1873, Thiruvananthapuram
Died: January 16, 1924, Pallana
Education: Sanskrit College
Kumaran Asan was one of the makers of modern India. Born in a community condemned for centuries to untouchability, he fought against the inequities of a caste ridden society and passionately sang of individual dignity, social freedom and the brotherhood of man. Kumaran Asan was born on the 12th of April 1873 at Kayikkara, a small coastal village in Kerala. His boyhood was spent in learning Malayalam and Sanskrit, and after his contact with Sri Narayan Guru, the greatest Social Reformer of modern Kerala, he took to an intesive study of Hindu religious philosophy. This was followed by a strenous study of Hindu and Buddist philosophy and Sanskrit Literature, over a period of five years spent in Bangalore, Madras and Calcutta. It was at this time that he was also introduced to English language and literature with ehich he became closely acquainted. After his return to Kerala he plunged into the task of organising the S.N.D.P. Yogam for the allround uplift of the Eazhava community.
He married in his 45th year and settled down at Thonakkal. A boat accident on the 16th of January 1924, tok away his life at its prime. Asan's mature works include the ode, "The Fallen Flower", te elegy "The Lament", the monologue "The Meditations of Seeta", and the narrative poems "Nalini", "Leela", the "Tragic Plight", "The Outcaste Nun" and "Compassion". The Fallen Flower delineats, unde the symbolism of the flower, the vicissitudes of Human Life and the essential tragedy at the core of existence. "The Mediatation of Seeta" is an attemp to probe the whole gamut of the emotions of Seeta as she reviewed her past in the solitude occasioned by the departure of her sons to participate in Sri Rama's Ashwamegha Yaga.
Early works
Some of the earlier works of the poet were Subramanya Sathakam and Sankara Sathakam, wherein Asan voiced his devotional aspirations. His short poem Veena Poovu (fallen flower) is a literary classic. It paved the way for a new movement in Malayalam literature. His elegy Prarodanam mourns the death of his contemporary and friend A. R. Raja Raja Varma, the famous grammarian. His Khanda Kavyas (poems) like Nalini, Leela, Karuna and Chandaalabhikshuki won critical acclaim as well as popularity. In Chintaavishtayaaya Seetha (Seetha Lost in Thought or The Meditations of Sita) he displays his poetic artistry, while in Duravastha, he patiently and skilfully tears down the barriers created byfeudalism, orthodoxy and casteism and consummates the dictum of the Guru, "One Caste, One Religion, One God for man".
He wrote the epic poem Buddha Charitha for which he got inspiration from Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia. While in Duravastha, he revealed his revolutionary zeal for fighting castedistinctions; a few other poetic works had a distinct Hindu/Buddhist slant.
He died aged 51 as a result of a boat accident in January 1924 while travelling to Kollam from a function in Alappuzha. The boat capsized at Pallana and all on board drowned, except a priest. Kumaranasan was the only poet in Malayalam who became mahakavi without writing a mahakavyam.
The Kumaran Asan National Institute of Culture at Thonnakkal was founded in 1958 in his memory, and includes a small house which he had built on his land.
Born: August 12, 1873, Thiruvananthapuram
Died: January 16, 1924, Pallana
Education: Sanskrit College
Kumaran Asan was one of the makers of modern India. Born in a community condemned for centuries to untouchability, he fought against the inequities of a caste ridden society and passionately sang of individual dignity, social freedom and the brotherhood of man. Kumaran Asan was born on the 12th of April 1873 at Kayikkara, a small coastal village in Kerala. His boyhood was spent in learning Malayalam and Sanskrit, and after his contact with Sri Narayan Guru, the greatest Social Reformer of modern Kerala, he took to an intesive study of Hindu religious philosophy. This was followed by a strenous study of Hindu and Buddist philosophy and Sanskrit Literature, over a period of five years spent in Bangalore, Madras and Calcutta. It was at this time that he was also introduced to English language and literature with ehich he became closely acquainted. After his return to Kerala he plunged into the task of organising the S.N.D.P. Yogam for the allround uplift of the Eazhava community.
He married in his 45th year and settled down at Thonakkal. A boat accident on the 16th of January 1924, tok away his life at its prime. Asan's mature works include the ode, "The Fallen Flower", te elegy "The Lament", the monologue "The Meditations of Seeta", and the narrative poems "Nalini", "Leela", the "Tragic Plight", "The Outcaste Nun" and "Compassion". The Fallen Flower delineats, unde the symbolism of the flower, the vicissitudes of Human Life and the essential tragedy at the core of existence. "The Mediatation of Seeta" is an attemp to probe the whole gamut of the emotions of Seeta as she reviewed her past in the solitude occasioned by the departure of her sons to participate in Sri Rama's Ashwamegha Yaga.
While "Nalini" and "Leela" deal with the tragedy of young love, the "Outcaste Nun" and "Compassion" have Buddhist legends for there themes. Steeped in the ancient Hindu and Buddhist lore, he explored the essence of Idian thought, and came to his own vision of life, a vision which is essential tragic. Life is transient and darkened by man's cruelty to man; but life at its best is irradiated with love even under the shadow of sorrow and death; in fact love is the primal force that animates the whole universe. This vision he embodied in forms of rare freshness and power. In the face of the imitative stuff of the neo-classical poets, he asserted the primacy of individual imagination and in more ways than one symbolised the conciousness of modern Kerala.
Early works
Some of the earlier works of the poet were Subramanya Sathakam and Sankara Sathakam, wherein Asan voiced his devotional aspirations. His short poem Veena Poovu (fallen flower) is a literary classic. It paved the way for a new movement in Malayalam literature. His elegy Prarodanam mourns the death of his contemporary and friend A. R. Raja Raja Varma, the famous grammarian. His Khanda Kavyas (poems) like Nalini, Leela, Karuna and Chandaalabhikshuki won critical acclaim as well as popularity. In Chintaavishtayaaya Seetha (Seetha Lost in Thought or The Meditations of Sita) he displays his poetic artistry, while in Duravastha, he patiently and skilfully tears down the barriers created byfeudalism, orthodoxy and casteism and consummates the dictum of the Guru, "One Caste, One Religion, One God for man".
He wrote the epic poem Buddha Charitha for which he got inspiration from Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia. While in Duravastha, he revealed his revolutionary zeal for fighting castedistinctions; a few other poetic works had a distinct Hindu/Buddhist slant.
He died aged 51 as a result of a boat accident in January 1924 while travelling to Kollam from a function in Alappuzha. The boat capsized at Pallana and all on board drowned, except a priest. Kumaranasan was the only poet in Malayalam who became mahakavi without writing a mahakavyam.
The Kumaran Asan National Institute of Culture at Thonnakkal was founded in 1958 in his memory, and includes a small house which he had built on his land.
Works
Handwriting of Kumaran Asan : From the notebooks of Asan kept at Thonnakkal Asan museum
Sthothrakrithikal (1901)This is a collection of poems. The poems published in this volume are longer than those published in Manimaala.
Saundaryalahari (1901)
Veenapoovu''(1907)Asan scripted this epoch-making poem in 1907 during his sojourn in Jain Medu, Palakkad.[4] A highly philosophical poem, 'Veena Poovu' is an allegory of the transience of the mortal world, which is depicted through the description of the varied stages in the life of a flower. Asan describes in such detail about its probable past and the position it held. It is an intense sarcasm on people on high powers/positions finally losing all those. The first word Ha, and the last word Kashtam of the entire poem is often considered as a symbolism of him calling the world outside "Ha! kashtam".
Oru Simhaprasavam (1909)
Nalini (Subtitle: Allengkil Oru Sneham) (1911)
Leela (1914)A deep love story in which Leela leaves madanan, her lover and returns to find him in forest in a pathetic condition. She thus realises the fundamental fact 'Mamsanibhadamalla ragam' (Love is not an artefact of flesh)
Sribuddhacharitham (1915)This is an epic poem (perhaps Kumaran Asan's longest work), written in couplets and divided into five parts.
Baalaraamaayanam (1916)This is a shorter epic poem consisting of 267 verses. Most of these verses are couplets, with the exception of the last three quatrains. There are, therefore, 540 lines in all.
Graamavrikshattile Kuyil (1918)
Prarodanam (1919)
Chintaavishtayaaya Sita (1919)
Pushpavaadi (1922)
Duravasthha (1922)
Chandaalabhikshuki (1922)This poem, divided into four parts and consisting of couplets, describes an untouchable beggar-woman" (also the name of the poem) who approaches Lord Ananda nearSravasti.
Karuna (1923)
Manimaala (1924)This is a collection of short poems.
Vanamaala (1925)This is a larger collection of poems of varying length.
Kumaran Asan also wrote many other poems. Some of these poems are listed in the book Asante Padyakrthikal under the name "Mattu Krthikal" (Other Works):
Sadaachaarasathakam
Sariyaaya Parishkaranam
Bhaashaaposhinisabhayodu
Saamaanyadharmangal
Subrahmanyapanchakam
Mrthyanjayam
Pravaasakaalaththu Naattile OrmakalThis is another collection of poems that come from various letters Kumaran Asan wrote over the course of several years. None of the poems were longer than thirty-two lines.
Koottu Kavitha
The other poems are lesser known. Only a few of them have names:
Kavikalkkupadesam
Mangalam
Oru KaththThis is another one of Asan's letter-poems.
Randu Aasamsaapadyangal
Handwriting of Kumaran Asan : From the notebooks of Asan kept at Thonnakkal Asan museum
Sthothrakrithikal (1901)This is a collection of poems. The poems published in this volume are longer than those published in Manimaala.
Saundaryalahari (1901)
Veenapoovu''(1907)Asan scripted this epoch-making poem in 1907 during his sojourn in Jain Medu, Palakkad.[4] A highly philosophical poem, 'Veena Poovu' is an allegory of the transience of the mortal world, which is depicted through the description of the varied stages in the life of a flower. Asan describes in such detail about its probable past and the position it held. It is an intense sarcasm on people on high powers/positions finally losing all those. The first word Ha, and the last word Kashtam of the entire poem is often considered as a symbolism of him calling the world outside "Ha! kashtam".
Oru Simhaprasavam (1909)
Nalini (Subtitle: Allengkil Oru Sneham) (1911)
Leela (1914)A deep love story in which Leela leaves madanan, her lover and returns to find him in forest in a pathetic condition. She thus realises the fundamental fact 'Mamsanibhadamalla ragam' (Love is not an artefact of flesh)
Sribuddhacharitham (1915)This is an epic poem (perhaps Kumaran Asan's longest work), written in couplets and divided into five parts.
Baalaraamaayanam (1916)This is a shorter epic poem consisting of 267 verses. Most of these verses are couplets, with the exception of the last three quatrains. There are, therefore, 540 lines in all.
Graamavrikshattile Kuyil (1918)
Prarodanam (1919)
Chintaavishtayaaya Sita (1919)
Pushpavaadi (1922)
Duravasthha (1922)
Chandaalabhikshuki (1922)This poem, divided into four parts and consisting of couplets, describes an untouchable beggar-woman" (also the name of the poem) who approaches Lord Ananda nearSravasti.
Karuna (1923)
Manimaala (1924)This is a collection of short poems.
Vanamaala (1925)This is a larger collection of poems of varying length.
Kumaran Asan also wrote many other poems. Some of these poems are listed in the book Asante Padyakrthikal under the name "Mattu Krthikal" (Other Works):
Sadaachaarasathakam
Sariyaaya Parishkaranam
Bhaashaaposhinisabhayodu
Saamaanyadharmangal
Subrahmanyapanchakam
Mrthyanjayam
Pravaasakaalaththu Naattile OrmakalThis is another collection of poems that come from various letters Kumaran Asan wrote over the course of several years. None of the poems were longer than thirty-two lines.
Koottu Kavitha
The other poems are lesser known. Only a few of them have names:
Kavikalkkupadesam
Mangalam
Oru KaththThis is another one of Asan's letter-poems.
Randu Aasamsaapadyangal
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