THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Poet P Narayana Kurup received the Padma Shri award at his residence here on Saturday. “The honour is in recognition of my contributions to literature. I didn’t expect this. I consider this a special one and am thankful to the people who have come here for the function,” he said.
Chief Secretary V P Joy handed over the award at Kurup’s residence at Peroorkada. Joy said the poet had dedicated his life to Malayalam literature. “He penned several beautiful poems. During his stint in Delhi, he was actively involved in the cultural life of Malayalis and also the Kerala Club there. He loved the Malayalam language and made immense contributions to literature,” he said.
The poet could not attend the award function in Delhi due to his old age. The chief secretary interacted with the poet and his family, including wife Vijayam Kurup, daughter Vrinda Jayakumar and son Vivek Narayan. Kurup was born in Haripad in 1934. He has works in the genres of poetry, literary criticism and travelogues. He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award twice, the Odakkuzhal award and Ulloor Award.
Kurup had served as the editor and research officer in Central Information Service and Kerala Bhasha Institute. He was the vice-president of Sanskar Bharathi in Agra. ‘Agasthyamalyam’, ‘Hamsadhwani’ and ‘Apoornathayude Soundaryam’ are some of his noted anthology of poems. His works in literary criticism include ‘Kaviyum Kavithayum’, ‘Vrithapadanam’ and ‘Kaavyabeejam’.