PALAKKAD: Celebrated Malayalam poet and Jnanpith award winner Mahakavi Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri passed away in Thrissur on Thursday. Akkitham, 94, breathed his last at a private hospital around 8am. Beset with age-related issues for some time, he was admitted to the intensive care unit on Tuesday night after developing urinary, liver and lung infections. He was in a state of coma since. Akkitham, known as a philosopher-poet, believed in the ultimate power of love.
He advocated universal love towards everything that exists in nature, a sort of leitmotif that resonates throughout his poetic creations. The nonagenarian’s well-known works were recently translated into English by bilingual writer and poet P K N Panicker and published as ‘Selected Poems of Akkitham - From God’s Own Country’. He donned multiple roles of writer, journalist and editor. In 2008, he bagged the Ezhuthachan award and, in 2017, he was conferred with the Padma Shri. He authored 47 books -- poetry, plays, short stories, essays and translations.
The Jnanpith recognition came late for Akkitham. He was selected for the coveted honour last year, thus becoming the sixth Malayalam literary figure to win the award. Born on March 18, 1926, at Amettikara in Palakkad’s Kumaranelloor village to Akkitham Vasudevan Namboodiri and Chekoor Parvathy Antharjanam, he learnt Sanskrit, music and astrology in his childhood.
He was a student of the Government High School in Kumaranelloor and was two years senior to M T Vasudevan Nair, fellow litterateur, novelist and another Jnanpith winner from Kerala, at the same school. Though he joined the Zamorin’s College, Kozhikode, for the intermediate course, he could not complete it.
Poet who introaduced modernism
Akkitham introduced modernism into Malayalam poetry when he penned ‘Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam’ in 1952. The work had many admirers as well as a host of critics, who felt it was against Communism. Recently, while presenting him the Jnanpith Award at a virtual function, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan commented that Akkitham’s ‘Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam’ was not against Communism as propagated by political adversaries.
“It was a wrong perception. Why can’t Vylopilly’s book ‘Kudiyozhikkal’ and ‘Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam’ be extrapolated as one of constructive criticism by Left-leaning writers?” asked the CM. The book reflected how much Akkitham loathed the exploitative class, Pinarayi added. Akkitham was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. His first guru was Achutha Warrier.
Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri 18 mar 1926 l 15 oct 2020
Birth place: Kumaranelloor, Palakkad
Alma mater: Government High School in Kumaranelloor, Zamorin’s College, Kozhikode
Major works: Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam, Idinju Polinja Lokam, (poetry collections), Balidarshanam, Kuthirna Mannu, Dharmasooryan, Desha Sevika(plays)
honours: Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Padma Shri, Kendra Sahitya Akademi & Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards, Odakuzhal award, Asan award, Vallathol award, Vayalar award and Jnanpith