A. R. Raja Raja Varma or A R. Rajaraja Varma ( ml, എ.ആർ. രാജരാജവർമ്മ) (1863–1918) was an Indian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, grammatician and Professor of Oriental Languages at Maharaja's College (present

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Early life

A. R. Raja Raja Varma was part of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

of erstwhile

Parappanad Parappanad was a former feudal city-state in Malabar, India. The headquarters of Parappanad Royal family was at the town Parappanangadi in present-day Malappuram district. In 1425, the country divided into Northern Parappanad (Beypore kingdom) and ...

Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . It is the most populous district of Kerala, which is home to around 13% of the to ...

. Rajaraja Varma Koyi Thampuran was born in February 1863 at the

Lakshmipuram Palace Lakshmipuram Palace ( ml, ലക്ഷ്മീപുരം കൊട്ടാരം) is the royal palace of the Parappanad royal families at Changanassery. Palace is located at Puzhavathu near to Kavil Bhagavathy Temple. The Lakshmipuram Pal ...

Changanacherry Changanassery or Changanacherry is a municipal town in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India. History The first recorded history on the origin of Changanacherry is obtained from Sangam period literature. According to Sangam era d ...

to mother Kunjikkavu Thampuratti and father Vasudevan Namboodiri from the Malayalam.

Work

Varma wrote widely in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. He is known as Kerala Panini for his contributions to

Malayalam Literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six Classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a Sou ...

. Varma was the moving spirit behind the great literary renaissance in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in the Golden Age of Malayalam literature. Says Ulloor of A.R. Rajaraja Varma, "While others embellished the walls of the mansion of Malayalam literature with their paintings and drawings, A.R. worked both on its foundation and dome and made it a long enduring and imposing structure for the benefit of the people of Kerala. His fame rests on this architectural accomplishment and is bound to last forever".

Major works

On grammar and rhetoric

His important works are ''

Kerala Panineeyam ''Keralapanineeyam'' (or ''Kerala Panineeyam'', ''Keralapaniniyam'') is a treatise on Malayalam grammar and rhetoric, written by A. R. Raja Raja Varma, grammarian, litterateur and one of the pioneers of Malayalam Language studies. The book was ...

'', '' Bhashabhooshanam'', '' Vritha Manjari'' and '' Sahitya Sahyam'', the last of which introduced English-style punctuation to Malayalam.

Poems

* ''Bhangavilaapam'' * ''Malayavilasam''

Translations

* ''Bhasha Megha Dootu'' * ''Bhasha Kumara Sambhavam'' * ''Malayala Sakuntalam'' * ''Malavikagnimitram'' * ''Charudattam''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varma, A. R. 19th-century Indian poets Indian Sanskrit scholars 1863 births 1918 deaths Scholars from Thiruvananthapuram Translators of Kalidasa University College Thiruvananthapuram faculty Malayalam-language writers Indian male poets Poets from Kerala 19th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian linguists 19th-century Indian linguists