O M C Narayanan Nambudiripad, an eminent

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 ...

scholar was born to the famous

Nambudiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal el ...

family of Olappamanna Mana on 24 June 1910 in Vellinezhi (

Palakkad District Palakkad District () is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. It was carved out from the southeastern region of the former Malabar District on 1 January 1957. It is located at the centre of Kerala. It is the largest district i ...

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

). He is known for his translation into

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 ...

of the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

. This work titled ''Rigveda Bhasha Bhashyam'' is an exhaustive interpretative analysis of the Rigveda alternatively known as ''Deviprasadam''. After his death on 4 April 1989 aged 79, a trust was constituted in his memory. The Deviprasadam Trust (constituted in 1990) at Olappamanna Mana hands out awards annually to honour masters in Sanskrit,

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

, Malayalam literature and

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

. O M C Narayanan Nambudiripad, was known for his nationalist and

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

views. He was the son of O.M Vasudevan Nambudiripad (a well known administrator and writer of Kathakali plays) and the grandson of O.M Vasudevan Nambudiripad who was a scholar in both the Trissur and Tirunavaya Vedic Schools (Brahmaswam Madham). He was married to Uma Antharjanam, the daughter of another reputed Sanskrit scholar Kurur Unni Nambudiripad.

Sumangala Leela Nambudiripad (16 May 1934 – 27 April 2021), known by her pen name Sumangala, was an Indian author of children's literature in Malayalam. Some of her notable works included ''Neypaayasam, Mithayippoti,'' as well as translations of the '' P ...

, a popular author of children's books is his eldest daughter. OMC Narayanan Nambudiripad's father was the uncle of writer and reformer Moothiringode Bhavathrathan Namboothiripad.

References

Olappamanna Mana

* ''The Hindu'', 25 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nambudiripad, O. M. C. Narayanan 1910 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Indian linguists Indian Vedic scholars People from Palakkad district 20th-century Indian translators Scholars from Kerala

See also

References