Mahakavi Puthencavu Mathan Tharakan (born 1903) was a Malayalam poet.

Birth and family

He was born on 5 September 1903 at

Puthencavu Puthencavu is a village in Alappuzha District of Kerala, India, located 2 km east of Chengannur along the southern bank of the river Pamba. The village is around 2 km from Arattupuzha, and can be easily accessed from Chengannur an ...

, a village in present day

Alapuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in state of Kerala, India. The Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in India which attracts millions of domestic and internat ...

district of

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 ...

, South India, then in

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

to Kizhakkethalakal Eapen Mathai and Mariamma. He had 2 sons. His son K. M. Tharakan was a chairman of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, noted critic, writer and novelist. Surviving descendants of Puthencavu Mathan Tharakan, his great grand nephew C. John Mathai and family, currently reside in Alleppey.

Education and career

His early life was spent in Puthencavu. He was inspired by the work of his great-uncle

George Mathan Rev. George Mathan (25 September 1819 – 4 March 1870), a.k.a. Rev. George Matthan, Rev. George Mathen, Geevarghese Kathanar or Mallapallil Achen (Malayalam: ജോർജ്ജ് മാത്തൻ, was a Saint Thomas Anglican priest (Ka ...

to pursue a career in literature together with academic work. By his own efforts, he was able to pass the Malayalam Vidwan exam and also earned a Master of Arts Degree in Malayalam in 1952, he joined

Catholicate College A catholicosate or catholicate is a particular ecclesiastical primacy, headed by a primate titled as a catholicos. Such regional primacies exist within various branches of Eastern Christianity, especially those of Oriental Orthodox tradition. The ...

, Pathanamthitta as a lecturer. He went on to become the Head of the Department of

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 ...

and was the officiating Principal from 1957-1958. He was also a member of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi from 1960-1964. In 1972, he obtained permission from the government and made a successful attempt to revive "Bhajemathaam", the political newsweekly run by M. Mathunny from Cengannur in the twenties. As a young nationalist Mathan Tharakan was associated with the paper. A dedicated Congress man, he worked closely with Elanthoor Kumarji, the veteran Gandhian and Freedom Fighter, to promote Khadi and the nationalist ideology even after independence.

Works

Mathan Tharakan earned the title of Mahakavi for his magnum opus on the life of Christ - Viswadeepam written in 1965. As a lyricist, he penned the lyrics for 14 songs which were used in the second Malayalam movie ever made, Gnanambika in 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tharakan, Puthencavu Mathan 1903 births Malayalam poets Malayali people 1993 deaths 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets People from Alappuzha district Poets from Kerala 20th-century Indian male writers Tharakan titleholders