M. Subramanian Namboodiri (1 March 1929 – 1 February 2019), commonly known by his pen name Thuppettan, was a

Malayalam-language 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 ...

playwright from

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 ...

. Hailing from

Panjal Panjal ( IAST: ''pāññāḷ'') is a village near Chelakkara, Thrissur district in the state 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 R ...

, a village in Thrissur district of Kerala, Thuppettan had been a drawing teacher at a local school. His father Ittiravi Namboodiri was a

Vedic 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 ...

scholar who tried to reform the conservative practices of the

Namboodiri 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 e ...

community. Some of the most famous works of Thuppettan include ''Thanathu Lavanam'', ''Marumarunnu'', ''Vettakkarappayal'', ''Swaapaharanam Athava Ellarum Argentinayilekku'', ''Bhadrayanam'', ''Kalavastha'', ''Mohanasundarapaalam'', ''Double Act'' and ''Chakka''. He won the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award is given each year, since 1958, by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), to Malayalam writers for their outstanding books of literary merit. The awards are given in various categories.

in 2003 for ''Vannanthye Kaanam'', a collection of 10 short and hilarious plays."Akbar Kakkattil wins best novelist award"
''The Hindu''. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2013.

References

{{authority control 1929 births 2019 deaths People from Thrissur district Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala Malayalam-language writers Malayalam-language dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers