A. R. Raja Raja Varma or A R. Rajaraja Varma ( ml, എ.ആർ. രാജരാജവർമ്മ) (1863–1918) was an Indian poet, grammatician and Professor of Oriental Languages at Maharaja's College (present University College), Trivandrum.

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,

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 ...

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

Work

Varma wrote widely in Sanskrit and Malayalam. He is known as Kerala Panini for his contributions to Malayalam Literature. Varma was the moving spirit behind the great literary renaissance in Kerala 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 Sahitya literally means literature in Sanskrit. It is also used to refer to the lyrics of a Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South ...

'', 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