C. V. Kunhiraman (6 February 1871 – 10 April 1949) was an Indian social reformer, journalist and the founder of ''
Kerala Kaumudi'' daily. A follower of
Sree Narayana Guru, Kunhiraman was the author of a number of books covering the genres of novels, short story, poetry, biographies and essays. He was one of the leaders involved in the
Vaikom Satyagraha of
Reformation movement in Kerala which led to the
Temple Entry Proclamation
The Temple Entry Proclamation was issued by Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma on November 12, 1936. The Proclamation abolished the ban on the backward and marginalised communities, from entering Hindu temples in the Princely State of ...
.
Biography
Kunhiraman was born on February 6, 1871, at
Mayyanad in
Kollam district
Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 List of districts in Kerala, districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major La ...
of the south Indian state of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...
to Vasudevan of Njarakkal house, an astrologer and magician, and Kunjichali of Kallumpurathu house.
After early education at Mayyanad L. M. S. School, he joined the Government High School, Kollam but had to discontinue studies after 8th standard and started his career at the Forest department in 1893 as a clerk during which time he resumed his studies to pass the teachers' examination to become a teacher in 1894 at Vellamanal School, Mayyanad.
He taught at a number of schools at Kollam,
Kadakkavoor
Kadakkavoor is a developing special grade town consisting central government postal office, railway station, sub-treasury, police station, electricity board, telecom office and banks in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, India.
This ...
, Kayikkara and
Paravur before returning to Vellamanal school by which time he had passed the lawyers' examination and resigned from the school in 1913 to take up the career of a lawyer by practising at the Magistrate Court at Paravur. In between, he founded ''
Kerala Kaumudi'' daily in 1911 and later, he shifted his base to Kollam, after quitting his career as a lawyer, resuscitated ''Kerala Kaumudi'' daily in 1920 with the assistance of his son,
K. Sukumaran.
His early journalistic articles were published in ''Sujananadini'', run by
Paravoor Kesavan Asan, where he became a sub-editor in due course and wrote poems and articles, mostly on social affairs.
Kunhiraman was married to Kunjikkavu
and the couple had two sons,
K. Sukumaran and K. Damodaran and a daughter, Vasanthi, who was married to
C. Kesavan, former chief minister of
Travancore-Cochin.
He died on April 10, 1949, at the age of 78.
Legacy
''Kerala Kaumudi''
To launch a newspaper of his own was his all time-dream. In 1911, Kunhiraman launched ''
Kerala Kaumudi'' as a weekly newspaper. He was the proprietor, editor, printer, publisher and even the proofreader. Started in 1911, in Mayyanad, it had grown over the years as one of the most influential dailies in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
with 9 editions from
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...
,
Kollam
Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...
,
Alappuzha
Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...
,
Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...
,
Kottayam
Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...
,
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
,
Thrissur
Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...
,
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature.
It is the nineteenth large ...
and
Kannur
Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and Municipal corporation (India), municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the maj ...
.
Other journalistic contributions
Kunhiraman was also the editor of ''
Malayalarajyam, Navajeevan, Kathamalika,
Yukthivadi, Navasakthi'' and ''
Vivekodayam''. He had the rare distinction in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
journalism being the founder of ''
Kerala Kaumudi'' and founder editor of ''
Malayalarajyam''. He had been on the editorial board of ''
Malayalarajyam, Navajeevan, Navasakthi,
Malayala Manorama
'' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...
,
Bhashaposhini, Kathamalika, Vivekodayam'' and ''Yukthivadi''.
Literary contributions
Kunhiraman's oeuvre comprises 14 books, covering the genres of novel, short story, poetry, biography and other works including the condensed versions of ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
'' and ''
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
'',
of which ''Valmiki Ramayanam'', a prose rendering of the epic, was his first work to come out in print, in 1901, followed by ''Vyasabharatam'', ''Panchavadi'' and other works. This include four novels, a short story anthropology, a book of poetry and his reminiscences of
Kumaran Asan
Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (12 April 1871 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam poetry during the first quarter of the 20th century, ...
.
Social activities
Kunhiraman was a close associate of
Narayana Guru
Sree Narayana Guru () (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, Spiritual Leader, spiritual leader and Social Reformer, social reformer in India. He led a Kerala reformation movement, reform movement against the injustice in t ...
and an active participant in the intellectual and social activities of
Sivagiri Mutt.
He was one of the leaders of the
Vaikom Satyagraha, a social protest against
untouchability
Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...
, centred around the
Shiva temple at Vaikom during 1924–25.
He continued to be a part of the agitation which resulted in the
Temple Entry Proclamation
The Temple Entry Proclamation was issued by Maharaja Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma on November 12, 1936. The Proclamation abolished the ban on the backward and marginalised communities, from entering Hindu temples in the Princely State of ...
of 1936.
He was a part of the
Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam
The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (S.N.D.P) is a social service organization that has been representing the Ezhava community from the Indian state of Kerala since 1903.
The S.N.D.P Yogam was founded by Dr. Padmanabhan Palpu and o ...
and served as its general secretary during 1928–29 and 1931–32.
He started a school for low caste Hindus at Vellamanal, Mayyanad, Quilon and became its headmaster.
He was also a member of the
Sree Moolam Popular Assembly.
Honours
C. V. Kunhiraman Foundation, an eponymous organisation which had
O. N. V. Kurup
Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received ...
as the founder chairman,
has instituted an annual award, C. V. Kunhiraman Literary Award,
to recognise excellence in
Malayalam literature
Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puduchery, is one of the six classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary text ...
,
and
M. Sukumaran, the writer,
and
Sugathakumari, the noted poet, feature among the recipients of the award which carries a purse of 10,001, a citation and a statuette designed by noted artist B. D. Dathan.
Bibliography
* ''Oru Noottandinu Munpu'' (short stories)
* ''Shree karthikodayam'' (poetry)
* ''Panchavadi'' (novel)
* ''Ragaparinamam'' (novel)
* ''Sreekovil'' (novel)
* ''Somanathan'' (novel)
* ''Njan'' (memoirs)
* ''Asan Smaranakal'' (biography)
* ''Valmiki Ramayanam'' (condensed prose)
* ''Vysabharatham'' (condensed prose)
* ''Sree Narayana'' Smruthi (reminiscences)
* ''Thiruvithamkoor Ezhava Rashtriya Mahasabha Adhyaksha Prasangam'' (speech)
* ''Unniyarcha, Oru Pdanam'' (essay)
* ''Chekavar'' (essay)
* ''Radharani (Novel)
See also
*
List of Malayalam-language authors by category
*
List of Malayalam-language authors
List of Malayalam-language authors lists writers in Malayalam. References for the information appear on the linked Wikipedia pages. The list is incomplete – please help to expand it by adding writers who have written extensively in any genre o ...
*
Ayyathan Gopalan
Other social reformers of Kerala
*
Sree Narayana Guru
*
Dr. Palpu
*
Kumaranasan
*
Rao Sahib Dr. Ayyathan Gopalan
*
Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi
Karatt Govinda Menon (26 August 1852 – 10 September 1929), better known as Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi, was an Indian ''Sannyasa, sanyasi'' from present-day Kerala who founded the Ananda Maha Sabha in 1918. He proposed Anandadarsam or Ana ...
*
Vaghbhatananda
*
Mithavaadi Krishnan
Changaramkumarath Krishnan Vakkeel was a community leader, banker, social reformer, and journalist from Kerala, India. He was a champion of implementing the revolutionary socialist reforms proposed by Sree Narayana Guru for the upliftment of th ...
*
Moorkoth Kumaran
Moorkoth Kumaran (1874–1941) was a social reformer, a teacher and a writer in Malayalam. He came from a Thiyya family of Telicherry. He was a disciple of Narayana Guru and wrote the first biography of Guru. He also published some of the earli ...
*
Ayyankali
Mahatma Ayyankali (മഹാത്മ അയ്യൻകാളി; 28 August 1863 – 18 June 1941) was an Indian politician, prominent social reformer, educator, economist, lawmaker, and revolutionary leader. He worked for the advancement of ...
*
Ayya Vaikundar
Ayya Vaikundar, also known as Siva Narayana or Vaikunda Swami, was the founder of the Ayyavazhi faith. The Ayyavazhis believe him to be the first and foremost Purna avatar of Eka-Paran and the god Vishnu (Narayana). As per Ayyavazhi mytholo ...
*
Pandit Karuppan
Pandit Karuppan was a poet, dramatist, and social reformer who lived in Kerala, India.
Pandit Karuppan emerged from Ernakulam of Cochin State as a relentless crusader against untouchability and social evils. He was called the " Lincoln" ...
References
External links
C.V. Kunhuraman Foundation*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunhiraman, C. V.
Malayalam-language journalists
1871 births
1949 deaths
Writers from Kollam
Journalists from Kerala
Indian social reformers
19th-century Indian journalists
20th-century Indian journalists
20th-century Indian novelists
20th-century Indian essayists
20th-century Indian short story writers
20th-century Indian poets
Narayana Guru
Activists from Kerala
Politicians from Kollam district