Vallathol Narayana Menon

Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878-1958), is one of the celebrated triumvirate of Malayalam literature; the others are Mahakavi Ulloor Parameswara Iyer and N.Kumaranaasan. Vallathol Narayana Menon is not only the most outstanding poet of Kerala but the preserver of the cultural tradition represented by the fine arts, notably Kathakali. He has been described as a ‘classicist, progressivist and nationalist, all rolled into one’. Vallathol had his heroes – Christ, Mohammad, Sri Krishna and Gandhi. In Gandhiji he found a combination of the qualities of all his heroes. His admiration for Gandhiji was reflected in his poem ‘Ente Gurunathan’ – My Master. Vallathol deeply sympathised with the poor, denounced untouchability and landlordism and pleaded for high standards of personal and public conduct. He is the best representative of the cultural renaissance in modern Kerala. He not only revived Kathakali but made it known to the whole world. He founded the Kerala Kalamandalam, a centre of training in Kerala arts.