Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar

Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861 – 14 November 1914) was a Malayali journalist, essay writer, critic and short story writer.

Early life

Kunhiraman Nayanar was a member of the Vengayil Nayanar clan, who were a significant landlord family of Malabar at the time, owning more than 200,000 acres (810 km²) including vast forest lands, more than the Chirakkal Raja who only owned approximately 30,000 acres (120 km²).^[1]

Literature

Nayanar came to the literary world through Kerala Pathrika (started in 1884 by C. Kunhiraman Menon (1854–1936) and Appu Nedungadi (1866–1934) at Kozhikode). He was also closely associated with periodicals like Kerala Chandrika (started in 1879 at Thiruvananthapuram), Kerala Sanchari (after 1898 under the editorship of Murkoth Kumaran) and the English Journal Malabar Spectator. He wrote the first Malayalam short story, Vasanavikriti. Under the pen names "Kesari", "Vajrasoochi","Vajrabahu", Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar's works obtained wide appreciation from all over South India. Kesari was a sharp critic of social reality, criticising social inequalities. He was also a close friend of Dr. Hermann Gundert and William Logan who did a lot of research on the history, language, culture of Kerala.

Vengayil family

Vengayil Nayanar's grandson was K. P. Candeth, a Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and first Governor of Goa. His son was A. C. N. Nambiar, an Indian Nationalist and involved with the Indian Legion during the Second World War.

See also

• "Kesari" A. Balakrishna Pillai was a critic who was also known by the pseudonym "Kesari".
• Madayi Kavu
• Malayalam

References

External links

• Payyanur.com, "History"
• KSD.kerala.gov.in, "History of Kasaragod"
• PRD.kerala.gov.in, "The Essay"
• PRD.kerala.gov.in, "History of Press in India"
• Rediff.com, "Nayanars of Kerala"