R. Ramachandran Nair


Ramakrishna Pillai Ramachandran Nair is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, who served as collector of Kannur and Kollam districts, managing director of Travancore-Cochin Chemicals, secretary to various departments, and Chief Secretary of Kerala state. He was also the founding Vice Chancellor of Sri Sankaracharya University, Kalady. A prolific writer, he has also written many poems and essays in Sanskrit, Malayalam and English. His Sanskrit compositions, most of them being Carnatic kritis, praise more on the deities of Kerala temples, especially around Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam. Nair is credited with popularising many temples in Kerala.

Early life

Nair was born on Pathamudayam day, 23 April 1939, in Mangombil house in Kottayam, as the fifth of the nine children of Thumbunkal Ramakrishna Pillai, a mathematics teacher by profession, and Mangombil Bharathi Amma. His ancestors originally hailed from Thirunavaya in the present-day Malappuram district, and migrated to Travancore following Tipu Sultan's invasion. He has seven brothers and a sister, among which one died at a very young age. He spent his childhood in Poonjar in the eastern side of Kottayam district. He was a brilliant student in his school, and passed SSLC with distinction in 1955. From a very young age itself, he learnt Sanskrit from noted scholars. After his education, he served as a teacher at University college in Thiruvananthapuram for a short time. He joined IAS in 1961.

I. A. S. days

Controversies

Personal life

Nair is married to Lakshmi R. Nair, daughter of late V. R. Pillai. Their marriage happened in 1965, when Nair was 26 and Lakshmi was 19. The couple has 2 sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Prof. R. Hemant Kumar is the principal of Ettumanoorappan College, Ettumanoor, Kottayam district. The second son Dr R. Ajay Kumar is a Cardiologist by Profession. The third child and only daughter, Anjali R. Mohan is a school teacher by profession in Chennai.

As a writer

Popular Carnatic kritis written by him

Nair is well-known for Carnatic compositions, written under the pseudonym Thulaseevanam. His compositions usually feature the deities in Kerala temples, especially around Kottayam, his native place, and Thiruvananthapuram, where he finally settled. He is well-credited for popularising numerous temples in Kerala, like Pazhavangadi Ganapathi Temple, Sreekanteswaram Mahadeva Temple, Attukal Bhagavathi Temple, Kidangoor Subramanya Temple, Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple, etc. He also wrote songs on Chattambi Swamikal, the noted social reformer of Kerala, whom he idolises most. Most of his songs were written in Sanskrit. Though he has immense poetic talent, he lacks musical proficiency, and thus he had to seek outside help for tuning his songs, just like Arunachala Kavirayar and Periyasamy Thooran. His songs have been composed and sung by numerous popular musicians like Maharajapuram Santhanam, T. V. Sankaranarayanan, T. N. Seshagopalan, R. K. Srikantan, Rajkumar Bharathi, Prince Rama Varma, Perumbavoor G. Raveendranath and numerous others. His most popular composition is Bhaja Manasa Vighneshwaram Anisham in the raga Bahudari.
CompositionRagaTalaLanguagePraisingTemple
Akhilānda Nāyakā
अखिलाण्डनायका		MadhyamavatiAdiSanskritShivaN/A
Āmaya Karunāvāhini
आमयकरुणावाहिनी		Poorvi KalyaniAdiSanskritParvatiN/A
Āmaya Nāśana
आमयनाशन		KalyaniAdiSanskritVenkateswaraTirupati
Anagha Śambhō
अनघशंभो		Yadukula KambojiRoopakamSanskritShivaEttumanoor
Ātma Nivedanaṁ
आत्मनिवेदनम्		Vrindavana SaarangaAdiSanskritKrishnaN/A
Bhāvaye Sādaraṁ
भावये सादरम्		KeeravaniAdiSanskritSasthaSabarimala
Bhaja Mānasa Vighneshwaramanisham
भज मानस विघ्नेश्वरमनिशम्		BahudariAdiSanskritGaneshaPazhavanagdi
Bhajāmahē Śrī Vināyakaṁ
भजामहे श्री विनायकम्		HamsadhwaniAdiSanskritGaneshaPazhavanagdi
Bhajarē Cētaha
भजरे चेतः		ArabhiAdiSanskritGaneshaPazhavanagdi
Bhajarē Mānasa Śāstāraṁ
भजरे मानस शास्तारम्		Sindhu BhairaviAdiSanskritSasthaN/A
Bhajarē Śrīkaṇțeśvaraṁ
भजरे श्रीकण्ठेश्वरम्		Kamboji AdiSanskritShivaSreekanteswaram
Bhajē Surēśaṁ
भजे सुरेशम्		ShriranjiniAdiSanskritVenkateswaraTirupati
Bhūtanātha Māṁ Pāhi
भूतनाथ मांं पाहि		SaveriAdiSanskritSasthaSabarimala
Caraņayuga Smaraṇaṁ
चरणयुगस्मरणम्		MalayamaruthamAdiSanskritKrishnaGuruvayur
Dāsamimaṃ Pāhi
दासमिमं पाहि		BegadaAdiSanskritShivaThirunakkara
Dainyāpahaṃ Bhāvaye
दैन्यापहं भावये		Shriranjini/ThodiAdiSanskritParvatiKanyakumari
Dāsosmyahaṃ Danuja Śāsaka
दासोस्म्यहं दनुजशासक		MukhariAdiSanskritKrishnaGuruvayur
Dēvā Namō Namō
देवा नमो नमो		KhamasAdiSanskritChattambi SwamikalN/A
Dēvā Vidyādhirājā
देवा विद्याधिराजा		Kedara GowlaAdiSanskritChattambi SwamikalN/A
Dharmasthalēśvara
धर्मसथलेश्वर		Ananda BhairaviAdiSanskritShivaDharmasthala
Duritāpahaṃ Aniśaṃ
दुरितापहमनिशम्		ShriranjiniAdiSanskritSasthaSabarimala
Duritāraṇya Kṛṣanmō
दुरितारण्य कृषन्मो		NeelambariChappuSanskrit''KrishnaThirumala

Malayalam and English works

Footnotes