Thirunalloor Karunakaran was a renowned poet, scholar, teacher and leftist intellectual of Kerala, India.
Biography
Early life
Thirunalloor Karunakaran – 'Thirunalloor', his family name, and 'Karunakaran', his given name – was born in the village of Perinad in Kollam district in Kerala to P.K.Padmanabhan and N.Lakshmy. He started learning Sanskrit in the traditional way before joining primary school and was associated with the working classpolitical movement early in his life.He published his first book-the Malayalam translation of a poem by Oliver Goldsmith- while in school. During student days he wrote several poems, lyrics and articles in periodicals and made his mark during the Pink Decade in Malayalam poetry.By the time of his joining college his close contacts with Communist leaders like R.Sugathan and M. N. Govindan Nair had made him a staunch sympathiser of the Communist party.
Though he lived in the city of Trivandrum for more than three decades he chose to spend the rest of his life in his native village Perinad on the banks of the scenic Ashtamudi lake which had been a constant source of inspiration for his poetry. He died on 5 July 2006 at his residence in Quilon. He was buried without any customary religious rites or ceremonies, as he had wished. During his last years he was engaged in writing a long poem titled 'Seetha' reinterpretting the Ramayana legend. A three-day-long cultural festival called 'Thirunalloor Kavyolsavam' is held every year from 1 May on the banks of the Ashtamudi lake in Quilon to perpetuate his memory.
Writings and philosophy
Having studied Marxism and Indian philosophy in depth he formed a unique vision of his own combining the best aspects of both and this vision is the central illuminating force of all his poems. In many of his poems he depicts the physical and spiritual experience of collective human labour as a creative process of self-assertion and self emancipation of mankind. Tharisu nilangalilekku, Parayudappukar, Adyathe TheevandiKayamkulam Kayal bear the stamp of this vision. The Ashtamudi lake and the life on its shores was a key source of inspiration for his writings and his poetry abounds with varied themes, characters and imagery taken from this rich repository. He wrote, with equal ease, short lyrics dealing with soft transitory feelings and moods as well as long narrative poems having diverse characters and complex social situations. Several of his works, like lyrics written for various media and artforms like 'Kadhaprasangam' and stageplays, as well as marching songs, articles and writings in Sanskrit, are yet to be compiled. This includes the Sanskrit translation of Kumaran Asan's Chandala Bhikshuki and studies in Indian aesthetics. Thirunalloor was an atheist, who believed that the Indian philosophy is essentially materialistic and areligious and he strongly called for a critical evaluation of the Bhagavad Gita and the philosophy of Shankaracharya to expose their darker sides. He said that Shankaracharya was a supporter of the caste system and the Bhagavad Gita was an open sanction for violence.
