''Ramanan'' (

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 ...

: രമണന്‍) is the most celebrated work of

poet

Changampuzha Krishna Pillai Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (10 October 1911 – 17 June 1948) was a celebrated Malayalam poet from Kerala, India, known for his elegy '' Ramanan'' which was written in 1936 and sold over 100,000 copies. It is a long pastoral elegy, a play wri ...

. It is a play written in the form of verse. It is a

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

written after the death of his friend,

Edappally Raghavan Pillai Edappally Raghavan Pillai (30 May 1909 – 4 July 1936) was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature and a close associate of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai. The pair, the front-runners of romanticism in Malayalam, was considered by many as the Shel ...

. Written in 1936, it is the

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

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 ...

. Changampuzha's Ramanan became such a big hit, the

Kerala University University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithira ...

prescribed it as a textbook in Malayalam literature class. Changampuzha himself was a literature student at Kerala University at that time.

Adaptations

* Renowned Katha Prasangam artist

Kedamangalam Sadanandan Kedamangalam Sadanandan (1926 – 13 April 2008) was a Kadhaprasangam artist, actor, screenwriter and lyricist from Kerala. He performed Kadhaprasangam (story telling) in more than 15,000 stages for over 50,000 hours in a career spanning about ...

has performed this poem in many stages when Changampuzha was alive. * In 1967, its film adaptation, '' Ramanan'' was released. It was written and directed by D. M. Pottekkat, and starred

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

Sheela Sheela Celine (born 24 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Paired with Prem Nazir, they hold the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together as heroine ...

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/médʰu, ''*médʰu'', whenc ...

, Kottayam Chellappan, Kamaladevi, Meena,

Ramu Kariat Ramu Kariat (1 February 1927 – 10 February 1979) was an Indian film director for almost three decades from the 1950s to the 1970s, who directed many acclaimed films in the Malayalam cinema. His noted films include '' Neelakkuyil'' (1954), '' ...

Adoor Bhasi K. Bhaskaran Nair (1 March 1929 – 29 March 1990), professionally credited by his stage name Adoor Bhasi, was an Indian actor and film director. He was mostly cast as a sidekick to protagonists, particularly Prem Nazir. His comedic roles were w ...

, Usha Kumari and Manavalan Joseph. It was a box office flop.

References

Poems in Malayalam Indian poems {{poem-stubf