Pallathu Raman (1891-1950)

Pallathu Raman

Mahakavi Pallathu Raman was born on 7 October 1891 at Trichur. His father was Plalthu Ikkoran and his mother lakshmi. He was a well-known social reformer and a staunch disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. By profession he was a teacher in a college.. In 1941 he started a publication, Purogami, from thiruvananthapuram. He has to his credit forty books on different branches of literature.

Pallathu Raman was deeply disturbed by caste discriminations, which had reached its zenith then. Mahakavi Kumaran Asan’s social vision influenced and inspired him and he took up poetry as a cudgel to fight social discriminations. Pallathu Raman belived thet inter-caste marriage would a positive force to eliminate casteism. This inspired him to write Misra Kanti, a poem that narrates the love story of Dharma Bhadan, an ezhava man and Suhasini, a fisher woman. The ardent love they cherished for each other was hipped in the bud, owing to the caste difference of their families. Dharma Bhadan was forced to enlist in the army, while Suhasini went to Madras (Chennai) to work as a nurse in the Sree Narayana Guru Hospital. By a stroke of luck, the lovers met again at Madras. Dharma Bhadan was admitted in Sree Narayana Hospital when he got wounded in the war. Suhasini nursed him there. Dharma Bhadan’s parents also began to grow found of Suhasini. The situation finally led to Dharma Bhadan and Suhasini being untied in wedlock.

I his later writings Pallathu Raman was inspired by socialism and wrote poems with a political flavour. The unstinted support of the Kerala Chintamani, a periodial of that time, helped him to get established as a reputed poet.

Books: Udayareshmi, Vanamala, Veerangana, Amritha Pulinam, Samboorna Kavithakal,

Spouses: Devakiyamma, Madamal Suguna, He expired on 29 July 1950

Taken from the book; Reinventing Identity An Anthology of Dalit Writers Kerala written by Dr. George K Alex, Elizabeth John.