.ഇടപ്പള്ളി രാഘവന്‍ പിള്ള

EDAPPALLI RAGHAVAN PILLAI

ഇടപ്പള്ളി രാഘവന്‍ പിള്ള

Born in the year 1908, Edappalli Raghavan Pillai is one among the renowned modern Malayalam poets. Along with Changampuzha Krishna Pillai he is credited with ushering in a new breath of life into Malayalam poetry of the 1930s. His poetry is lyrical, romantic and melodious and has a unique haunting quality. His poems very often gave explicit expression to the subdued elements of the Vallathol School of poetry. Another remarkable feature of his poems is the close link between nature and the poet. 'Maninadam' is hailed as his best poem. The flow of his creative energy came to an abrupt halt with his suicide in 1936.

He  was a romantic Malayalam poet who committed suicide at a young age. He along with his close friend Changampuzha Krishna Pillai brought in a new breath of life into the Malayalam poetry of the 1930s. They are considered as  Shelly and Keats of Malayalm poetry. Raghavan Pillai's best poem is perhaps Maninadam (The sound of the bells) which he wrote a short while before his death. The farewell song opens by:

It is believed that the famous Pastoral play Ramanan by Changampuzha is an elegy based on the life and death of his friend Raghavan Pillai. It is a play writtern in the form of verse which captures the loveliness of the landscape of  Kerala with its evergreen trees and its numerous rivers. His selected works:1-Thushara Haaram (1935) 2-Nava Saurabham (1936)3-Hridhaya Smitham (1936) 4-Maninaadham (1944) 5-Edappally Raghavan Pillayude Krithikal.

                                                                                     Prof. John Kurakar 

                                                                                     ജോണ്‍  കുരാക്കാര്‍