POONTHANAM(പൂന്താനം )

POONTHANAM(പൂന്താനം )

പൂന്താനം ജനിച്ചതും  ജീവിച്ചതും മദ്ധ്യ കേരളത്തിലെ  പഴയ വള്ളുവനാട്  താലുക്കിൽ വ നെന്മേനി അംശത്തിൽ ( ഇന്ന്‌ മലപ്പുറം  ജില്ലയിൽ പെരിന്തൽ മണ്ണിൽ നിന്നും എട്ടു കിലോമീറ്റർ വടക്ക് കീഴാറ്റുർ  പൂന്താനം (പൂങ്കാവനം - പൂന്താവനം - പൂന്താനം) എന്ന ഇല്ലത്ത്  ആയിരുന്നു എന്നു വിശ്വസിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. ക്രിസ്തു വർഷം 1547 മുതൽ 1640വരെയായിരുന്നു പൂന്താനത്തിന്റെ ജീവിതകാലം എന്ന്‌ സാമാന്യമായി നിർണ്ണയിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട് 

Poonthanam (1547-1640AD) was a famous devotee of Guruvayurappan, who lived in Keezhattoor in (Malappuram district), Kerala, India. He was a famous devotee of Lord Krishna (Guruvayurappan). He is remembered for his masterpiece, Jnanappana which means 'the song of wisdom' in Malayalam. Poonthanam was the family name, his personal name is not known.  was born into a Namboodiri Brahmin family. He married at 20, but for a long time, they had no children. He began to propitiate the Lord of Guruvayur and a son was born. He called for a celebration and everybody known was invited, but the child died an hour before the ceremony. Grief-stricken Poonthanam sought refuge at Guruvayur and started praying with the puranic story of Kumaraharanam. He considered Lord Krishna as his son and achieved enlightenement. In his work he writes: "While little Krishna is dancing in our hearts, do we need little ones of our own?" Poonthanam spent the rest of his life reading the Bhagavatham and singing the Lord's glories in simple Malayalam. His magnum opus, Njanappana, was composed during this period. He is contemporary of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, another famous poet associated with Guruvayur. Lord Guruvaayoorappan has appreciated Poonthanam's bhakthi various times directly and it is believed that he himself came down to earth and taken Poonthanam personally to Vaikuntam.Meppathur was a Sanskrit scholar (as can be seen from his Narayaneeyam slOkams), but Poonthanam was not that good at Sanskrit. When Poonthanam composed some Malayalam work, and asked Meppatthur Bhattathiri to read and correct it, Meppathur (due to his pride) declined, saying it was not his job to read a trivial Malayalam work, since he was good at Sanskrit. Poonthanam was natuarally upset about this. That night, Lord Guruvayurappan appeared in Mepppathur Bhattathiri's dream and uttered:I like the "bhakti" in Poonthanam's work, rather than the "vibhakti" (scholarly sanskrit) in your work. Meppathur felt sorry, and was ashamed at his silly act. He begged Poonthanam to forgive him, and later they became close associates. Many poetical works of Poonthanam Nambuthiri are available, all in simple Malayalam, which even a child can understand. JnAna ppAna is considered as Bhagavad Gita of Malayalam. Prof. John Kurakar