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{{Short description|Indian Tamil language folklorist and author (1923–2021)}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Ki. Rajanarayanan
| image = Kirajanarayanan.jpg
| imagesize = 209x253px
| caption =
| pseudonym = Ki. Ra.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|9|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Idaiseval]], [[Administrative divisions of Madras Presidency#Districts of the Presidency|Tinnively District]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now in [[Thoothukudi District]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|5|17|1923|9|16|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lawspet]], [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]], [[India]]
| period = 1938–2021
| language = [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
| genre = Short story, novel
| subject = Folklores, Rural life
| notableworks = {{Plainlist|
* ''Gopalla Grammam''
* ''Gopallapurathu Makkal''
* ''Nattuppura Kadhai Kalanjiyam''
}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Kanavathi Ammal |1954|2019|end=d.}}
| children = {{hlist|Diwakar|Prabhakar}}
| awards = {{awards|[[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil|Sahitya Akademi Award]]|1991}}
| website = {{URL|writerkira.com}}
}}
'''Rayala Shri Krishna Raja Narayana Perumal Ramanujam Naicker''' (16 September 1923 – 17 May 2021<ref name="TNIE">{{cite news |title=Writer Ki Rajanarayanan passes away at 98 in Puducherry |url= https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2021/may/18/writer-ki-rajanarayanan-passes-away-at-98-in-puducherry-2303922.html |location=Chennai |work=[[The New Indian Express]] |publication-date=18 May 2021 |agency=[[Express News Service]] |access-date= 18 May 2021 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |last=Kolappan |first=B. |title=Eminent Tamil writer Ki Rajanarayanan is no more |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/eminent-tamil-writer-ki-rajanarayanan-is-no-more/article34582661.ece |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=India |publication-date= 18 May 2021 |access-date= 18 May 2021}}</ref>), shortened to '''Ki. Rajanarayanan''' and popularly known by his Tamil initials as '''Ki. Ra.''', was an Indian [[Tamil language]] folklorist and writer from [[Kovilpatti]], in Tamil Nadu. Some of his popular works include [[Gopalla Grammam]] ({{Translation|''Gopalla Village''}}), [[Gopallapurathu Makkal]] ({{Translation|''The People of Gopallapuram''}}), ''Mayamaan'' ({{Translation|''The Magical Deer''}}), and ''Nattuppura Kadhai Kalanjiyam'' ({{Translation|''Collection of Country Tales''}}). He was a recipient of the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1991.[[The Times of India]] called him the "Guardian of Tamil oral tradition".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/guardian-of-tamil-oral-tradition-falls-silent/ | title=Guardian of Tamil oral tradition falls silent | work=[[The Times of India]] | date=19 May 2021 | accessdate=5 June 2021}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rajanarayanan was born on 16 September 1923 in the village of [[Idaiseval]] near [[Kovilpatti]] in present-day [[Thoothukudi district]], Tamil Nadu.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Micha Kathaigal in Ki Rajanarayanan's Idaiseval village|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2021/may/19/micha-kathaigal-inki-rajanarayanans-idaiseval-village-2304401.html|access-date=21 May 2021|website=The New Indian Express|date=19 May 2021 }}</ref> He was the fifth child of Lakshmi Ammal and Shri Krishna Ramanujam.<ref name=":3" /> He suffered from poor health and was afflicted with [[tuberculosis]] at an early age. He dropped out of school in the seventh standard.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> He went on to become a member of the [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI), going to prison twice for his participation and support in the [[Telangana Rebellion|CPI-organised peasant rebellions]] between 1947 and 1951.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Final rites with full State honours for Ki Rajanarayanan, statue at Kovilpatti: Stalin|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2021/may/19/final-rites-with-full-state-honours-for-ki-rajanarayanan-statue-at-kovilpatti-stalin-2304399.html|access-date=22 May 2021|website=The New Indian Express|date=19 May 2021 }}</ref> He was also named in the ''Nellai Conspiracy Case'' of 1952, though the charges were later dropped.<ref name=":2" />

==Career==
Rajanarayanan began his literary career at the age of 30 and wrote under his Tamil initials Ki. Ra. His first short story "''Mayamaan''" ({{Translation|"The Magical Deer"}}) was published in the magazine ''[[Saraswati (magazine)|Saraswati]]'' in 1959.<ref name=":2" /> It was an immediate success.<ref>{{cite web|author=Maalan|date=21 September 2007|title=இன்னும் ஒரு நூறாண்டு இரும்|url=https://jannal.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post_21.html|access-date=10 March 2009}}</ref><ref name="monkey">{{cite book|last1=Rajanarayanan|first1=Ki.|title=Where Are You Going, You Monkeys? – Folktales from Tamil Nadu|last2=Chakravarthy|first2=Pritham K|publisher=Blaft Publications|year=2009|isbn=978-81-906056-4-9|location=Chennai, India|pages=237}}</ref> It was followed by many more short stories. Ki. Ra.'s stories were usually based in ''karisal kaadu'' ({{Translation|scorched, drought stricken land}}) around his native region of [[Kovilpatti]]. The stories are usually centered around ''Karisal'' country's people, their lives, beliefs, struggles and folklore.<ref name="hindu3">{{cite web|author=PKR|date=17 August 2004|title=Literary criticism|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2004/08/17/stories/2004081700701500.htm|access-date=17 December 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]}}</ref> ''Gopalla Grammam'' ({{Translation|Gopalla Village}}) and its sequel ''Gopallapurathu Makkal'' ({{Translation|The People of Gopallapuram}}) were among his novels, with the latter winning him the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1991.<ref name="sa">{{cite web|title=Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955–2007|url=http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331025435/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10320.htm|archive-date=31 March 2009|access-date=17 December 2009|work=www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]}}</ref> The novel deals with the stories of multiple people living in a village in south India before the arrival of the British. It involves the migration of the [[Telugu language|Telugu]] people escaping brutal kingdoms north of Tamil Nadu.<ref name="sa" /><ref name=":1" /> These books were followed by ''Andaman Naicker.''<ref name=":2" />

As a folklorist, Ki. Ra. spent decades collecting folktales from the ''karisal kaadu'' and publishing them in popular magazines. In 2007, the [[Thanjavur]]-based publishing house [[Annam (publisher)|Annam]] compiled these folktales into a 944-page book, the ''Nattuppura Kadhai Kalanjiyam'' ({{Translation|collection of country tales}}). As of 2009, he had published approximately 30 books. A selection of these books were translated into English by Pritham K. Chakravarthy and published in 2009 as ''Where Are You Going, You Monkeys? – Folktales from Tamil Nadu''. Ki. Ra. was also well known for his candid treatment of sexual topics,<ref name=":1">{{cite web|author=Jai Arjun Singh|date=10 March 2009|title=Short, Sweet, and Subversive: Blaft's Tamil Folktales|url=https://jaiarjun.blogspot.com/|access-date=10 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Vijay Nambisan|title=Stranger than fiction: Thought-provoking folktales|work=[[Deccan Herald]]|publisher=The Printers|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/18339/stranger-fiction-thought-provoking-folktales.html|access-date=17 December 2009}}</ref> and use of the spoken dialect of Tamil for his stories, rather than its formal [[Diglossia#Tamil|written form]].<ref name="hindu1">{{cite web|author=Gowri Ramnarayan|date=17 September 2002|title=Master of the Short Story|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/17/stories/2002091700160200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030701120144/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/17/stories/2002091700160200.htm|archive-date=1 July 2003|access-date=10 March 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]}}</ref> He viewed the spoken language as the 'correct' form of the language.<ref name=":2" /> In addition to writing stories in the regional dialects, he also was an author of a dictionary of the regional dialect called ''Karisal Kaatu Sollagarathi'' ({{Translation|Words of the scorched land}}). This work was a frontrunner for similar dictionaries for dialects from other regions of the state.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kolappan|first=B.|date=18 May 2021|title=Eminent Tamil writer Ki Rajanarayanan is no more|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/eminent-tamil-writer-ki-rajanarayanan-is-no-more/article34582661.ece|access-date=22 May 2021|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

In 1992, his short story ''Current'' was made into a [[Bollywood|Hindi film]] entitled [[Current (1992 film)|Current]] for the [[National Film Development Corporation of India]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Meet the author|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/library/meettheauthor/ki_rajanarayanan.pdf|work=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|accessdate=24 May 2021}}</ref>

In March 2003 (probably), he hosted the Italian anthropologist and Dravidologist [[Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi]] in his home in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]].<ref>{{Cite book |author-link=Ki. Rajanarayanan |title=கி.ரா. தொகுதி ஐந்து : தனிக் கட்டுரைகள் |publisher=Annam |location=Thanjavur |publication-date=December 2022 |pages=583–586 |language=ta |trans-title=Ki.Ra. Volume Five: Individual Articles}}</ref> In November of that year his short story ''kidai'' was made into a [[Tamil cinema|Tamil film]] entitled ''[[Oruththi]]'' and was screened at the [[International Film Festival of India]].<ref name="hindu2">{{cite web|author=S. Theodore Baskaran|author-link=S. Theodore Baskaran|date=28 November 2003|title=A tale rooted in the soil|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2003/11/28/stories/2003112801480200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031208142017/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2003/11/28/stories/2003112801480200.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=8 December 2003|access-date=17 December 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]}}</ref>

He was appointed a professor of folklore at [[Pondicherry University]] in the 1980s. He held the title of Director of Folktales in the university's Documentation and Survey Centre.<ref name="hindu1" /><ref name="akademi">{{cite book|last=Agrawal|first=S. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll9uAAAAMAAJ&q=ki+rajanarayanan|title=Development/digression diary of India: 3D companion volume to Information India 1991–92|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|year=1991|isbn=81-7022-305-9|pages=49}}</ref><ref name="hindu4">{{cite web|title=Ki. Rajanarayanan|url=http://www.thehinduimages.com/hindu/photoDetail.do?photoId=1703164|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929071601/http://www.thehinduimages.com/hindu/photoDetail.do?photoId=1703164|archive-date=29 September 2011|access-date=17 December 2009|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]}}</ref> Between 1998 and 2002 he also served in the general council and the advisory board of the [[Sahitya Akademi]].<ref name="sahitya" />

He was a recipient of the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for his novel ''Gopallapurathu Makkal'' in 1991.<ref name="sa" />

== Personal life ==
On 16 September 1954, Rajanarayanan married Kanavathi Ammal (classmate of his younger sister Ethirajam; also a cousin). The couple had two sons.<ref name=":3" /> Kanavathi died on 25 September 2019. She was aged 87.

Rajanarayanan died on 18 May 2021 due to age-related illness in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]].<ref name="sahitya" /> He was cremated with state honours in his native village of Idaiseval.<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 May 2021|title=Farewell to writer Ki. Ra., with state honours|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/farewell-to-writer-ki-ra-with-state-honours/article34596483.ece|access-date=22 May 2021|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

== Musical Adaptations==
As a tribute to honor Ki.Ra, the folk song mentioned in the novel Gopalla Gramam was set to music for the first time by composer [[Rajan Somasundaram|Raleigh Rajan]]. The song is referenced as about 500 years old and was sung by the original settlers of Kovilpatti area. Ki.Ra meticulously collected the lyrics of the song and included in the novel. This tribute was Sung by Sung by [[Ananya Bhat]], [[Senthil Ganesh|Rajalakshmi Senthil]], Raleigh Rajan and Priya Krish.

==Awards and recognition==
* 1971{{Spaced en dash}}''Tamil valarchi araichi mandram'' award<ref name="sahitya">{{cite web|title=Meet the Author|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/library/meettheauthor/ki_rajanarayanan.pdf|publisher=Sahitya Akademi - Indian government|access-date=26 April 2017}}</ref>
* 1979{{Spaced en dash}}''Ilakkiya chinthanai'' award<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ki. Rajanarayanan|url=https://harpercollins.co.in/author-details/ki-rajanarayanan/|access-date=22 May 2021|website=HarperCollins Publishers India}}</ref>
* 1990{{Spaced en dash}}Santhome International Christian Society Best Writer Award<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Sahitya Akademi - Ki. Ra.|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/library/meettheauthor/ki_rajanarayanan.pdf}}</ref>
* 1991{{Spaced en dash}}[[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for his novel ''Gopallapurarthu Makkal''<ref>{{cite web|title=AKADEMI AWARDS (1955-2016)|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#TAMIL|publisher=Sahitya Akademi - Indian government|access-date=26 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084937/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#TAMIL|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2008{{Spaced en dash}}M.A. Chidambaram award<ref>{{cite news|title=M.A. Chidambaram awards presented|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/M.A.-Chidambaram-awards-presented/article15321253.ece|access-date=26 September 2017|work=The Hindu|date=13 October 2008}}</ref>
* 2016{{Spaced en dash}}Literary achievement special award from [[The Tamil Literary Garden]].<ref>{{cite news|title=விருது: கி.ரா.வுக்கு இலக்கியச் சாதனை விருது|url=http://tamil.thehindu.com/general/literature/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81-%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81-%E0%AE%87%E0%AE%B2%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%88-%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81/article8988337.ece|access-date=26 September 2017|publisher=The Hindu - Tamil|date=14 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=கி.ராஜநாராயணனுக்கு கனடா தமிழ் இலக்கியத் தோட்டத்தின் இலக்கியச் சாதனை சிறப்பு விருது – 2016|url=http://tamilliterarygarden.com/home|website=Tamil Literary Garden|access-date=26 September 2017}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
Source(s):<ref name=":2" /><ref name="sahitya"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Ki. Rajanarayanan|url=http://penguin.co.in/author/ki-rajanarayanan/|access-date=26 April 2017|publisher=Penguin publishers|archive-date=27 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427003818/http://penguin.co.in/author/ki-rajanarayanan/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

===Folktales===
* Tamizhnattu nadodi kathaigal (1966)
* Tamizhnattu gramiya kathaigal (1977)
* Thatha chonna kathaigal (1984)
* Naattupura kathaigal part - 1(1991)
* Naattupura kathaigal part - 2(1992)
* Vayathu vanthavargalukku mattum (1992)
* Kaathil viluntha kathaigal (1992)
* Puthuvai vattara Naattupura kathaigal (1993)
* Naattupura paaliyal kathaigal (1994)
* Penn manam (1995)
* Peruviral kullan (1998)

===Short stories===
* Kalavu (1965)
* Kannimai (1975)
* Appa pillai, Amma pillai (1980)
* Kidai kurunavalum, pannirandu sirukathaigalum (1983)
* Karisal kathaigal (1984)
* Koththai paruththi (1985)
* Ki.Rajanarayanan kathaigal (1998)

===Novels===
* Mayamaan (lit. The magical deer) (1958)
* Gopalla gramam (1976)
* Pinchukal (1979)
* Gopallapurathu makkal (1989)
* Anthaman nayakkar (1995)

===Essays===
* Karisal kaatu kadidhasi (1988)
* Ki.Rajanarayanan katturaigal (1991)
* Puthaga kaathalar (1998)

===Others===
* Maantharul oru annaparavai (biographical sketches of [[T. K. Chidambaranatha Mudaliar|Rasigamani]]) (1981)
* Vattara valakku sollakarathi (Dictionary) (1982)
* Ku.Azhagirisamy kadithankal (1987)
* Makkal Tamil vazhallku (1991)
*''Karisal Kaattu kadudasi'' – volumes 1&2 (lit. letter from the scorched earth), Agaram (1991)
* Ki.Rajanarayanan pathilgal (1994)
* Kadithangal Kadithangal (1998)
*''Maraivai sonna kathaikal'' (lit. Hidden stories)
*''Oruthi'' (screenplay)(lit. One woman)(2003)
*(ed.)''Nattuppura Kadhai Kalanjiyam'' (lit. Collection of Country Tales), Annam (2007)
*''Ki. Ra. Natkurippilirundhu'' (lit. From the diary of Ki. Ra)
*''Vetti''

==See also==
* [[List of Indian writers]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|bBkSEVzn46I|Video of Ki. Rajanarayanan Telling a Story}}
{{Sahitya Akademi Award For Tamil}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|India|Literature|Tamil}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajanarayanan, Ki.}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian folklorists]]
[[Category:Tamil-language writers]]
[[Category:Children's writers in Tamil]]
[[Category:Writers from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Pondicherry University]]
[[Category:People from Thoothukudi district]]

K. Rajanarayanan - Revision history

Jamesharrey at 01:55, 23 November 2025