https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Kainikkara_Padmanabha_PillaiKainikkara Padmanabha Pillai - Revision history2026-08-01T01:39:53ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Kainikkara_Padmanabha_Pillai&diff=411151&oldid=prevCleanupBot II at 13:35, 14 August 20232023-08-14T13:35:20Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian author}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai<br />
| image = <br />
| imagesize = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1898|10|10}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Perunna]], [[Changanassery]], [[Kottayam district]], Kerala, India<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|1|30|1898|10|10}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| restingplace = <br />
| occupation = Playwright, actor<br />
| notable_works = {{ubl|''Swati Tirunal Maharaja''|''Veluttampi Dalava''|''Calvaryile Kalpapadapam''|''Vidhimandapam''|''Agnipanjaram''}}<br />
| spouse = P. Chellamma<br />
| children = <br />
| relatives = {{ubl|N. Kumara Pillai (father)|Parvathy Pilla (mother)|[[Kainikkara Kumara Pillai]] (brother)}}<br />
| website = <br />
| awards = {{ubl|1955&nbsp;Kalyani Krishna Menon Puraskaram|1967&nbsp;[[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama]]}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai''' (1898–1976), popularly identified as '''Swathithirunal Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai''' after his magnum opus, ''Swathithirunal'', was an Indian author of [[Malayalam literature]], actor, speaker, teacher and thinker. He was known for his plays which dealt with themes such as patriotism, sacrifice and justice and his characters showed heroism, showing influence of [[William Shakespeare]]. [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi]] awarded him their [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama|annual award for drama]] in 1970. He was also a recipient of the Kalyani Krishna Menon Puraskaram.<br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai was born on October 10, 1898 at [[Perunna]], [[Changanassery]], in [[Kottayam district]] of the south Indian state of [[Kerala]] to Perunayil N. Kumara Pillai, a lawyer and an [[Ayurvedic]] physician and Haripattu Poothottal L. Parvathy Pilla.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KainikkaraPPillai/Html/KainikkaraPPillaigraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-04-15 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref> After primary education at his local school, he studied at institutions in [[Kumbakonam]] and [[Thiruvananthapuram]] and started his career as a teacher at the NSS High School. He served the society in various capacities such as those of a headmaster, educational inspector and as the general manager until joining the government service in 1944 and before resigning from service, he held various positions including those of the director of education department, broadcasting corporation director, chairman of the pay commission and the secretary of the department of food. In between, he sat in the Legislative Council of Travancore from 1933 to 1944. Later, he served as the editor of ''Malayalarajyam'' (1954–56)and ''Kaumudi'' (1957–61). It was during this period, ''Kaumudi'' was involved in the leak of the 1957 budget of the [[First E. M. S. Namboodiripad ministry]] where the reporter who leaked the budget as well as Pillai, as the editor of ''Kaumudi'' were fined by the court.<ref name="The budget not the first one to leak">{{Cite web |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/the-budget-not-the-first-one-to-leak-1.1773855 |title=The budget not the first one to leak |website=Mathrubhumi |language=en |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref> He also contested unsuccessfully from the Mavelikkara-Kollam parliamentary constituency.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /><br />
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Padmanabha Pillai was married to P. Chellama. He died on January 30, 1976, at the age of 77.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /> [[Kainikkara Kumara Pillai]], noted playwright and the author of books such as ''Harichandra'' was his brother.<ref name="Kainikkara Kumara Pillai">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KainikkaraKumaraPillai/Html/KainikkaraKPillaigraphy.htm |title=Kainikkara Kumara Pillai |date=2019-04-15 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-04-15}}</ref><br />
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== Legacy and honours ==<br />
Padmanabha Pillai published 15 books composed of 6 plays, 3 novels, 4 short story anthologies, an essay compilation and a book of history,<ref name="List of works">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KainikkaraPPillai/Html/KainikkaraPPillaiBooks.htm |title=List of works |date=2019-04-16 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref> but he was best known for his plays of which ''Calvaryile Kalpapadapam'',<ref name="Art forms of India">{{Cite web |url=http://indiansaga.com/art/theatre2_art.html |title=Art forms of India |website=indiansaga.com |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref> written in the 1934, was a pioneering work of modern Malayalam theatre.<ref name="George1992">{{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Plays and prose|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTXougCB-NMC&pg=PA370|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-7201-783-5|pages=370–}}</ref><ref name="Growth of Drama and Kerala Theatre - Drama in Malayalam Literature">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralaculture.org/goldenage-drama/279 |title=Growth of Drama and Kerala Theatre - Drama in Malayalam Literature |date=2019-04-16 |website=www.keralaculture.org |language=en |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref> He was known to have drawn on the heritage of [[E.V. Krishna Pillai]] (1895–1938) with his historical works like ''Veluttampi Dalava'', published in 1932,<ref name="Datta1988">{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1083|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|pages=1083–}}</ref><ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014">{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA159|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94318-9|pages=159–}}</ref> which describes the deeds and death of a minister of the state of [[Travancore]]<ref name="History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom : triumph and tragedy">{{Cite book |title=History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom : triumph and tragedy |last=Sisir Kumar Das |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=2006 |isbn=978-81-7201-798-9 |page=656}}</ref> and his plays evidently displayed an influence of [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name="George1972">{{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Western Influence on Malayalam Language and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZqqyxVkufQC&pg=PA148|year=1972|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0413-3|pages=148–}}</ref><ref name="Western influence on Malayalam language and literature">{{Cite book |title=Western influence on Malayalam language and literature |last=K. M. George |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-260-0413-3 |page=151}}</ref> His 1959 book ''The Red Interlude in Kerala'' published for the [[Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee]]<ref name="The Red interlude in Kerala">{{Cite book |title=The Red interlude in Kerala |last=Pillai |first=Kainikkara Padmanabha |last2=Congress Committee |last3=Kerala Pradesh |date=1959 |location=Trivandrum |language=English |oclc=254015907}}</ref> is a historical discourse on how the communists came to power in Kerala and the book is often quoted in analyses of the politics of that period.<ref name="How communists came to power in Kerala">{{Cite book |title=How communists came to power in Kerala |last=R. Ramakrishnan Nair |publisher=Kerala Academy of Political Science |year=1965}}</ref><ref name="Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation">{{Cite book |title=Communism in Kerala: a study in political adaptation |last=Thomas Johnson Nossiter |publisher=C. Hurst for the Royal Institute of International Affairs |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-905838-40-3}}</ref><br />
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Pillai received the Kalyani Krishna Menon Puraskaram for his play, ''Vidhimandapam'', in 1955.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /> The [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama]] selected ''Swathi Tirunal'', his 1966 play on the life of the [[Swati Tirunaal|former king of Travancore]] for their [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama|annual award for drama]] in 1967.He was given a [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1967.<ref name="SAHITHYA ACADEMI AWARD WINNERS# from 1959 to 1999...">{{Cite web |url=http://malayalampadam.com/movie/archive/index.php/t-25390.html |title=SAHITHYA ACADEMI AWARD WINNERS# from 1959 to 1999... |publisher=Malayalam Padam |access-date=2009-11-29}}</ref><ref name="Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/ksa/Awards/Play.htm |title=Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Drama |date=2019-04-16 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516212809/http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/ksa/Awards/Play.htm |archive-date=16 May 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai Foundation, is an eponymous organization which has instituted ''Kainikkara Award'', an annual award for recognizing excellence in socio-cultural work.<ref name="The Hindu : In Thiruvananthapuram Today">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/2004/01/19/stories/2004011911310300.htm |website=[[The Hindu]] |title=In Thiruvananthapuram Today |date=2004-01-19 |access-date=2019-04-16}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><br />
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==Selected works==<br />
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* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=70527&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara |title=Veluthambi dhalava |last=Padmanabha Pilla |first=Kainikkara |date=1932 |publisher=S.P.C.S}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=208420&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara%2520Padmanabha%2520Pillai |title=Kalvariyile kalpapadapam (Calvary's Wish-fulfilling Tree) |last=Padmanabha Pillai. Kainikkara |date=1935 |publisher=Educational Supplies depot |location=Educational Supplies depot, Thiruvananthapuram}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=70493&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara |title=Yavanika |last=Padmanabha Pilla |first=Kainikkara |date=1953 |publisher=S.P.C.S}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.el-aloysius.in:8081/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=2212&query_desc=pb%3AKAINIKKARA%20%20PADMANABHA%20%20PILLAI |title=Vidhimandapam (Court of Judgment) |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1955 |location=Kottayam, Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society |language=Malayalam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://mgucat.mgu.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=117811&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara%2520Padmanabha%2520Pillai |title=Communist Bharanam Keralathil |last=Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai |publisher=DC Books |year=1959 |location=Kottayam}}<br />
* {{cite book|author1=Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai|title=The Red Interlude in Kerala|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMRKPQAACAAJ|year=1959|publisher=Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.el-aloysius.in:8081/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=445%20thumbnail-shelfbrowser |title=Agnipanjaram (Skeleton of Fire) |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1962 |location=Kottayam, Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society |language=Malayalam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.el-aloysius.in:8081/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=2170&query_desc=pb%3AKAINIKKARA%20%20PADMANABHA%20%20PILLAI |title=Mekhavum Minnalum (Clouds and Lightning) |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1964 |location=Kottayam, Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society |language=Malayalam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.el-aloysius.in:8081/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=425&query_desc=pb%3AKAINIKKARA%20%20PADMANABHA%20%20PILLAI |title=Ningal Ariyum (You know this) |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1964 |location=Kottayam, Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society |language=Malayalam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=212753&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara |title=Swathithirunal |last=Kainikkara Padmabhapilla |date=1966 |publisher=N.B.S |location=Kottayam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=http://mgucat.mgu.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=146357&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara%2520Padmanabha%2520Pillai |title=Naatakapoornima |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1968 |location=Kottayam, Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society |language=English}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=103550&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara%2520Padmanabha%2520Pillai |title=Ezhu thirivilakku |last=Padmanabha Pillai |first=Kainikkara |date=1972 |publisher=National book stall |location=Kottayam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://catalog.uoc.ac.in/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=75144&query_desc=au%252Cwrdl%253A%2520Kainikkara |title=Keralathinte nalambhalathil |last=Padmanabha Pilla |first=Kainikkara |date=1974 |publisher=Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangam}}<br />
* {{Cite book |url=https://www.amazon.in/Ozhukkukal-Carnival-Kainikkara-Padmanabha-Pillai/dp/B007E4W3ZU/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1555434351&refinements=p_27%253AKAINIKKARA+PADMANABHA+PILLAI&s=books&sr=1-1 |title=Ozhukkukal |last=Pillai |first=Kainikkara Padmanabha |date=2004 |publisher=DC Books|asin=B007E4W3ZU}}<br />
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== See also ==<br />
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* [[List of Malayalam-language authors by category]]<br />
* [[List of Malayalam-language authors]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
* {{Cite journal |title=[[Sudhanshu Chaturvedi]] in Conversation with Brajendra Tripathi: Excerpts.... |journal = Indian Literature|volume = 51|issue = 4 (240)|last=Chaturvedi |first=Sudhanshu |last2=Tripathi |first2=Brajendra |date=2007 |pages=150–161 |last3=John |first3=Marydas|jstor = 23346132}}<br />
* {{Cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98684 |title=History Of Malayalam Literature |last=Nair |first=P. K. Parameswaran |date=1958 |access-date=2019-04-16}}<br />
* {{Cite web |url=http://writersinmalayalamitsinmalayalam.blogspot.com/2012/05/writers-in-malayalam-malayalam-is.html |title=Malayala Sahithyakaranmar |date=2012 |language=en-GB |access-date=2019-04-16}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KainikkaraPPillai/Html/KainikkaraPPillai.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-04-15 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-04-15}}<br />
* {{cite book|author=M K K Nayar|title=Story of an Era Told Without Ill-will|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvGvDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA321|date=24 February 2014|publisher=DC Books|isbn=978-93-81699-33-1|pages=321–}}<br />
* {{Cite web |url=https://globalnss.org/index.php/eminent |title=Writers and Journalists |date=2019-04-16 |website=globalnss.org |access-date=2019-04-16}}<br />
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{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, Kainikkara Padmanabha}}<br />
[[Category:Malayali people]]<br />
[[Category:Novelists from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]<br />
[[Category:Malayalam novelists]]<br />
[[Category:1898 births]]<br />
[[Category:1976 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]<br />
[[Category:Malayalam-language dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]<br />
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]</div>CleanupBot II