Vinod6176 at 23:51, 4 September 2025

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{{Short description|Indian poet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1859|2|24}}
| birth_place = [[Pala, Kerala|Pala]], [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1936|11|29|1859|2|24}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Poet, writer
| nationality = Indian
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{ubl|''Shree Yeshu Vijayam''|''Marthomavijayam''|''Vanithamani''}}
| spouse = Mariyamma
| partner =
| children =
| relatives = {{ubl|Ulahannan (father)|Cecily (mother)}}
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
}}
{{family name hatnote|Kattakayam|Cherian Mappillai|Indian name|lang=Toponymic}}'''Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai''' (1859–1936) was an Indian poet and playwright of [[Malayalam literature]]. He was known for the epic poem ''Shreeyeshu Vijayam'', which earned him the title of Mahakavi. He was the founder editor of ''[[Vijnaana Rathnaakaram]]'', one of the earliest literary magazines in Malayalam language. [[Pope Pius XI]] presented him a gold medal in 1931.

== Biography ==
Cherian Mappillai was born on 24 February 1859 in [[Pala, Kerala|Pala]] in [[Kottayam district]] of the south Indian state of [[Kerala]] in a Christian family to Ulahannan and Cecily.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattakkayathilCgraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-03-06 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-03-06 |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306235323/http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattakkayathilCgraphy.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> His schooling was limited to [[Sanskrit]] studies with Njavakkattu Damodaran Kartha for a few years by which time, he had already started writing poems. His early poems were published in ''Nasrani Deepika'' magazine in 1887 and in 1890, he started a poetry column in [[Malayala Manorama]], encouraged by [[Kandathil Varghese Mappillai]], the founder of the daily.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /> He wrote a number of poems and plays<ref name="List of works">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/Profiles/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattakkayathilBooks.htm |title=List of works |date=2019-03-07 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-03-07 |archive-date=8 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308002910/http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/Profiles/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattakkayathilBooks.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the most known among them was ''Shree Yeshu Vijayam'',<ref name="Statement">{{cite web|url=http://cs.nyu.edu/kandathi/kattakayam.pdf |title='''Statement'' |access-date=27 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603155544/http://cs.nyu.edu/kandathi/kattakayam.pdf |archive-date= 3 June 2012 }}</ref> a [[mahakavya]] in 24 [[cantos]] on the Bible,<ref name="Datta1987">{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA676|year=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=676–}}</ref> detailing from the [[Book of Genesis]] to the [[New Testament]].<ref name="Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai - Veethi profile">{{Cite web |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/kattakayam_cherian_mappillai-profile-2268-25.htm |title=Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai - Veethi profile |date=2019-03-06 |website=veethi.com |access-date=2019-03-06 |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306234840/https://www.veethi.com/india-people/kattakayam_cherian_mappillai-profile-2268-25.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sivasankari2017">{{cite book|author=Sivasankari|title=Knit India Through Literature Volume 1 - The South|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HF6LDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT158|date=5 March 2017|publisher=Pustaka Digital Media|pages=158–|id=PKEY:9789352859269}}</ref> It was the first Malayalam language epic by a Christian writer.<ref name="Chavara Kuriakose Elias and his Contribution to Literature">{{Cite web |url=https://www.keralatourism.org/christianity/chavara-kuriakose-elias/42 |title=Chavara Kuriakose Elias and his Contribution to Literature |date=2019-03-07 |website=Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala |language=en |access-date=2019-03-07}}</ref>

Cherian Mappillai was a rubber farmer by profession and co-founded Meenachil Rubber Factory, one of the earliest rubber factories in Kerala.<ref name="Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai - Veethi profile" /> When [[J. Thomas Kayalackakom]] founded [[Vijnaana Rathnaakaram]] in 1913, Cherian Mappilai served as its founder editor. He was married to Mariyamma from Kadakkachira veedu and he died on 29 November 1936, at the age 77.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" />

== Bibliography ==
[[File:Kattakayam Cherian Mappilla statue @ Pala 01.jpg|thumb|Statue of Mappila at [[Pala, Kerala]].]]

===Poems===
#Shree Yeshu Vijayam – 1911–1926<ref name="George1992">{{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1R2Pa3f7r0C&pg=PA241|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-7201-324-0|pages=241–}}</ref>
#Mar Thoma Charitham – 1908
#Vanithaamani – 1915
#Susannah – 1928
#Matthoo Tharakan – 1924
#Thiranjedukkappetta Paathram – 1926
#Juse Bhakthan – 1880

===Plays===
#Yoodajeeveshwari – 1890
#Villalvettam – 1894
#Olivervijayam – 1897
#Saaraavivaaham – 1902
#Kalaavathi – 1903

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattayathilCMappila.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-03-06 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-03-06 |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306235207/http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KattakkayathilCMappila/Html/KattayathilCMappila.htm |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuMw93WSf0A |title=Sreeyesucharitham Kattakkayathil - Cheriyan Mappila |last=Jyothibai Pariyadath |date=2012-11-08 |website=YouTube |access-date=2019-03-06}}
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuMw93WSf0A |title=Sree Yesu Vijayam - Kattakkayathil Cheriyan Mappila |last=Jyothibai Pariyadath |date=2012-11-08 |website=YouTube |access-date=2019-03-07 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120023137/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuMw93WSf0A |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |url=http://nazaranepuremallu.blogspot.com/2009/05/list-of-syrian-malabar-nasranis-who.html |title=List of Syrian Malabar Nasranis who made significant contributions |date=2019-03-07 |website=nazaranepuremallu.blogspot.com |access-date=2019-03-07 |archive-date=7 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307173830/http://nazaranepuremallu.blogspot.com/2009/05/list-of-syrian-malabar-nasranis-who.html |url-status=live }}

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai}}
[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Pala, Kerala]]
[[Category:Writers from Kottayam district]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Malayalam poets]]
[[Category:Indian editors]]
[[Category:Poets from Kerala]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Poets from British India]]

Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai - Revision history

Vinod6176 at 23:51, 4 September 2025