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{{Short description|Indian writer (1889–1960)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Kesari Balakrishna Pillai
| image = Kesari Balakrishnapilla statue @ Pulimoodu, Thiruvanthapuram 02 (crop).jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Statue of Balakrishna Pillai at Pulimoodu junction, [[Thiruvananthapuram]]
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1889|4|23}}
| birth_place = [[Thampanoor]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]], [[Kerala]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1960|12|18|1889|4|23}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer, literary critic, journalist
| nationality = Indian
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{Unbulleted list|''Kesariyude Lokangal''|''Navalokam''|''Outlines of the Proto-Historic Chronology of Western Asia''|''Sankethika Nirupanangal Sahitya Nirupanangal''|''Rupamanjari''}}
| spouse = Madavanapparambil Gauri Amma
| partner =
| children =
| relatives = {{Unbulleted list|Akathoot Damodaran Kartha (father)|Parvathy Amma (mother)}}
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards =
}}
'''Akathoot Balakrishna Pillai''' (1889–1960), better known as '''Kesari Balakrishna Pillai''', was a [[Malayalam]] writer, art and literary critic and journalist, considered by many as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Kerala. He was the [[eponymous]] founder of the newspaper, ''[[Kesari (Malayalam newspaper)|Kesari]]'' and was one of the three major figures in modern Malayalam literary criticism, along with [[Joseph Mundassery]] and [[M. P. Paul]]. Besides works such as ''Kesariyude Lokangal'', ''Navalokam'', ''Sankethika Nirupanangal Sahitya Nirupanangal'', ''Rupamanjari'', he also wrote a text in English under the title, ''Outlines of the Proto-Historic Chronology of Western Asia''.

== Biography ==
[[File:The Maharajah's College, Trevandrum (p.103, 1891) - Copy.jpg|thumb|235px|The Maharajah's College, Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) - Kesari's alma mater]]
A. Balakrishna Pillai was born on 13 April 1889 to Akathoot Damodaran Kartha of Pulickal Mele Veedu family of [[Thampanoor]], [[Thiruvananthapuram]]<ref name="The Hindu : Thampanoor tales">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/mp/2004/05/17/stories/2004051701970300.htm |title=Thampanoor tales |date=17 May 2004 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2019-02-23}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and Parvathy Amma, in the south Indian state of [[Kerala]].<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KesariABPillai/Html/Kesarigraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-02-23 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> His early schooling was in Thiruvananthapuram and the neighbouring district of [[Kollam]] as his father, a scholar, divorced his mother.<ref name="Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Veethi profile">{{Cite web |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/kesari_balakrishna_pillai-profile-3481-25.htm |title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Veethi profile |date=2019-02-23 |website=veethi.com |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> After [[matriculating]] from Maharaja's High School, Thiruvananthapuram in 1904, he graduated in History in 1908 from the Maharaja's College, Thiruvananthapuram (the present-day [[University College Thiruvananthapuram]]) and started his career as a tutor at the [[Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram]], then known as Maharaja's Women's College. Later, he also worked as a tutor at his alma mater, Maharaja's College. While working, he continued studies in law and graduated with first class in 1913 to pursue a legal career which, however, was short lived as he was not successful as a lawyer.<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=PA335|year=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=335–}}</ref>

Balakrishna Pillai, by this time, had already started writing, primarily at the behest of a few publishers and this gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with Kalakkunnath Raman Menon, who ran a weekly, ''Samadharshi''.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /> On Menon's invitation, he assumed the editorship of the weekly, which had a weekly circulation of 300,000, on 14 May 1922.<ref name="58th Death Anniversary">{{Cite web |url=https://falconpost.in/2018/12/18/the-death-anniversary-of-kesari-balakrishna-pillai/ |title=58th Death Anniversary |date=18 December 2018 |website=falconpost.in |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> However, his stay at the weekly did not last long as Pillai's editorials were too strong-worded for the ownership of the weekly and he resigned the post on 19 June 1926. Subsequently, he started a press, Sharada Press, out of donations from the public and founded a newspaper, ''Prabhodhakan'', which had to be shut down after three months of operation as the authorities revoked the licence of the newspaper; Pillai was imposed a fine of {{INR}} 200 as fine for contempt of court.<ref name="58th Death Anniversary" />

After a week of the closure of ''Prabhodhakan'', Pillai started ''[[Kesari (Malayalam newspaper)|Kesari]]'' as a weekly.<ref name="58th Death Anniversary" />{{Refn|group=note|[[Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar]] also wrote under the pseudonym, ''Kesari''<ref name="Biography">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/VengayilKunhiramanNayanar/Html/VengayilKNayanarpage.htm |title=Biography |date=2019-02-23 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref>}} He ran the publication for four years until it was discontinued due to mounting debts in April 1935; he had to sell Sharada Press to pay off the debts. The next seven years were spent in Thiruvananthapuram, pursuing a literary career and in 1942, he moved to [[North Paravur]] in [[Ernakulam]], the native place of his wife. Later, he moved to [[Kottayam]] in 1957 when he started having physical illnesses.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" />

Balakrishna Pillai was married to Madavanapparambil Gauri Amma, whom he married in 1917. He died on 18 December 1960, at the age of 71.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" />

== Legacy ==
=== Contribution to literature, studies of art ===
Pillai, termed by [[K. Balakrishnan]] as the ''Socrates of Kerala'', was one of the most influential thinkers from Kerala and was credited with mentoring several writers of his time.<ref name="Kesari Balakrishna Pillai: Keralathile Socrates">{{Cite web |url=http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-keralathile-socrates-biography-k-balakrishnan |title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai: Keralathile Socrates |date=2019-02-23 |website=indulekha.com |access-date=2019-02-23 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001747/http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-keralathile-socrates-biography-k-balakrishnan |url-status=dead }}</ref> He contributed to Malayalam literary criticism through his innovative, interdisciplinary approach, and his writings on art, particularly painting, are regarded as masterpieces.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121108111748/http://www.hindu.com/2010/11/15/stories/2010111560240200.htm The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : C. J. Thomas remembered]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mattersofart.net/bookreview3.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723203444/http://www.mattersofart.net/bookreview3.html |archive-date=23 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was one of the first Malayalam literary critics to introduce some of the great works of world literature to Malayalam literature<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=PA250|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-7201-324-0|pages=250–}}</ref><ref name="RADICALISING LITERATURE: THE ROLE OF TRANSLATION IN THE CREATION OF A LITERARY PUBLIC SPHERE IN KERALA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.openhumanitiesalliance.org/journals/eflj/article/download/50/47 |title=RADICALISING LITERATURE: THE ROLE OF TRANSLATION IN THE CREATION OF A LITERARY PUBLIC SPHERE IN KERALA |last=E. V. Ramakrishnan |date=2019-02-24 |website=openhumanitiesalliance.org |access-date=2019-02-24 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was a source of inspiration for writers such as [[Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai]], [[S. K. Pottekkatt]], [[Vaikom Muhammed Bashir]], [[Kesava Dev]] and others.<ref name="Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Veethi profile" /><ref name="History of ideas">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/kesari-a-documentary-on-kesari-balakrishna-pillai-by-k-r-manoj/article8528109.ece |title=History of ideas |last=Sathyendran |first=Nita |date=2016-04-28 |newspaper=The Hindu|language=en-IN |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> He wrote extensively on movements in contemporary European literature and advocated the use of other disciplines like sociology and psychology in literary criticism. He also translated the works of [[Guy de Maupassant]], [[Balzac]], [[Sigmund Freud]], and [[Charles Darwin]], among others.<ref name="George1989">{{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtgtAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}</ref> The editorials wrote by Pillai was later compiled as a book and published in 2010 under the title, ''Kesariyude Lokangal'' (The Editorials of Kesari).<ref name="Kesariyude Mukhaprasangangal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.indulekha.com/malayalam-books/essays/kesariyude-mukhaprasangangal-essays-kesari-a-balakrishna-pillai?sort=p.model&order=ASC&limit=220 |title=Kesariyude Mukhaprasangangal |date=2010 |website=indulekha.com |access-date=2019-02-23 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224003448/http://www.indulekha.com/malayalam-books/essays/kesariyude-mukhaprasangangal-essays-kesari-a-balakrishna-pillai?sort=p.model&order=ASC&limit=220 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Progressive Arts and Letters Movement ===
By the 1930s the "Jeevat Sahitya Prasthanam" was inaugurated in Malayalam literature by a group of Marxist ideologists and some progressive writers including Pillai, Joseph Mundassery and M. P. Paul.<ref name="Statues of Trivandrum: EMS Namboodiripad">{{Cite web |url=http://www.yentha.com/news/view/features/statues-of-trivandrum-ems-namboodiripad |title=Statues of Trivandrum: EMS Namboodiripad |date=2019-02-24 |website=yentha.com |access-date=2019-02-24 |archive-date=12 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512132617/http://www.yentha.com/news/view/features/statues-of-trivandrum-ems-namboodiripad |url-status=dead }}</ref> Progressive writers tried to give new direction to Malayalam literature. In an era of Western literary and cultural paradigms, they emphasized the importance of prose fiction in Malayalam and also advocated for realism in literature. Jeevat Sahitya Prasthanam was later known as "Purogamana Sahitya Prasthanam". (Progressive Association for Arts and Letters).<ref name="Raveendran2002">{{cite book|author=P. P. Raveendran|title=Joseph Mundasseri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mU7zHtik0ZoC&pg=PA24|year=2002|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1535-1|pages=24–}}</ref><ref name="EMS in the literary and cultural arena">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cpim.org/marxist/199801_marxist_ems_culture_pg.htm |title=EMS in the literary and cultural arena |website=www.cpim.org |access-date=2019-02-24 |archive-date=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921120338/https://www.cpim.org/marxist/199801_marxist_ems_culture_pg.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Alternative methods of history ===
Pillai helped to solve many puzzles of ancient history.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/article561305.ece The Hindu : Arts / Books : Historical geography of western Asia]</ref> Though many of his theories were rejected during his times by academic intellectuals, his findings about the connection between the present day inhabitants of India with that of Western Asia are acknowledged by the modern history. Though the first Harappan excavations were done during the 1920s, only by the later part of the century did convincing evidence about Aryans migrating to India from Iran and nearby places emerge. However, with his penetrating analyzes, Kesari was able to present this theory decades earlier.<ref name="Outlines of the proto-historic chronology of Western Asia : with some historic chronology of ancient India appended to it">{{Cite book |title=Outlines of the proto-historic chronology of Western Asia : with some historic chronology of ancient India appended to it |last=Pillai |first=Kesari Balakrishna |date=2009 |publisher=Dept. of Publications, University of Kerala |isbn=978-8186397961 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |oclc=553376729}}</ref>

Notable personalities like [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai admitted later that they failed to fully understand Kesari's writing on history when he was alive and acknowledged that they could understand it only decades later. Many other notable personalities thought Kesari was "eccentric" partly because it was too incomprehensible for them to take,{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} and also because he used unconventional methods for understanding history. [[P. Govinda Pillai]] commented that Kesari, who otherwise traversed through the blistering spheres of modern thoughts, often aberrated into frivolous anarchism and childishly immature illusions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pgovindapillai.info/ArticleFiles/43dde5d2-77dc-1449-13d7-00005d55fb0cnv%20krishna%20varier.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 December 2010 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721231536/http://pgovindapillai.info/ArticleFiles/43dde5d2-77dc-1449-13d7-00005d55fb0cnv%20krishna%20varier.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Academic scholars often failed to take note that, when he actually tried to explore the pre-historical times, there were not enough archaeological evidences unearthed as it is the case today, which could help to throw light on the subject. Some of the modern historians{{who|date=December 2011}} points out today that, though one has to be careful while taking clues from myths, historians can not totally ignore the indications given by the myths and legends.

Pillai emphasized the importance of using alternative methods to understand pre-historic times and pointed out that comparable legends and myths obtaining in the regions concerned are more useful than archaeological, epigraphical, and literary sources.

Pillai said that 'Yudhishtira' in Hindu mythology was the same as the Sumerian 'Udultur' and identified the 'Prachinabarhis' of the Puranas with 'Erystheus' of the Greek legend; he was convinced that 'Cakshusha Manu' was the same as the Greek [[Danaus]] of Argos and the [[Gilgamesh flood myth|Utnapishtim]] of Babylon. For him, the "protohistoric Olympiad era can be identified with the Kali or Agasthya era" and "Hercules was the Narasimha incarnation of Vishnu." If the chronology of all civilisations in the Old World had the same basis, their historical geography, too, rested on the same foundations. So also, in speaking about the "protohistoric" states, the author believes that the ancestors of "the Greeks and the Romans, of the Indians and Persians, of the Chinese and Tibetans, and of the Malays and Polynesians" were the same. Dvaraka was the same as Athens, Kosala was Kish, Mithila was Corinth, and Magadha was Nineveh.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

===Journalism ===
Pillai first worked as an editor of ''Samadarshi'' and later started his own journal, ''Prabodhakan'', by collecting funds from within and outside of India. When ''Prabodhakan'' was banned, he founded and published ''Kesari'', an important weekly discussing politics and literature. Through the columns of ''Kesari'', he fought against the formidable autocracy of the Dewan of the erstwhile [[princely state]] of Travancore. ''Kesari'' was also banned by the government because of its unrelenting criticisms against the misdeeds of Government.<ref>Western Influence on Malayalam Language and Literature by K.M. George. Page 191, Sahitya Academi.</ref>

== E.M.S Namboodiripad and Kesari Balakrishna Pillai ==
Kesari was considered to be one of the visionaries of the Progressive Movement of Arts and Letters of Kerala.<ref name="Raveendran2002" /> However, later serious differences of opinion emerged between full-time Communist Party activists and other personalities, namely Kesari and Joseph Mundassery. In this context, E. M. S. Namboodiripad called Kesari a "Petit-Bourgeois intellectual", which later he corrected. It was [[T. P. Sukumaran]] who wrote letter to Namboodiripad requesting that he re-consider his views about Kesari and his intellectual positions. Namboodiripad replied back saying he had to once again read old writings before stating anything on that subject. Later Namboodiripad publicly acknowledged the failure of Communist Party leadership in Kerala in rightly understanding the greatness of Kesari.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} Namboodiripad also acknowledged some of the earlier misconceptions of the Communist Party with respect to the Progressive Literature and Arts movement.

== Honours ==
The Government of Kerala commissioned a statue of Pillai in Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the 50th death anniversary of his death in 2010.<ref name="Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Statue">{{Cite web |url=http://www.thex-outdoor.nl/albums/india/slides/IMG_0411.html |title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Statue |date=2019-02-24 |website=thex-outdoor.nl |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> Two public halls, Kesari Memorial Municipal Town Hall in [[North Paravur]]<ref name="Kesari Memorial Municipal Town Hall">{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHoItm0Ok4s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/NHoItm0Ok4s |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=Kesari Memorial Municipal Town Hall |last=Muzreesiloode Videos |date=2015-12-06 |website=YouTube |access-date=2019-02-24}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and Kesari Memorial Hall at Pulimoodu in Thiruvananthapuram have been named after him.<ref name="Nambi Narayanan to sue sleuths, seek Rs 1 crore">{{Cite web |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/200918/nambi-narayanan-to-sue-sleuths-seek-rs-1-crore.html |title=Nambi Narayanan to sue sleuths, seek Rs 1 crore |date=2018-09-20 |website=Deccan Chronicle |language=en |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref><ref name="Kesari Memorial Hall – Pulimood, Trivandrum">{{Cite web |url=http://entecity.com/places/business/kesari-memorial-hall-pulimood-trivandrum |title=Kesari Memorial Hall – Pulimood, Trivandrum |date=2019-02-24 |website=EnteCity Places |language=en |access-date=2019-02-24 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224124324/http://entecity.com/places/business/kesari-memorial-hall-pulimood-trivandrum |url-status=dead }}</ref> A museum has also been set up at his residence in North Paravur, named ''Kesari Balakrishna Pillai Memorial Museum''.<ref name="Documentary to Reclaim Kesari’s Genius Screened">{{Cite web |url=http://www.newsexperts.in/documentary-to-reclaim-kesaris-genius-screened/ |title=Documentary to Reclaim Kesari's Genius Screened |date=2016-10-03 |website=News Experts |language=en-US |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> The 50th death anniversary function was marked by a seminar held at Kesari Memorial Hall, Pulimood when two books on Pillai, ''Kesari A Balakrishna Pillai - Karmaveeryathinte Sooryasobha'', and a collection of his writings, compiled by M. N. Vijayan.<ref>http://expressbuzz.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-remembered/232527.html{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Modern Kerala owes much to Kesari: VS">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/Modern-Kerala-owes-much-to-Kesari-VS/article15599288.ece |title=Modern Kerala owes much to Kesari: VS |date=2010-12-19 |newspaper=The Hindu|language=en-IN |access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> were published. Another seminar, entitled ''Kesariyude Lokam'', was organised by the [[Kerala Lalithakala Akademi]] in [[Thrissur]].<ref name="'Kesari gave new identity to Malayalam literature'">{{Cite web |url=https://article.wn.com/view/2010/12/19/Kesari_gave_new_identity_to_Malayalam_literature/ |title=Kesari gave new identity to Malayalam literature |date=2019-02-24 |website=article.wn.com |language=en |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref> The life of Pillai was the subject of two documentaries, the first by [[Rajiv Vijay Raghavan]] and the other, titled ''Kesari'', by [[K. R. Manoj]];<ref name="History of ideas" /> the latter work is being exhibited on a permanent loop at Kesari Balakrishna Pillai Memorial Museum.<ref name="Documentary to Reclaim Kesari’s Genius Screened" />

== Bibliography ==
=== Essays and criticism ===
* ''Navalokam'' (The New World)<ref name="A local cosmopolitan: Kesari Balakrishna Pillai and the invention of Europe for colonial India">{{Cite web |url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=2992 |title=A local cosmopolitan: "Kesari" Balakrishna Pillai and the invention of Europe for colonial India |date=2019-02-24 |website=Goldsmiths, University of London |language=en |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref>
* {{Cite book |title=Outlines of the proto-historic chronology of Western Asia : with some historic chronology of ancient India appended to it |last=Pillai |first=Kesari Balakrishna |date=2009 |publisher=Dept. of Publications, University of Kerala |isbn=978-8186397961 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |oclc=553376729}}
* Sankethika Nirupanangal Sahitya Nirupanangal<ref name="Datta1987" />
* ''Rupamanjari''<ref name="Literary Criticism">{{Cite web |url=http://content.inflibnet.ac.in/data-server/eacharya-documents/548158e2e41301125fd790cf_INFIEP_72/88/ET/72-88-ET-V1-S1__l_.pdf |title=Literary Criticism |date=2019-02-24 |website=INFLIBNET |page=18 |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref>
* ''Novel Prasthanangal''<ref name="Literary Criticism" />
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.indulekha.com/malayalam-books/essays/kesariyude-mukhaprasangangal-essays-kesari-a-balakrishna-pillai?sort=p.model&order=ASC&limit=220 |title=Kesariyude Mukhaprasangangal |publisher=DC Books |year=2010 |editor-last=Vijayan |editor-first=M. N. |page=236 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224003448/http://www.indulekha.com/malayalam-books/essays/kesariyude-mukhaprasangangal-essays-kesari-a-balakrishna-pillai?sort=p.model&order=ASC&limit=220 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite book |title=Charitrathinte Adiverukal |last=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai |publisher=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |year=1984 |isbn=9788176902496}}
* {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=59177&query_desc=au%253A%2522Kesari%2520A.%2520Balakrishnapilla%2522 |title=Charithra Padanangal |last=Kesari A. Balakrishnapilla |date=1992 |publisher=Bamsuri Books |edition=0 |language=Malayalam}}
* {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=47020&query_desc=au%253A%2522Kesari%2520A.%2520Balakrishnapilla%2522 |title=Kesariyude Sahityavimarshanangal |last=Kesari A. Balakrishnapilla |date=1986 |publisher=Sahithya Pravathaka Sahakarana |edition=0 |language=Malayalam}}
* {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=45258&query_desc=au%253A%2522Kesari%2520A.%2520Balakrishnapilla%2522 |title=Charithrathinte Adiverukal |last=Kesari A. Balakrishnapilla |date=1985 |publisher=Kerala Sahithya Accademi |edition=0 |language=Malayalam}}
* ''Kesariyude Lokangal'' - Edited by [[M. N. Vijayan]]<ref name="Kesari books">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KesariABPillai/Html/KesariABPillaiBooks.htm |title=Kesari books |date=2019-02-24 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-02-24}}</ref>

=== Translations ===
* ''Love'' by [[Guy de Maupassant]]
* [[Ghosts (play)|Ghosts]] by [[Henrik Ibsen]]

=== Works on Kesari ===
* {{cite book|author=K. M. George|title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtgtAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Sahitya Akademi}}
* {{Cite book |url=http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-keralathile-socrates-biography-k-balakrishnan |title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai: Keralathile Socrates |last=K. Balakrishnan |publisher=Green Books |year=2014 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001747/http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-keralathile-socrates-biography-k-balakrishnan |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite book |author=Multiple Authors |url=http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-karmaveeryathinte-sooryasobha-memoirs-many-authors |title=Kesari Balakrishna Pillai: Karmaveeryathinte Sooryasobha |publisher=Government of Kerala |year=2010 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224063859/http://www.indulekha.com/kesari-balakrishna-pillai-karmaveeryathinte-sooryasobha-memoirs-many-authors |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=135973&query_desc=au%253A%2522Vijayan.m.n%2522 |title=Kesariyude Charithra Gaveshanangal (3 volumes) |last=M. N. Vijayan |date=2010 |publisher=State Institute of Languages, Kerala |edition=1 |language=Malayalam}}
* {{Cite book |url=http://122.165.117.71/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=78325&query_desc=au%253A%2522Kesari%2520A.%2520Balakrishnapilla%2522 |title=Nava Kerala Shilpikal: Kesari. A. Balakrishna Pillai - BIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES |last=Kesari A Balakrishnapilla |date=1982 |publisher=Kerala History Association |language=Malayalam}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== Further reading ==
* "Kesari Balakrishna Pillai" by [[K. M. George (writer)|K. M. George]], Sahitya Akademi,1990.
* "Kesari A Balakrishna Pillai - Karmaveeryathinte Sooryasobha" by Information and Public Relations Department
* {{Cite web |url=https://keralamediaacademy.org/history-of-media/ |title=History of Media in Kerala |date=2019-02-24 |website=Kerala Media Academy |language=en-US |access-date=2019-02-24 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001724/https://keralamediaacademy.org/history-of-media/ |url-status=dead }}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJpC22hGSGU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/JJpC22hGSGU |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=kesari Balakrishna Pillai House in North Paravur |last=Muziris Heritage |date=2013-06-02 |website=YouTube |access-date=2019-02-24}}{{cbignore}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KesariABPillai/Html/KesariPage.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-02-24 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-02-24}}

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, Kesari Balakrishna}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Malayalam literary critics]]
[[Category:Journalists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Writers from Thiruvananthapuram]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male journalists]]

Kesari Balakrishna Pillai - Revision history

Alphabravodevelopmentreview at 19:16, 4 May 2026