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{{Short description|Indian Tamil language folklorist and author (1908–2021)}}
{{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 = [[Kovilpatti]], [[Thoothukudi]], [[Madras Presidency]], British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|5|14|1923|9|16|df=y}}
| death_place = Puducherry, India
| period = 1938–2021
| genre = Short story, novel
| subject = Folklores, Rural life
| movement =
| notableworks = {{Plainlist|
* ''Gopalla Grammam''
* ''Gopallapurathu Makkal''
* ''Nattuppura Kadhai Kalanjiyam''
}}
| spouse = Ganavathiammal
| partner =
| children = Diwakar, Prabhakar
| relatives =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = 1991: Sahitya Akademi Award
| signature =
| website =
| portaldisp =
}}

'''Rayangala 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 acclaimed 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 | publisher=[[The Times of India]] | date=19 May 2021 | accessdate=5 June 2021}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rajanarayanan was born on 16 September 1923 in Idaiseval village 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}}</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}}</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=http://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 most acclaimed 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=http://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 2003, 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 ==
Rajanarayanan was married to Kanavathi Ammal. The couple had two sons.<ref name=":3" /> He 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|others=Special Correspondent|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>

==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}}</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''

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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

{{Authority control}}

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

Ki. Rajanarayanan - Revision history

->GreenC bot at 18:10, 24 October 2021