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{{Infobox writer<br />
| name = Kottarathil Sankunni<br />
| image = Kottarathil sankunni.jpg<br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1855|03|23}}<br />
| birth_place =<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1937|07|22|1855|03|23}}<br />
| death_place =<br />
| occupation = Writer<br />
| nationality = [[India]]n<br />
| genre = Novel, short Story<br />
| spouse = Sreedevi Amma, Lakshmy Amma, Devaki Amma<br />
| children = <br />
| relatives = {{ubl|Vasudevan Unni (father)|Nangayya (mother)}}<br />
| notableworks = [[Aithihyamala]]<br />
| awards = ''Kavithilakan''<br />
}}<br />
'''Kottarathil Sankunni''' (born Vasudevan, 1855–1937) was an Indian writer of [[Malayalam literature]]. Best known as the author of [[Aithihyamala]], an eight-volume compilation of century-old legends about [[Kerala]],<ref name="Retelling culture">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-literaryreview/retelling-culture/article3219188.ece |title=Retelling culture |date=2006-10-01 |newspaper=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-10}}</ref> Sankunni's writings cover prose and poetry, including verses for [[Kathakali]] and [[Ottan Thullal]]. He was one of the founding members of ''Bhashaposhini Sabha'' founded by [[Kandathil Varghese Mappillai]] and was also involved with ''Bharata Vilasam Sabha'', another literary initiative. He died on July 22, 1937.<br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Kottarathil Sankunni was born on March 23, 1855 at Kodimatha, in [[Kottayam district]] of the south Indian state of [[Kerala]] (erstwhile [[Travancore]]) to Vasudevan Unni-Nangayya couple.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KOTTARATHILSANKUNNI/Html/Kottarathilgraphy.htm |title=Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |date=2019-03-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal |access-date=2019-03-10}}</ref> The boy, whose name at birth was Vasudevan but was called ''Thanku'', ''Sanku'' and later ''Sankunni'', did his early schooling under the tutelage of a local teacher and later, studied Sanskrit under Manarkattu Sanku Warrier and traditional medicine under Vayskara Aryan Narayanan Mooss. He joined [[Malayala Manorama]] in 1890 as the editor of their poetry section during which time he tutored a few Britishers the language of Malayalam. In 1893, he was selected as a Malayalam teacher at M. C. High School.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /><br />
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Sankunni married for the first time in 1881 but after the death of his first wife, married Evoor Panaveliveettil Sreedevi Amma in 1887. he married twice more, the brides were Panaveli Lakshmy Amma and Pengali Thekkethu Devaki Amma.<br />
He died on 22 July 1937, at the age of 82.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /><br />
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== Legacy ==<br />
[[File:ഭാരത വിലാസം സഭ.jpg|thumb|235px|Bharatha Vilasam Sabha – Kottarathil Sankunni, [[Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer]], [[Kodungallur Kunjikkuttan Thampuran]] and [[Vallathol Narayana Menon]] are seen in the picture]]<br />
Sankunni's contributions cover both prose and poetry, including [[Kathakali]] literature, [[Ottan thullal|Thullal]], [[kilipattu]], ''vanchipattu'' and other genres of literature.<ref name="Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal" /> His works include:<ref name="List of works">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KOTTARATHILSANKUNNI/Html/KSankunniBooks.htm |title=List of works |date=2019-03-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-03-10}}</ref><br />
* ''Aithihyamala'', a collection of legendary stories including those about ''[[Kadamattathu Kathanar]]'', ''[[Kayamkulam Kochunni]]'', ''[[Parayi petta panthirukulam]]'' and others.<br />
* ''Sreerama pattabhishekam'' (Kathakali)<br />
* ''Adhdhyathmaramayanam'' (Translation)<br />
<br />
He was also involved with two literary initiatives, the ''Bhashaposhini Sabha''<ref name="Bhashaposhini Sabha">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/ksa/Chithrasala/Html/Bhashaposhini.htm |title=Bhashaposhini Sabha |date=2019-03-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-03-10}}</ref> founded by [[Kandathil Varghese Mappillai]] and the ''Bharata Vilasam Sabha'', an organization where most of the literary figures of that period were members.<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=PA1735|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|pages=1735–}}</ref><br />
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== Aithihyamala ==<br />
{{Main|Aithihyamala}}<br />
Sankunni started compiling the legends of Kerala in 1909 and it took over a quarter to a century for him to complete the work. ''[[Aithihyamala]]'' (''Garland of Legends''), once completed was an eight-volume compilation of legends and old stories, popular in Kerala over the centuries. The work comprises eight volumes, containing 126 chapters.<ref name="Archived copy">{{Cite web |url=http://cs.nyu.edu/kandathi/kottarathil.html |title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609145007/http://cs.nyu.edu/kandathi/kottarathil.html |archive-date=9 June 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=2012-08-13 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was first serialised in [[Bhashaposhini]] literary magazine. Later, it was published by the Reddiar Press in Quilon, in the early twentieth century. ''Kottarathil Sankunni Memorial Committee'' entrusted National Book Stall to reprint the work in 1974 and in 1991, [[D. C. Books]] published it in a new format.<ref name="Aitihyamāla">{{Cite book |title=Aitihyamāla |last=1855-1937. |first=Śaṅkuṇṇi, Koṭṭārattil |date=2011 |publisher=D C Books |isbn=9788126422906 |location=Kottayam |oclc=769743773}}</ref> The book is known to have sold over 150,000 copies until 2004.<br />
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== Bibliography ==<br />
=== Selected works ===<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Aithihyamala |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=2015 |isbn=9788126422906 |oclc=960468561}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Kṣhēthr̲amāhātmyaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1931 |publisher=Maṅgaḷōdayaṃ Pr̲ass |location=Tr̥śśūr |oclc=43104218}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Seemanthinīcharitaṃ: bhāṣānāṭakaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1935 |publisher=Keralodayam Press |location=Trichur |oclc=37527198}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Kuchēlagōpālaṃ: nāṭakaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1909 |publisher=Bhārativilāsaṃ Accukūṭaṃ |location=Tr̥śśūr |oclc=38510750}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Addhyātmarāmāyaṇaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1980 |publisher=Kottarathil Sankunni Memorial Committee ; Distributors, Kar̲ant̲ Buks |location=Kottayam; Tiruvanantapuraṃ |language=Malayalam |oclc=11496946}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Lakṣmībhāīśatakaṃ: maṇipr̲avāḷaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1908 |publisher=Bhāratavilāsaṃ Pr̲ass |location=Tr̥śśūr |oclc=38510783}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Māṭhamahīśhaśatakaṃ: maṇipr̲avāḷaṃ |last=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first=Koṭṭārattil |date=1908 |publisher=Bhāratavilāsaṃ |location=Tr̥śśūr |oclc=39133272}}<br />
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=== Translations into English ===<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Tales from Kerala |last1=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first1=Koṭṭārattil |last2=Wood |first2=Reade (translator) |date=1997 |publisher=publisher not identified |location=India |language=English |oclc=43779950}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Aithihyamaala: the great legends of Kerala |last1=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first1=Koṭṭārattil |last2=Śr̲īkumāri Rāmacandran (translator) |date=2016 |isbn=9788182666252 |language=English |oclc=1032243481}}<br />
* {{Cite book |title=Tales once told: legends of Kerala adapted from Kottarathil Sankunni's Ithihyamala |last1=Śaṅkuṇṇi |first1=Koṭṭārattil |last2=Eraly |first2=Abraham (translator) |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-309968-0 |location=New Delhi; New York, NY |language=English |oclc=76902803}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.keralasahityaakademi.org/sp/Writers/PROFILES/KOTTARATHILSANKUNNI/Html/KottarathilSankuni.htm |title=Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi |date=2019-03-10 |website=Kerala Sahitya Akademi |access-date=2019-03-10}}<br />
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e8zuTeZCv4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/4e8zuTeZCv4 |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|title=Kottarathil Sankunni – A Radio illustration |last=Vishnu B |date=2013-07-20 |website=YouTube |publisher=All India Radio |access-date=2019-03-10}}{{cbignore}}<br />
{{Commons category}}<br />
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{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:1855 births]]<br />
[[Category:1937 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Kottayam]]<br />
[[Category:Malayali people]]<br />
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male poets]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]<br />
[[Category:Poets from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]</div>->Rlink2