EverettJat at 23:46, 7 February 2026

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{{Short description|Malayalam poet (1705–1770)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|image = File:Kunchan Nambiar Smrithi Mantapam Ambalappuzha alappuzha statue.jpg
| caption = Kunchan Nambiar statue in Ambalappuzha
|imagesize =
| name = Kunjan Nambiar
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1705|5|5}}
| birth_place = [[Palakkad]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| death_date = 1770
| death_place = [[Ambalappuzha]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| occupation = Poet
| yearsactive =
|
| spouse =
| homepage =
| children =
|}}
'''Kunchan Nambiar''' was a prominent [[Malayalam]] poet of the 18th century (1705-1770). Apart from being a prolific poet, Nambiar is also famous as the originator of the dance art form of [[Thulall|Thullall]], most of his works were written for use in Thullal performances. Social criticism wrapped in humour is the hallmark of his works. Nambiar is one of the foremost comedians in Malayalam, and he belongs to the [[Nambiar (Ambalavasi caste)|Ambalavasi]] community.<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar - Veethi profile" />

[[File:Kalakkathu Bhavanam - House of Kunchan Nambiar.jpg|thumb|right|Kalakkathu Veedu]]
Nambiar was born at <ref name="Kunchan Smarakam Fort Palakkad - Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam Fort Palghat Kerala India">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kerala-tourism.org/forts-of-kerala/kunchan-smarakam-fort.html |title=Kunchan Smarakam Fort Palakkad - Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam Fort Palghat Kerala India |date=2019-03-02 |website=www.kerala-tourism.org |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> ''Kalakkathu Veedu'' at [[Killikkurussimangalam]] in [[Palakkad district]] of the south Indian state of [[Kerala]];.<ref name="Major poets of Malayalam Literature">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralaculture.org/ |title=Major poets of Malayalam Literature |date=2019-03-02 |website=www.keralaculture.org |language=en |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> He spent his early childhood at [[Killikkurussimangalam]], his boyhood at Kudamaloor and youth at [[Ambalappuzha]], and learnt [[Kalaripayattu]] and [[Sanskrit]] from such masters as Mathoor Panickar, Dronaballi Naicker and Nannikod Unni Ravi Kurup, before moving to the court of [[Marthanda Varma]] of [[Travancore]] in 1748; later, he served at the court of his successor [[Dharma Raja]].<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770)">{{Cite web |url=http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/prd2/mala/lit21.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060323102704/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/prd2/mala/lit21.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-03-23 |title=prd-Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770) |date=2006-03-23 |publisher=Department of Public Relations, Government of Kerala |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> By the time he reached the royal court, he had already established himself as a poet.{{Refn|group=note|[[Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer]] propounded a theory that Kunchan Nambiar and [[Sanskrit]] poet, Rama Pānivāda, were the same person ("Pānivāda" means "Nambiar" in [[Sanskrit]]), but the argument has not been popularly accepted.<ref name="കുഞ്ചന്‍ നമ്പ്യാര്‍ - മലയാളത്തിന്‍റെ ഹാസ്യസാമ്രാട്ട്">{{Cite web |url=https://www.madhyamam.com/literature/literature-articles/kunjan-nambiar/2017/may/05/261431 |title=കുഞ്ചന്‍ നമ്പ്യാര്‍ - മലയാളത്തിന്‍റെ ഹാസ്യസാമ്രാട്ട് |date=2019-03-02 |website=Madhyamam |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref>}} The later part of his life, it is believed that Nambiar returned to Ambalapuzha where he died in 1770, at the age of 65, reportedly due to [[rabies]]

==Career==
{{quote box|align = right|width=22em|Many of Nambiar's verses have transformed into proverbs in Malayalam.
1. ചെറുപ്പ കാലങ്ങളിലുള്ള SHIലം മറക്കുമോ മാനുഷനുള്ള കാലം (''cheruppa kālangalil ulla sheelam marakkumo maanushanulla kālam'')
:Translation: How can a man forget habits that he acquired at his young age?
:Closest English equivalent: Old habits die hard
2. ദീപസ്തംഭം മഹാശ്ചര്യം, നമുക്കും കിട്ടണം പണം (''dīpastaṃM bhaṃ mahāścaryaṃ namukkuṃ kiṭṭaṇaṃ paṇaṃM'')
:Translation: Your ''Deepa-Stambham'' (A multi-layered oil lamp) is magnificent, and we too want our share of money.
:Closest English equivalent: When it is a question of money, everyone is of the same religion.
3. മുല്ലപ്പൂമ്പൊടി ഏറ്റു കിടക്കും കല്ലിനും ഉണ്ടാം ഒരു സൗരഭ്യം (''mullappūmpoṭi ēṯṯu kiṭakkuṃ kallinuṃ uṇṭāṃ oru saurabhyaṃ'')
:Translation: The stone where the pollen of the jasmine flower falls acquires its fragrance.
}}
[[File:Mizhavu of Kunchan Nambiar.jpg|thumb|right|Mizhavu used by Kunchan Nambiar at Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna temple]]
Kunchan Nambiar is considered by many as the master of Malayalam satirist poetry<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar memorial in Ambalappuzha gets facelift - Times of India">{{Cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Kunchan-Nambiar-memorial-in-Ambalappuzha-gets-facelift/articleshow/22128335.cms |title=Kunchan Nambiar memorial in Ambalappuzha gets facelift - Times of India |website=The Times of India |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> and is credited with the popularisation of a performing art known as [[Ottan Thullal]].<ref name="Ottanthullal - Dance Forms in Kerala">{{Cite web |url=https://www.kerala.me/specialities/dances/ottanthullal |title=Ottamthullal - Dance Forms in Kerala |date=2019-03-02 |website=kerala.me |language=en-US |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> The word, ''thullal'', means 'dance/jumping', but under this name Nambiar developed a new style of verse narration, interspersed with occasional background music and dance-like swaying movements. Popular belief is that Nambiar devised this art form for avenging the ridicule he had to suffer from a [[Chakyar Koothu]] performer who chastised Nambiar when he dozed off while accompanying the koothu performance on [[Mizhavu]].<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar - Veethi profile">{{Cite web |url=https://www.veethi.com/india-people/kunchan_nambiar-profile-2254-25.htm |title=Kunchan Nambiar - Veethi profile |date=2019-03-02 |website=veethi.com |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> He used pure Malayalam<ref name="Thullal and Aattakkatha">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralaculture.org/ |title=Thullal and Aattakkatha |date=2019-03-02 |website=keralaculture.org |language=en |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> as opposed to the stylised and [[Sanskrit]]ized Malayalam language of Chakyar Koothu, and adopted many elements from [[Padayani]] and [[Kolam Thullal|Kolam Tullal]] as well as some of the other local folk arts. There are three kinds of Tullal distinguished on the basis of the performer's costume and the style of rendering, viz., ''Ottan'', ''Seethankan'' and ''Parayan''. [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] [[Metre (poetry)|metres]] are used throughout although there is a quatrain in a [[Sanskrit]] metre. Kunchan Nambiar is known to have written 64 thullal stories.<ref name="The dramatic language of Ottanthullal">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/dance/The-dramatic-language-of-Ottanthullal/article16083266.ece |title=The dramatic language of Ottanthullal |last=Srikanth |first=Rupa |date=2016-10-27 |website=The Hindu |language=en-IN |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> He also developed new metres (for example; ''Vaytari metres'') based on the vocal notation for various talas. The language is predominantly [[Malayalam]] with a large admixture of colloquial and dialectal forms.<ref>Biographicon, 'Kalakkaththu Kunchan Nambiar'</ref>

== Honours ==
The Government of Kerala observes Nambiar's birthday, 5 May, as ''Kunchan Day''.<ref name="Kunjan Nambiar Memorial Society, Ambalappuzha & Killikurissi Mangalam">{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralaculture.org/ |title=Kunjan Nambiar Memorial Society, Ambalappuzha & Killikurissi Mangalam |date=2019-03-02 |website=www.keralaculture.org |language=en |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> A society, ''Kunjan Nambiar Memorial Society'', has been established by the government overseas the management of various memorials which include ''Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam'', Nambiar's house in Killikkurussimangalam,<ref name="The Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam, Killikkurissimangalam, Palakkad">{{Cite web |url=https://www.keralatourism.org/kerala-article/kunchan-nambiar-smarakam-lakkidi/119 |title=The Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam, Killikkurissimangalam, Palakkad |date=2019-03-02 |website=Kerala Tourism |language=en |access-date=2019-03-02}}</ref> ''Kunchan Memorial Library'', ''Kunchan Memorial Arts Society'', and ''Kunchan Memorial Society''.<ref name="Kunjan Nambiar Memorial Society, Ambalappuzha & Killikurissi Mangalam" /> ''Kunchan Smarakam Fort'' is a fort built by the state government in honour of the poet and the monument houses an institution which promotes teaching of satirist art forms.<ref name="Kunchan Smarakam Fort Palakkad - Kunchan Nambiar Smarakam Fort Palghat Kerala India" />

Kunchan Nambiar's body of work is composed of at least 21 Otttan, 11 Seethankan and 9 Parayan compositions.<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770)" /> The most important of Nambiar's Thullals are: ''Syamanthakam'', ''Ghoshayathra'', ''Kiratham'', ''Santhanagopalam'', ''Patracharitham'', ''Karthaveeryarjunavijayam'', ''Bakavadham'', ''Kalyana Saugandhikam'', ''Hariniswayamvaram'', ''Thripuradahanam'' and ''Sabha Pravesham''. Nambiar was critical of the social evils he saw around him and incorporated his satirical views in his compositions even when the main story is from the [[Hindu]] [[Purana]]s; he would introduce digressions and use such occasions to comment on society.<ref name="Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770)" />

== Extracts from Kunchan Nambiar's poems/writings ==
[[File:Ambalappuzha Temple.JPG|thumb|235px|[[Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple]], the place where Nambiar is believed to have performed [[Ottan Thullal]] for the first time. ]]
*[[Ravana]] is speaking to [[Narada]] about his own prowess (Kartavirya Arjuna Vijayam):
<blockquote>
The kingdom of the Gandhara ruler 
Has turned into a mere desert. 
The land of the Sinhala King 
Is now filled with lions and leopards. 
The lord of the Chera people 
Feeds himself on cheap vegetables. 
The Chola King has nothing to eat 
Except the maize of low quality 
The kings of the Kuru house 
Have nothing but jackfruit seeds. 
The lord of the land of Kashmir 
Is busy eating cucumbers. 
The ruler of the Champeya land 
Eats only tubers and broken rice. 
The Konkan prince is about to die 
Thinking of his wives' breasts. 
</blockquote>

*Another passage from the same work:
<blockquote>
Tributes must be paid from time to time; 
Half the yield should be given to me. 
The whole of pepper yield should be handed over 
Coconut, arecanut, mango, jackfruit: 
All the trees should be confiscated. 
There will be no place in my country 
For the pomp of local barons. 
Double the seed crop should be given 
To me by houseowner. 
The Tamil Brahmins (Pattars) staying here 
Should also give one fourth to me. 
The Nayars who stay at home 
Should take their bows and spears 
And stay at the residence of Ravana 
And do whatever chores are assigned. 
Nayars who drink toddy 
Would be beaten up, beware! 
</blockquote>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Kunchan Nambiar}}
*[http://www.jaimalayalam.com/malaindex.htm Two poems by Nambiar (scroll down to "Poetry Section #1")]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060323102704/http://www.prd.kerala.gov.in/prd2/mala/lit21.htm |date=23 March 2006 |title=Kerala Government site on Kunchan Nambiar }}
*{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1DQR7x_OW8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/I1DQR7x_OW8| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Kunchan Nambiar Biography |last=Terms UP Malayalam |website=[[YouTube]]|date=2015-11-17 |access-date=2019-03-02}}{{cbignore}}

{{Triumvirates of Malayalam poetry}}
{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nambiar, Kalakkuthu Kunchan}}
[[Category:Theatre of India]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:Poets from Kerala]]
[[Category:1705 births]]
[[Category:1770 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Writers from Palakkad district]]

Kunchan Nambiar - Revision history

EverettJat at 23:46, 7 February 2026