Poet who strove to get Malayalam classical status no more

Veteran poet and Malayalam scholar Puthussery Ramachandran, whose efforts resulted in Malayalam getting recognized as a classical language by the union government in 2013, passed away at his house here on Saturday, family sources said. Ramachandran (91) was suffering from age-related ailments, a family member said.

It was Ramachandran's tireless efforts resulted in Malayalam getting recognized as a classical language by the Central government in 2013. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the demise of Ramachandran was a major loss to the language, culture and progressive cultural movement of the state.

"When the leaders of the Communist movement went into hiding or was in prison after the Sooranad uprising, it was Ramachandran who led the revolutionary movement. He always maintained unity with the Left," Vijayan said. Vijayan also said Ramachandran's contribution to the field of linguistics was significant.

"Ramachandran showed exceptional commitment in discovering the historical documents with regard to the Malayalam language so that it could acquire the classical language status," Vijayan said. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala also expressed condolences on the demise of the veteran poet.

"It was his relentless effort that helped the Malayalam language to gain the classical language status," Chennithala said. Ramachandran has won many prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Akademi award, the prestigious Ezhuthachchan Puraskaaram in 2015, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award and many others.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)