Nalapat Balamani Amma:Interesting Facts About The Legendary Malayalam Poet & Author from India
Google honoured highly praised Indian poet Balamani Amma on her 113th birth anniversary on 19 July, 2022, with a special Doodle.
Devika Ramachandran, a Kerala-based artist, created this doodle.
Nalapat Balamani Amma was a Malayalam poet from India.
Her best-known works in Malayalam poetry include Amma (Mother), Muthassi (Grandmother), and Mazhuvinte Katha (The Story of the Axe).
She received many honours and awards, including the Padma Bhushan, Saraswati Samman, Sahitya Akademi Award, and Ezhuthachan Award.
Balamani Amma was born on July 19, 1909, in her ancestral home Nalapat in Punnayurkulam, Malabar District, Kerala, to Chittanjoor Kunhunni Raja and Nalapat Kochukutti amma.
Despite not having received a formal education, the guidance of her maternal uncle and his library helped her become a poet.
She was influenced by Nalapat Narayana Menon and the poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.
She was the mother of Kamala Surayya, a well-known novelist and writer.
Balamani Amma married VM Nair when she was 19 years old. He was the managing director and editor of the Malayalam newspaper 'Mathrubhumi'.
In 1930, when Balamani Amma was just 21 years old, her first poem, "Koppukai," was published.
She also published other works, like translations, and more than 20 anthologies of poems.
Amma (1934), Muthassi (1962) and Mazhuvinte Katha (1966) are among her most well-known works.
She influenced many generations of Malayalam poets.
After suffering from Alzheimer's for five years, Amma passed away on September 29, 2004.
Her cremation was accompanied by full state honours.