Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri was awarded the Jnanpith Award by Kerala Cultural Affairs Minister AK Balan at his residence on Thursday.The prestigious literary award was given to 93-year-old Akkitham, seated in an armchair at his home.Among more than 45 pieces of poetry, plays and short stories, Akkitham's work includes Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam, Balidarshanam and Dharma Sooryan.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who inagurated the event by video conference, said that the outlook of Akkitham towards life and the universe itself is formed by harsh realities."Velicham dukhamanunni, thamasallo sukhapradam Every common man repeated these lines of Akkitham and it's like a proverb for Keralites," said CM.
This is the second time that one of the highest honours in literature has been given to a native of Kumaranellur, a village in the Palakkad district of Kerala. In 2017, he was awarded Padma Shri.
It was through his orginal attempts that Akkitham presented society with the problems of both people and time. He has expressed in his works a peculiar originality,' said Minister AK Balan.The award was declared last year in November, but the handing over ceremony was postponed due to the lockdown of COVID-19.
In Malayalam, Akkitham is the only living poet to be named Mahakavi (great poet). In Malayalam poetry, the 93-year-old poet is instrumental in heralding modernism.