Balamani Amma

Nalapat Balamani Amma, the great Poet in Malyalam Launguage. Google Doodle Celebrated Anniversary of Balamani Amma

Today Google honoured Amma with a Google Doodle on July 19, 2022, the anniversary of her birth. Discover more about Nalapat Balamani Amma.

Malayalam poetry was written by Indian poet Nalapat Balamani Amma. Amma (Mother), Muthassi (Grandmother), and Mazhuvinte Katha are some of her best-known compositions (The Story of the Axe). She received various honours and recognitions, including the Saraswati Samman, Padma Bhushan, Ezhuthachan Award, and Sahitya Akademi Award. She was the mother of novelist Kamala Surayya.

Biography of Balamani Amma

Born on 19 July 1909, Balamani Amma passed away on 29 September 2004.

Chittanjoor Kunhunni Raja and Nalapat Kochukutti amma welcomed Balamani Amma on July 19, 1909 in Nalappat, her ancestral home in Punnayurkulam, Ponnani taluk, Malabar District, British India. She received little formal schooling, but her maternal uncle's guidance and his library of books helped her develop as a poet. Nalapat Narayana Menon and Vallathol Narayana Menon, a poet, had an impact on her.

At the age of 19, Amma wed V.M. Nair, who later worked as an executive for an automobile manufacturer and rose to the positions of managing director and managing editor of the widely read Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi. After getting married, she moved to Kolkata to live with her husband V.M. Nair, who passed away in 1977.

Amma was the mother of Kamala Surayya, a writer who also goes by the name Kamala Das. Amma's poem "The Pen," which explores a mother's loneliness, was translated by Kamala Surayya. Daughter Sulochana and son Shyam Sunder are some of her other kids.

After suffering from Alzheimer's for prolong time, Amma passed away on September 29, 2004. She was cremated with full state honours present.

Poetry of Balamani Amma

More than 20 poetry anthologies, numerous prose works, and translations were all published by Balamani Amma. In 1930, "Kooppukai," her debut poem, was released. When she was given the Sahithya Nipuna Puraskaram by Parikshith Thampuran, the former king of the Kingdom of Cochin, she first gained attention. Balamani Amma's collection of poems from 1959 to 1986 is titled Nivedyam. An elegy written in memory of the poet Nalapat Narayana Menon, Lokantharangalil.

Collections of Famous Poems

Kudumbini (1936)
Dharmamargathil (1938)
Sthree Hridayam (1939)
Prabhankuram (1942)
Bhavanayil (1942)
Oonjalinmel (1946)
Kalikkotta (1949)
Velichathil (1951)
Avar Paadunnu (1952)
Pranamam (1954)
Lokantharangalil (1955)
Sopanam (1958)
Muthassi (1962)
Mazhuvinte Katha (1966)
Ambalathilekku (1967)
Nagarathil (1968)
Veyilaarumbol (1971)
Amruthamgamaya (1978)
Sandhya (1982)
Nivedyam (1987)
Mathruhridayam (1988)
To My Daughter (Malayalam)
Kulakkadavil
Mahavira

Awards and Recognition

She received the honorific titles Amma (mother) and Muthassi (grandmother) for her poems in the Malayalam language. Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri referred to Balamaniyamma as the "prophet of human grandeur" and mentioned how her poetry had inspired him in his address honouring her at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. She was a Gandhian, according to writer and critic M. N. Karassery, and her writings ought to be reexamined in light of the perception that Nathuram Godse embodies Indian nationalism.

Asan Prize (1989), Vallathol Award (1993), Lalithambika Antharjanam Award (1993), Saraswati Samman for Nivedyam (1995), Ezhuthachan Award (1995), Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for Muthassi (1963), Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Muthassi (1965), Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for Muthassi (1965), Kendra Sahitya Akadem (1997). She also received the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 1987.