Vayalar Ramavarma

He was also a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1962. His collaborations with G. Devarajan produced the golden era of Malayalam film music and many songs written and composed by this duo remain classics in Malayalam. Ramavarma is regarded as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed lyricist in the history of Malayalam cinema.

• Name — Vayalar Ramavarma • Born — 25 March 1928 • Birthplace — Vayalar, Alappuzha, Travancore, India • Died — 27 October 1975 • Place of death — Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram • Occupation — Lyricist, poet • Genre — Poetry, lyrics • Years Active — 1956–1975 • Children — 4, including Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma • Parents — * Kerala Varma • Ambalika Thamburatti • Notable Works — * Paadamudrakal • Enikku Maranamilla • Oru Judas Janikkunnu • Ente Maattolikkavithakal • Awards — * 1962 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry • 1969 Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics • 1972 National Film Award for Best Lyrics • 1972 Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics • 1974 Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics • 1975 Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics

• Illustration — The memorial at the poet's home Raghavaparambu, in Vayalar • Illustration — Bust of Vayalar Ramavarma in Manaveeyam Veedhi, Thiruvananthapuram. • Illustration — Vayalar handwriting Ramavarma was born on 25 March 1928, at Vayalar, a small village in Alappuzha district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Vellarappilli Kerala Varma and Raghavaparambil Ambalika Thamburatti. He lost his father at an early age and his education in the traditional gurukula way, was supervised by his uncle, which was followed by formal education at the Sanskrit School as well as Cherthala English School. He started writing poetry while in school, publishing the first poem in "Swarat" magazine, which he continued after discontinuing education after 9th standard and published poems in periodicals such as "Arunodayam" and "Chakravalam". He started a weekly in 1951, under the name, Janadhipathyam, but the weekly, which published articles promoting communist ideals, did not last long. Subsequently, he served as the editor of a publication from Madras. Ramavarma married Puthekovilakathu Chandramathi Thamburatti in 1951; the couple did not have children. In 1957, he married Bharathi Thamburatti, the younger sister of Chandramathi Thamburatti, and the couple had a son, Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma, a noted poet and lyricist, and three daughters, Indulekha, Yamuna and Sindhu. He died on 27 October 1975, at the age of 47, following a surgery at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram where he had been admitted for the treatment of cirrhosis. Later revelations by poet, Ezhacherry Ramachandran, that the actual cause of death was medical negligence, created a controversy, but Ramachandran later refused to stand by his earlier statement. The memoirs of his wife, Bharathi Thamburatti, titled Indradanussinte Theerathu, also became controversial due to certain remarks made in the book about K. J. Yesudas.

Ramavarma's first poetry anthology was Padamudrakal, in 1948 which reflected his affinity towards Gandhian ideals in those days. Later he changed his thought towards communism and keep close contact with the communist party of India. There are notable literature works against cast and communal systems in Kerala even though he is from an upper caste family. But he had a good affinity towards Indian culture which is reflected in the poem Sargga Sangeetham. Between 1950 and 1961, he published a number of anthologies including Konthayum Poonoolum (1950), Naadinte Nadam, Enikku Maramamilla, Mulankadu (1955), Oru Judas Janikkunnu (1955), Ente Mattolikavithakal (1957), and Sargasangeetham (1961), a khandakavyam titled Ayisha, two short story anthologies, Raktham Kalarnna Mannu and Vettum Thiruthum as well as a travelogue by name, Purushantharangaliloode, which detailed his experiences during his first trip to Delhi in 1956 to participate in the Asian Writers' Conference. With the popularity of his poems, he was known to have brought poetry to the common man's domain.

Ramavarma shifted his base to Madras to take up the editorship of a magazine and this move to the city helped him to get associated with Malayalam film industry which was based there during those days. In 1956, he got the opportunity to write the lyrics for Koodappirappu, a J. D. Thottan film, for which 10 songs composed by K. Raghavan were written by him. Overall, he wrote over 1300 songs for 245 Malayalam movies, 135 songs for 29 music albums and for several plays, of which 755 songs were composed by G. Devarajan. One among the three major lyricists of his times, P. Bhaskaran and O. N. V. Kurup completing the trio, Rama Varma's lyrics were known to have brought the Malayalam film songs closer to poetry.

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