K. C. Kesava Pillai

Kanakku Chembakaraman Kesava Pillai (1868–1914) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a poet of Malayalam literature. He was the Poet Laureate of Travancore and was known for Kesaveeyam, a mahakavya in Malayalam, two attakathas and several bhajans and kirtans. He also translated the Sanskrit text, Narayaniyam, into Malayalam under the title, Bhashanarayaniyam.

Biography K. C. Kesava Pillai was born on February 4, 1868, in Travancore kingdom to Valiyavelichathu Veettil Raman Pillai and Desathu Lakshmy Amma. His early schooling was at Paravur Malayalam School where he studied up to 5th standard and followed it up with Sanskrit studies under the tutelage of Paravur Kesavan Asan and grammar studies under Enakkattu Rajaraja Varma. As a boy, Pillai regularly watched Kathakali and learnt the basics of Kathakali literature, costumes and mudras, besides gaining proficiency in music. Aged 15, he wrote his first attakadha, Prahladacharitham. Simultaneously, he studied English with the help of a few friends while working as a Sanskrit teacher at a Vaidya School. In 1897, he joined as a Sanskrit teacher at a Malayalam school in Kollam but shifted to an English school in 1901 before moving to Thiruvananthapuram in 1901 as the teacher of Velayudhan Thampi, the son of Sree Moolam Thirunal, the then Maharajah of Travancore. Noted writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, R. Narayana Panickar, was his son-in-law. Dr.Sreenath.P.R, Neurosurgeon at KMCIMS is his relative.

Legacy Literary work Kesava Pillai's body of literary work, written in Sanskrit and Malayalam languages, comprises an epic, three attakathas for Kathakali, two Thullal songs, eleven short poems, six khandakavyas, four plays, two stories and four commentaries. He wrote Prahlaada Charitham, later renamed, Hiranyasuravadham, the first of this three attakathas, when he was only 15. It was reported that Pillai, with his advice, assisted A. R. Rajaraja Varma in writing Vritha Manjari. Kesaviyam, a mahakavya and Kerala Varma Vilasam, a poem on the life of Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran are two of his major works. Kesaviyam has been written without observing the dvitīyākṣara prāsa (second syllable rhyming), which was in vogue during those times.

Music Pillai composed six compositions, including Ganamalika, which has two volumes, besides over 100 songs. is composed in the form of a Geya nataka, while Sangitamalika is an ensemble of 42 songs. The majority of his songs are devotional and are composed in ragas such as Todi, Sankarabharanam, Mohanam, Kapi, Kalyani and Pantuvarali. One of his songs, "Omanappennallayo...", has been reworked by the Malayalam music director, M. Jayachandran, for the 2010 film, Kadaksham.