Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer

This article is about the poet. For the place, see Ulloor.

Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer
Born	(1877-06-06)6 June 1877 Changanacherry, Travancore
Died	15 June 1949(1949-06-15) (aged 72)
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Indian
Notable works	Umakeralam, Karnabhushanam, Pingala, Kerala Sahitya Charithram

Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer (18 June 1877 – 15 June 1949) (commonly known as Ulloor) was a Malayalam poet and historian. He was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century, along with Kumaran Asan and Vallathol Narayana Menon.

Ulloor was born at the Thamarassery Illam at Perunna, Changanassery. Since his ancestral home was at Ulloor, he came to be known as Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer. His father died when he was young and his mother raised him. He graduated with Honors in Philosophy from Maharajas College and joined the Travancore State Services. Later he took Degree in Law and Master's in Malayalam and Tamil. He was later appointed as the income tax officer and then as the Chief Secretary.

Ulloor published his mahakavya Umakeralam in 1914. Until then, only Pandalam Kerala Varma's Rukmamgadacharitham was considered as a complete mahakavya in Malayalam. Poet K. Ayyappa Paniker has noted that Umakeralam is a "work of great devotion: devotion to the land, to the language, to a poetic tradition" Ulloor, like his contemporaries Kumaran Asan and Vallathol Narayana Menon, also wrote a number of short narratives or khandakavyas, of which the most famous are Karnabhooshanam and Pingala. In the former he celebrates Karna's infinite generosity and dedication to principles. In the latter he tries to portray the transformation of a courtesan overnight into a pious and refined character – almost a saint. Some of his other best known works were Bhakthideepika, and Chithrasala. Uloor also wrote quite a large number of lyrics and shorter pieces, now available in various collections.

After Ulloor's death, the University of Kerala published one of his most noted works Kerala Sahitya Charithram, which describes the history of Malayalam language, culture, and literature. He studied ancient literature and palm leaf manuscripts to bring out old literary works such as Rama Charitham poem and Doothavakyam prose.

Legacy

The Indian Posts and Telegraph department released a commemorative stamp after Ulloor's death. A full size statue of Ulloor was unveiled by the Indian President Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy in Thiruvananthapuram on 15 May 1981.

External links

• Ulloor