Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan

M. R. Ramakrishna Panikkar (22 March 1935 – 31 March 2008), popularly known as Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan or Kadammanitta, was an Indian poet. He was born in Kadammanitta province of Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. His childhood experiences, especially the Patayani songs, had a strong influence on his literary work. Early life Ramakrishnan was born on 22 March 1935 to Meletharayil Raman Nair and Kuttiyamma. He completed schooling at his home village of Kadammanitta and at the nearby town of Pathanamthitta. He was influenced by the traditional religious art form of Patayani even from his childhood. After his degree studies, he went to Kolkata and then reached Chennai. He was employed with the Postal Audits and Accounts department in 1959. He worked in Thiruvananthapuram from 1967 until his retirement in 1992. Literary life Ramakrishnan's poem Njan was published in 1965 in M. Govindan's Sameeksha magazine. Kadammanitta played a role in reviving interest in poetry by holding thousands of recital sessions in every nook and corner of Kerala in the 1970s and 80s. His work has been widely appreciated for its force, energy, and folk touch, and his work gave a mass appeal and popularity making poetry enjoyable even to commonman. Ramakrishnan's close association with literary and cultural luminaries, which included M. Govindan, Ayyappa Paniker, M. V. Devan, P. K. Balakrishnan, O. N. V. Kurup, Kavalam Narayana Panicker, D.Vinayachandran, and K. V. Thampi, helped him in the endeavour to give a popular image to Malayalam poetry recital. He had recited his fiery works at thousands of venues all over the state, besides editing a poetry journal Kerala Kavitha that attempted to take the essence of poetry from the academic cloisters to the realms of everyday life.