THRISSUR: Noted Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri passed away at a private hospital in Thrissur Thursday morning at 7.55 am. He was 94. He was under treatment for old age ailments. He was admitted in the hospital two days back after he developed uneasiness. He was in the intensive care unit due to health concerns. The Jnanpith Award was handed over to the poet on September 24 at a special function held at his house at Kumaranallur in Palakkad. He was also presented the Puthur Award a few days back.

He was the sixth Keralite to receive the Jnanpith. He was the recipient of Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Vayalar award etc. The country had honoured him with the Padma Shri. A writer and journalist Akkitham's ‘Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam’ was considered as one of the beginnings of modernity in Malayalam poetry.

Akkitham was born on March 18, 1926 at Amettikkara, near Kumaranallur in Palakkad to Amettu Akkithathu Manayil Vasudevan Namboothiri and Checkur Manaykkal Parvathy Antharjanam. After schooling in Sanskrit, Astrology and Music, he did college education but did not complete his degree.

He started his career as an editor of Unni Namboothiri magazine, which he used as a platform for his social activities. He also worked as an assistant editor at Mangalodayam and Yogakshemam magazines. In 1956, he joined the Kozhikode station of the All India Radio (AIR) where he served until 1975 after which he was transferred to the Thrissur station of the AIR. He was also associated with Anaadi, a literary initiative for popularising studies of Vedas.

Akkitham was married to Sreedevi Antharjanam and the couple has a son Narayanan and daughter Sreeja. The family lives in Amettikkara. His wife died on March 13, 2019 aged 85. Noted painter Akkitham Narayanan is his younger brother.

Akkitham's literary works began to gain wide attention in the early 1950s and Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (Epic of the 20th Century), a khandakavya is one of the first truly modernist poems in Malayalam literature, the book also won the Sanjayan Award in 1952. He had published around 45 books comprising poetry anthologies, plays and short stories. Balidarsanam (The Vision of Bali), Arangettam, Nimisha Kshetram, Idinju Polinja Lokam, Amritaghatika, and Kalikkottilil are some of his notable poetry anthologies. Upanayanam and Samavarttanam, two collections of essays, feature among the writings in prose. Sree Mahabhagavatham, his translation of Srimad Bhagavatam, composed of 14,613 verses, covers over 2,400 pages.

Akkitham has been involved in social reform activities and through his association with Yogakshema Sabha, he has strived to bring in reforms in the lives of the Namboothiri Brahmins of Kerala. He was associated with various centres in Thirunavaya, Kadavallur and Thrissur, for the promotion of vedic studies. He was also associated with the Paliyam Sathyagraha, a peaceful protest against untouchability in 1947.

Akkitham received the Sanjayan Award in 1952, for his work, Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1971 for Balidarshanam. He received two major honours in 1973, the Sahitya Akademi Award for Balidarshanam and the Odakkuzhal Award for Nimisha Kshetram. He was selected for the Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram in 1994 and two years laterfor the 1996 Lalithambika Antharjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award, followed by the Vallathol Award in 1997.

The next major honour for Akkitham came by way of Vayalar Award which he received in 2012. The Government of Kerala awarded him Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, their highest literary award in 2016. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the Government of India in 2017. He could not attend the investiture ceremony due to ill health; the award was later handed over to him by the district collector of Palakkad. He received Jnanpith Award, the highest Indian literary award, in 2019. He is also a recipient several other honours such as Krishna Geedhi Award, Nalappad Award, Puthezhan Award, Moorti Devi Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith and Amrita Keerti Puraskar (2004).