7 Facts about Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon on his death anniversary

Vallathol Narayana Menon was born on 16 October 1878 and died on 13 March 1958. He was a Malayalam poet and one of the triumvirate of modern Malayalam poetry, along with Kumaran Asan and Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer

He earned the title Mahakavi after the publication of the Mahakavya Chitrayogam in 1913

He was a nationalist poet and wrote a series of poems on various aspects of the Indian Freedom Movement

He founded the Kerala Kalamandalam at Cheruthuruthy, near the banks of Bharathapuzha river

He is credited with revitalising the traditional Keralite dance form, Kathakali

He also wrote against the caste system, the tyranny of the British and Brahmanas and other social orthodoxies

Celebrated short poems of Vallathol include Sishyanum Makanum, Virasinkala, Achanum Makalum, Divaswapnam, and Ente Gurukulam