1. Poonthanam Nambudiri was a famous poet and a devotee of Guruvayurappan, who lived in Keezhattoor in what is Malappuram district, Kerala, India.
16 Facts About Poonthanam Nambudiri
1. 2.
Poonthanam Nambudiri is remembered for his masterpiece, Jnanappana which means "the song of divine wisdom" in Malayalam.
3.
Poonthanam Nambudiri was born in 1547 in the month of masi on the day of Aswini, at Keezhattoor, near Perinthalmanna in Malapuram district, into a Namboodiri Brahmin family.
4.
Poonthanam Nambudiri married at 20, but for a long time, they had no children.
5.
Poonthanam Nambudiri began to propitiate the Lord of Guruvayur by reciting the '[Santhana Gopalam]' and a son was born.
6.
Poonthanam Nambudiri called for a celebration and everybody known was invited, but the child died an hour before the Annaprasanam ceremony.
7.
Grief-stricken, Poonthanam Nambudiri sought refuge at Guruvayur and started praying with the puranic story of Kumaraharanam.
8.
The heartbroken Poonthanam Nambudiri, it is said, was consoled by Guruvayurappan himself, who lay down on his lap, for a moment, as a child.
9.
Poonthanam Nambudiri considered Lord Krishna as his son and achieved enlightenment.
10.
Poonthanam Nambudiri spent the rest of his life reading the Bhagavatham and singing the Lord's glories in simple Malayalam.
11.
Poonthanam Nambudiri was a contemporary of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, another famous poet from Athavanad.
12.
The chief poems of Poonthanam Nambudiri are Jnanappana, Bhasha Karnamritam and Kumaraharanam or Santanagopalam Pana.
13.
Poonthanam Nambudiri preached Namasmaranam, or the constant remembrance of the Lord's name, as the only way to reach Him.
14.
Poonthanam Nambudiri emphasised the futility of material existence and advocated instead service to the Lord through the Nama japa, or recitation of the names of the Lord, as the path to moksha.
15.
Poonthanam Nambudiri was like a VIP in any of the Forums.
16.
Poonthanam Nambudiri constructed a temple to install the lord on the "left" side of the house and it had come to be known as the left side temple during his times.