Kottarathil Sankunni Follow

Kottarathil Sankunni is a well-known author of Malayalam literature. He was born on 23rd March, 1855 in Kottayam town in the erstwhile Travancore State, which was then in the Madras Presidency of British India. From the age of 54, he began compiling common legends of Kerala, a task which took him a quarter of a century. These stories of famous figures in Kerala folklore, including Kaayamkulam Kochchunni and Sakthan Thampuraan, were first published in the renowned Malayalam literary magazine of the nineteenth century, the Bhashaposhini. These stories were then published, again in Malayalam, in the early twentieth century as an eight-volume book called Aithihyamaala (Garland of Legends) by the Reddiar Press in Kollam (Quilon of British India) in Kerala. Although he wrote both poetry and prose, including books on Kathakali and Thullal (cultural dances of Kerala), he is best known today as the author of the hugely popular Aithihyamaala. He died on 22nd July, 1937.