Google Doodle Pays Tribute To Balamani Amma On Her 113th Birthday: Facts About The Mother Of Malayalam Poetry

Google Doodle is celebrating the 113th birth anniversary of Balamani Amma, popularly known as the 'amma' (mother) and 'muthassi' (grandmother) of Malayalam poetry. On this day in 1909, the renowned writer was born in Nalapat, her ancestral home in Thrissur district's Punnayurkulam.

Facts About Balamani Amma

• An Indian poet who wrote in Malayalam, Nalapat Balamani Amma was born on 19 July 1909.
• Although Amma did not receive any formal training or education, she was taught at home by her uncle Nalappat Narayana Menon, another renowned Malayali poet.
• At the age of 19, Amma married V.M. Nair, who later became the managing director and managing editor of Mathrubhumi, a popular Malayalam newspaper.
• She is the mother of writer Kamala Surayya, popularly known as Madhavikutty, known for her liberal treatment of female sexuality - who became an iconoclast in the popular culture of her generation as a result of her liberal treatment of women's sexuality.
• Kamala Surayya (also known as Kamala Das) translated a poem by her mother, "The Pen, " describing a mother's loneliness.

• Although mythological characters influenced her works, they presented women as powerful figures who remained ordinary humans at the same time.
• In addition to more than 20 anthologies of poetry, Balamani Amma also published several prose works and translations. In 1930, she published her first poem, "Kooppukai".
• The first recognition she received was the Sahithya Nipuna Puraskaram, an award given by Parikshith Thampuran, the former ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin.
• Her most famous works include Amma (Mother), Muthassi (Grandmother), and Mazhuvinte Katha (The Story of the Axe).
• She earned the titles of Amma (mother) and Muthassi (grandmother) of Malayalam poetry for her poetry.

• Her literary achievements include the Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award for Muthassi (1963), the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Muthassi (1965), the Asan Prize (1989), the Vallathol Award (1993), the Lalithambika Antharjanam Award (1993), the Saraswati Samman for Nivedyam (1995), the Ezhuthachan Award (1995), and the N. V. Krishna Warrier Award (1997).
• She also received India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 1987.
• Amma died of Alzheimer's disease on 29 September 2004.

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