Great poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri has passed away

Senior Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri has passed away. He was 94 years old. He died at a private hospital in Thrissur. Akkitham, who was admitted to the hospital due to geriatric ailments, passed away at 8.10 am on Thursday. At the end of decades of great poetic life, the 2019 Jnanpith award was sought by the great Malayalam poet.

With that, Akkitham became the sixth Malayalee writer to win the Jnanpith. The legendary Malayalam poet is leaving just days after receiving the grandest award in India at a ceremony organized simply by the Kovid expansion. Akhitham was born on March 18, 1926, in Amethyst Akkithath Mana, Kumaranalloor, Palakkad district to Akkithath Vasudevan Namboothiri and Chekoor Manakkal Parvathy Antharjanam.

He became acquainted with Sanskrit, music, and astrology at an early age and was the publisher of Unninamboodiri for three years from 1946. He got involved in community work through Unninamboodiri and has been the co-editor of Mangalodayam and Yogakshema. He has been working as a scriptwriter for All India Radio, Kozhikode since 1956. In 1975, he was the Editor of All India Radio, Thrissur. He retired from All India Radio in 1985.