K. C. Kesava Pillai[note 1] was born on February 4, 1868, in Travancore kingdom to Valiyavelichathu Veettil Raman Pillai and Desathu Lakshmy Amma.[2] His early schooling was at Paravur Malayalam School where he studied up to 5th standard and followed it up with Sanskrit studies under the tutelage of Paravur Kesavan Asan and grammar studies under Enakkattu Rajaraja Varma.[3] As a boy, Pillai regularly watched Kathakali and learnt the basics of Kathakali literature, costumes and mudras, besides gaining proficiency in music. Aged 15, he wrote his first attakadha, Prahladacharitham.[4] Simultaneously, he studied English with the help of a few friends while working as a Sanskrit teacher at a Vaidya School. In 1897, he joined as a Sanskrit teacher at a Malayalam school in Kollam but shifted to an English school in 1901 before moving to Thiruvananthapuram in 1901 as the teacher of Velayudhan Thampi, the son of Sree Moolam Thirunal, the then Maharajah of Travancore.[2]
Pillai married Kalyani Amma in 1890 but she died after two years. He married again in 1894; Nanikutty Amma, his father's niece, was the bride. A close associate of Pandalam Kerala Varma and A. R. Raja Raja Varma, Pillai died on September 4, 1913, at the age of 45 years.[4] On account of his musical and poetical achievements, he was awarded the title of Sarasa Gayaka KavimanibyKerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran.[5] Noted writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, R. Narayana Panickar, was his son-in-law.[6]
Kesava Pillai's body of literary work, written in Sanskrit and Malayalam languages, comprises an epic, three attakathas for Kathakali, two Thullal songs, eleven short poems, six khandakavyas, four plays, two stories and four commentaries.[7] He wrote Prahlaada Charitham, later renamed, Hiranyasuravadham, the first of this three attakathas, when he was only 15. It was reported that Pillai, with his advice, assisted A. R. Rajaraja Varma in writing Vritha Manjari.[2] His plays, such as Lakshmikalyanam, were reported to portray the social life of the Nair community of his times.[8]Kesaviyam, a mahakavya and Kerala Varma Vilasam, a poem on the life of Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran are two of his major works.[9]Kesaviyam has been written without observing the dvitīyākṣara prāsa (second syllable rhyming), which was in vogue during those times.[10]
Pillai composed six compositions, including Ganamalika, which has two volumes, besides over 100 songs.[7]Sadarama, one of his compositions,[11][12] is composed in the form of a Geya nataka, while Sangitamalika is an ensemble of 42 songs. The majority of his songs are devotional and are composed in ragas such as Todi, Sankarabharanam, Mohanam, Kapi, Kalyani and Pantuvarali.[4][13] One of his songs, 'Omanappennallayo... has been reworked by the Malayalam music director, M. Jayachandran, for the 2010 film, Kadaksham.[14]
Asanna Marana Chinta Satakam (Reflections of a Dying Man) although written for a competition, is a touching lyrical monologue with a predominant elegiac tone and anticipates the Khandakavyas or shorter poems of the poets of the renaissance. It has an underground connection with C. S. Subramanian Potti's Oruvilapam (A Lament: 1903), V. C. Balakrishna Panicker's Oruvilapam (A Lament:1908) and even Kumaran Asan's Veena Poovu (A Fallen Flower:1907) which may be thought of an elegy in disguise.
Sangeetha manjari and Sthavaratnavali: both contain kritis and bhajan songs
Sangeethamaalika and
Eswarasthothranga
Sthavaratnamalika
K. C. Kesava Pillai. Maya Gopala Bala (in Sanskrit). Raaga. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019. Raaga : Kaapi, Thaala: Aadi thala
