Pannisseri Nanu Pillai

Who was Pannisseri Nanu Pillai?

Pannisseri Nanu Pillai was a poet, scholar, ascetic, critic and artist from Kerala, India, who specialised in the classical India genre of dance-drama known as Kathakali.

He was born in South Maruthoorkulangara village in Karunagappalli taluk, Kollam District, Kerala. His father was Vayalil Pappu Kurup and mother Planullil Kalyani Amma. His father died when Pillai was aged eight and his mother when he was eleven, after which he was raised by his brother and his uncle. He was educated in the village primary school and then Kollam High School, until his brother also died. Outside school, he was taught Sanskrit by Karingattil Nanu Asan and he also taught himself logic, grammar, poetics and drama. He eventually became a polyglot, with proficiency in languages such as Malayalam, Sanskrit, English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, and Arabic.

In 1913 Pillai became a disciple of Neelakanda Teerthapada Swami and later he followed Chattampi Swami and was close to Narayana Guru. Pillai could attain ‘Jnana Nishta’ by virtue of his acquiring enlightenment of salvation. He secured the title ‘Vidyapanan’ after his treatise The Objectivity of the Spirit.