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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.
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