The New Indian Express ·
The Konkani voice of Kochi, N Purushothama Mallya, no more
KOCHI: Padma Shri awardee, educationist, writer and Konkani language advocate N Purushothama Mallya, who worked tirelessly to preserve and promote the language in Kochi, died at his residence in Cherlai on Friday. He was 97.
Born in Mattancherry on May 7, 1929, Mallya was among the leading voices of Konkani literature and scholarship in Kerala. He played a key role in establishing the Konkani Bhasha Prachar Sabha in Mattancherry in 1966, the first such centre for the promotion of Konkani outside Goa.
A teacher and prolific writer, Mallya pioneered the Shataka form of poetry — 100-line poems — in Konkani literature and authored several books. His contribution went beyond creative writing. He researched the role of Konkani scholars in the making of Hortus Malabaricus, highlighting a lesser-known aspect of Kerala's intellectual and cultural history.
Mallya's scholarship also extended to translation. In 2002, he translated the complete Thirukkural of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar into Konkani. The work earned him the Sahitya Akademi Translation Award in 2008.
He went on to receive several honours, including the Madhav Manjunath Shanbhag Konkani Seva Award from the Goa Konkani Academy and the Vishwa Konkani Kendra Award. His lifelong work to promote Konkani in Kerala was recognised nationally when the Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on him in 2015.
For generations of Konkani-speaking people in Kochi, Mallya was more than a writer. He was a custodian of a language and cultural tradition that had taken deep root in the city's historic settlements. Through institutions, literature, translation and research, he helped give Konkani a stronger public and literary presence beyond its traditional heartland in Goa.
Mallya's passing marks the end of a long literary and cultural journey that linked Kochi's Konkani heritage with the wider world of Indian language