Kerala PSC - Leaders of Renaissance in Kerala - N. Kumaran Ashan

  1. N. Kumaran Ashan was born on 12 April 1873 in a merchant family belonging to the Ezhava Communist in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
  2. He is also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Ashan, the prefix Mahakavi, awarded by Madras University in 1922, means "great poet" and the suffix Ashan means "scholar" or "teacher".
  3. He was also a philosopher, a social reformer and a disciple of Sree Narayana Guru
  4. His father was Narayanan Perungudi, was well versed in Malayalam and Tamil and his mother was Kaali.
  5. In 1917 Asan married Bhanumathiamma, the daughter of Thachakudy Kumaran – younger brother of Padmanabhan Palpu's father. Bhanumathiamma, who was an active social worker, later remarried after Asan's death and she died in 1975.
  6. Asan inherited his taste for Kathakali and classical music. Kumaru trained in mathematics and Sanskrit for which he had a passion.
  7. He got a job as a primary school teacher and an accountant to a wholesaler at the age of 14, he quit the job two years later to pursue higher studies in Sanskrit.
  8. He undertook a studentship in poetry under Manamboor Govindan Asan.
  9. He wished to learn Yoga and Tantra and worked as an apprentice in a Muruga temple at Vakkom.
  10. He died aged 51 as a result of a boat accident in January 1924 while travelling to Kollam from a function in Alappuzha.
Important Question About Kumaran Ashan

1. Birthplace of Kumaranasan - Kayikkara (Thiruvananthapuram)
2. Born on - 12th April 1873
3. Kumaranasan died on - 1924 January 16
4. The only poet in Malayalam became Mahakavi without writing a Mahakavyam - Kumaranasan
5. The title 'Mahakavi' was given to Kumaranasan by - Madras University
6. Who was  known as 'Sneha Gayakan' (Poet of love) - Kumaranasan
7. First Malayalam poet appeared on Indian postal stamps - Kumaranasan.
8. The first poet to became a member of Travancore Legislative assembly- Kumaranasan
9. Kumaranasan was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala (the other two were Vallathol Narayana Menon and Ulloor S. Paraneswaralyer)
10. Kumaranasan undertook a studentship in poetry under - Manamboor Govindan Asan
11. The work of Kumaranasan written in the Vanchipattu Vruthum - Karuna
12. The plays were written by Kumaranasan - Vichitravijayam, Mrityunjayam 
13. Veena Poovu was published for the first time in - Mithavadi
14. Kumaranasan was honoured by Prince of Wales in - 1922
15. The character 'Mathangi' is in which poem of Kumaranasan - Chandalabhikshuki
16. "Change the rules, if not, you will be changed by them ' was the warning given by - Kumaranasan
17. The childhood name of Kumaranasan - Kumaru
18. The translation of 'Light of Asia' written  by Kumaranasan - Sribuddha Charitham
19.1First notable work of Kumaranasan - Veena Poovu
20. The spot where Asan met with premature death was later named - Kumarakoti