# Pattinathār

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2025/11/10/pattinathar/
- Published: 2025-11-10T16:40:12+00:00
- Author: shuktara

Rate this post

**Author:** P. Ravikumar [⌊A sample cover of the book: black handloom sari with 
gold embossed nameplate and lettering for the title and author's name. The border
of the sari lines the right hand margin of the cover.⌉
 
**Translator:** M. Dakshinamurthy
**
Pages:** 86 **Year of Publication:** 2025 **Price:** Rs 350 **ISBN: **978-81-985733-
9-1 (9788198573391)

_**About the Author**_
 Born in October 1952, P. Ravikumar has written three long
poems in Malayalam and many articles on music and literature. His first poem, _M.
D. Rāmanāthan_, appeared in 2004, his second, _Nachiketas_, in 2009, and his third,
_Pattināthar,_ in 2024. _M. D. Rāmanāthan_ has been translated into Hindi, English(
both in 2014) and Tamil (2019). _Nachiketas_ has been translated into English by
M. Dakshinamurthy, into Hindi by D. Thankappan Nair, and into Polish by Dr Hanna
Urbanska. It is prescribed for detailed study for the MA degree in Malayalam by 
Calicut University. Ravikumar is also a music critic and journalist and was on the
editorial board of the _Kerala Kaumudi_ daily. He received an award for the best
editorial.

_**About the Translator**_
 Born in January 1944, M. Dakshinamurthy obtained his
MA in English from Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam (Kerala). He writes poems and essays
in English, Malayalam and Tamil and has translated from and into these languages.
He won the Ulloor Award of Thiruvananthapuram Tamil Sangham in 2008. His published
works include _English Kālpanikatā_, a critical work in Malayalam explaining the
literary theories of the English Romantics; _Jnān Janichittilla_, a journey into
the self in Malayalam; and _Divyadarsanam_, a collection of poems in Tamil. His 
translation of P. Ravikumar’s _**[M D Rāmanāthan](https://writersworkshopindia.com/books/m-d-ramanathan/)**_
was published by **Writers Workshop**, India, in 2015, and _**[Nachiketas](https://writersworkshopindia.com/books/nachiketas/)**_,
in 2019.

_**Teaser**_

In his preface, Ravikumar writes:

“My mother’s relatives used to visit my house and stay with us for a few days during
my childhood. They were quite ordinary elderly people. They would sit outside the
house after supper, sing Tamil songs and tell stories. The stories were about the
lives of Saiva saints like Sivavākyar, Pattinathār, Rāmalinga Swāmikal and others.
It was their songs that the elders sang. Pattinathār’s songs and his life left a
deep impression in my mind. My mother, too, used to tell me stories about Pattinathār
quite often…

Thus, in my seventieth year, I wrote my poem on Pattinathār, whose songs and life
had become part of my blood right from my childhood.”

_**Review**_
 An excerpt of a review by Shibu Natesan is given below:

**Seeing One’s Own Self**

“When a poet portrays the life of an individual who has influenced him deeply and
filled his mind in his waking state and dreams, it becomes the poet’s own autobiography.
It is basically the poet’s vision of himself. We can see this in all the poems of
Ravikumar. We experience this self-vision in _M. D. Rāmanāthan, Nachiketas_ and 
_Pattinathār_.”

Shibu Natesan

 

---

## Book Buying Inquiry

"*" indicates required fields

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your Name*

Email*

Phone*

Address*

PIN Code*

Number of Copies*

Please enter a number from **1** to **100**.