Malliyoor Sankaran Nampoothiry passes away

KOTTAYAM: 'Bhagavatha Hamsam' Brahmasree Malliyoor Sankaran Nampoothiry, 91, passed away at his residence in Kuruppanthara on Tuesday morning.He was cremated with state honours later in the day. He was keeping indifferent health for the past few months.The scholar who had dedicated his life to the worship of Lord Ganapathy, and to the rendering and exposition of Bhagavatham, had attracted people from all walks of life.Born into a Vedic Brahmin family, he started working as a temple priest. Later on, he became the chief priest of the Sree Maha Ganapathy Temple in Malliyoor.His Bhagavatham sessions are renowned for their blend of simplicity and erudition. He was awarded the title 'Bhagavatha Hamsam', having successfully completed 2,500 saptahams.He was also awarded the 'Poonthanam Puraskaram' instituted by the Akhila Bharatha Sree Guruvayoorappan Bhaktha Samithi and 'Dharmashreshta Puraskara' by Kerala Brahmana Sabha.Despite the poverty and illhealth which troubled him as a youth, Malliyoor rose to become an important spiritual guru the country has ever seen.Former Chief Minister K Karunakaran was an ardent follower of Malliyoor.ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan, former chief G Madhavan Nair, former President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, actor Jayaram, film director Shaji Kailas, mridangam player Karaikudi Mani and saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath are among his disciples.External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had visited him earlier this year.Malliyoor lost his wife Subhadra Antharjanam in 2004. He has two sons, Parameshwaran Nampoothiry and Divakaran Nampoothiry and two daughters, Ambika and Sumangali.