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{{Short description|Indian writer and translator}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Tharavath Ammalu Amma
| image =File:Tharavath Ammaluamma.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Ammalu Amma
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|4|26|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[British India]]
| nationality =
| death_place = {{death date and age|df=yes|1936|6|6|1873|4|26}}
| death_date =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Translator, novelist
| movement =
| notableworks =
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
| awards =
| influences =
| signature =
}}
{{Indian name|Ammalu Amma|Tharavath}}
'''Tharavath Ammalu Amma''' was a [[Malayalam]] language writer and translator born in [[Madras presidency]], [[British India]] (present-day [[Kerala]], [[India]]). She translated many works from [[Sanskrit]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]] to [[Malayalam]].

Ammalu Amma's 1914 novel ''Kamalabhai Athava Lakshmivilasathile Kolapathakam (Kamalabhai or the murder at Lakshmivilasam)'' was the first detective novel written by a woman in Malayalam. She was the only writer who was refused the "Sahitya Sakhi", the highest literary award in the then [[Kingdom of Cochin]].

==Biography==
Ammalu Amma was born on 26 April 1873, in the Tharavath family of present-day [[Palakkad district]], Kerala to Tharavath Kumminiamma and Chinchamveetil Shankaran Nair who was a [[tehsildar]].<ref name="Kerala">{{Cite web |date=2021-04-13 |title=തരവത്ത് അമ്മാളു അമ്മ |url=https://www.keralawomen.gov.in/ml/Tharavath_Ammalu_Amma |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=Kerala Women |publisher=Government of Kerala |language=ml |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310065622/https://www.keralawomen.gov.in/ml/Tharavath_Ammalu_Amma |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{Cite web |title=തരവത്ത് അമ്മാളു അമ്മ; 1914 ൽ ഡിറ്റക്ടീവ് നോവലെഴുതിയ മലയാളി സ്ത്രീ |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/literature/features/tharavath-ammalu-amma-death-anniversary-1.4810036 |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=[[Mathrubhumi]] |language=ml |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310065619/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/literature/features/tharavath-ammalu-amma-death-anniversary-1.4810036 |url-status=live }}</ref> Tharavath Ammalu Amma's ancestors came from [[Malabar District|Malabar]] to Palakkad Parali during [[Tipu Sultan]]'s invasion.<ref name="anweshanam">{{Cite web |first=Rajeev M |last=Kumar |date=2021-09-24 |title=ദിഗംബര സ്മരണകൾ; "സാഹിത്യസഖി" വാങ്ങാൻ കൂട്ടാക്കാത്ത തരവത്ത് അമ്മാളു അമ്മ; എം.രാജീവ് കുമാർ |url=https://anweshanam.com/opinion/digambara-memoirs;-ammalu-amma-refuses-to-buy-sahityasakhi;/cid5278729.htm |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=anweshanam.com |language=ml |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310065635/https://anweshanam.com/opinion/digambara-memoirs;-ammalu-amma-refuses-to-buy-sahityasakhi;/cid5278729.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> She had one brother, doctor T. M. Nair.<ref name="Kerala"/> She was taught letters and elementary lessons by a native teacher. Along with this, she also studied [[Sanskrit]] and music at home.<ref name="Kerala Women">{{Cite web |date=2020-03-01 |title=തരവത്ത് അമ്മാളുവമ്മ |url=https://keralawomen.gov.in/ml/node/286 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Kerala Women |publisher=Government of Kerala |language=ml |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310074145/https://keralawomen.gov.in/ml/node/286 |url-status=live }}</ref> After that she started learning mathematics and later [[Tamil language]] from his father.<ref name="Kerala Women"/>

She was well versed in Malayalam, Sanskrit and Tamil.<ref name="Kerala"/> The Maharaja of Cochin was willing to grant the "Sahitya Sakhi" award to her, but she rejected it. She was the only writer who was refused the "Sahitya Sakhi", the highest literary award in the then [[Kingdom of Cochin]].<ref name="anweshanam"/>

She died on 6 June 1936.<ref name="Kerala"/>

===Personal life===
Ammalu Amma married thrice.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> She was married first at the age of 15. Her first husband, who was the lord of Punnathur Kovilakam, left her after the birth of two children.<ref name="anweshanam"/> Due to her mother's insistence, she married Krishna Varyar of Ramapuram, who was a physician, for the second time. Warrier died shortly after having three daughters.<ref name="anweshanam"/> Many of the children of the first two marriages died at various times, leaving only two daughters.<ref name="anweshanam"/> The third marriage was to Unnikrishna Varyar of Vadakkumtara Varyath.<ref name="anweshanam"/>

==Literary career==
Ammalu Amma's 1914 novel ''Kamalabhai Athava Lakshmivilasathile Kolapathakam (Kamalabhai or the murder at Lakshmivilasam)'' was the first detective novel written by a woman in Malayalam.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Ammalu Amma's travelogue ''Oru Tirtha Yatra'', a work published by the Norman Printing Press in Kozhikode in 1925, is an account of the holy temples and places visited by her when she went to [[Varanasi]] with the mortal remains of her brother T. M. Nair in 1921.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ഒരു തീര്‍ത്ഥയാത്ര |url=https://keralaliterature.com/books/ammalu-amma-%E0%B4%92%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%81-%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%80%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A5%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0/ |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=Keralaliterature.com |language=ml |archive-date=7 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107073154/https://keralaliterature.com/maintenance.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Other original works are ''Chandrika'', ''Balabodhini'', ''Krishna Bhakti'', ''Komalavalli'' (2 volume), ''Bhakthamalayile cheukathakal (short stories of Bhakthamala)'' etc.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Some of these have been textbooks in the past.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

As translator she introduced many works of Sanskrit, Tamil and English languages to Malayalam. She was a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] devotee, and the biography of [[Buddha]], [[The Light of Asia]] was translated by her into Malayalam as ''Buddha Gatha''.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> She also translated the Sanskrit works like ''Sarva Vedanta Sidhantha Sara Samgraham'' and ''Shiva Bhaktha Vilasam'' into Malayalam.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> ''Krishna Bhakti Chandrika'', published in 1912, is a translation of a Sanskrit short play.<ref name="Kerala Women"/> ''Bhakthamala'' (3 volume) published in 1907 is a translation of Sanskrit work with the same name.<ref name="Kerala Women"/> ''Sri Shankaravijayam'' was a Tamil work translated into Malayalam in 1928 at the request of Kumbakonam Shankaracharyaswamy's disciples.<ref name="Kerala Women"/> ''Leela'' published in 1911 is a translation of a Tamil novel.<ref name="Kerala Women"/>

Ammalu Amma presided over the meetings of the state level literary organisation [[Sahitya Parishad]] in 1929 and 1930.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

==Activism==
Ammalu Amma made a place in the history of [[Travancore]] by offering shelter to [[Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai]] and his family when Pillai was deported from Travancore by then king of Travancore Shri Moolam Thirunal.<ref name="Kerala"/>

Ammalu Amma, who was also a feminist and woman egalitarian, called for women to give importance to literary taste as much as or more than men.<ref name="anweshanam" /> Once, in an essay on ''Sthreekalude Sahithyavasana (Women's literary taste)'' published in ''Lakshmi Bhai'' magazine, she wrote as follows, "I know some people are sceptical that women have a taste for literature. But I would say that the very essence of literature is in every woman".<ref name="Kerala Women"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=International Women's Day: Reminiscing first-gen of feminist writers from Kerala |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/specials/international-women-s-day-reminiscing-first-gen-feminist-writers-from-kerala-1.7322488 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=English [[Mathrubhumi]] |language=en |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310065628/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/specials/international-women-s-day-reminiscing-first-gen-feminist-writers-from-kerala-1.7322488 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Malayalam Literature |state=collapsed}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ammalu Amma, Tharavath}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Palakkad]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language novelists]]
[[Category:Indian women's rights activists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:Women writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:Activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Novelists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Translators to Malayalam]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]

Tharavath Ammalu Amma - Revision history

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