Poonthanam Nambudiri

Poonthanam is a 16th centuary Malayalam devotional poet, noted for his masterpiece, Njanappaana. He was a famous devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan (Krishna). Poonthanam was the family name, his personal name is not known.

The legend about him goes like this: Poonthanam married at 20, but for a long time , they had no children. He began to propitiate the Lord of Guruvayur and a son was born. He called for a celebration and everybody known was invited , but the child died an hour before the ceremony. Grief-stricken Poonthanam sought refuge at Guruvayur and started praying with the puranic story of Kumaraharanam. He considered Lord Krishna as his son and achieved enlightenement. In his work he writes: "While little Krishna is dancing in our hearts, why do we need little ones of our own?" Poonthanam spent the rest of his life reading the Bhagavatham and singing the Lord's glories in simple Malayalam. His magnum opus, Njanappana, was composed during this period.

He is contemporary of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, another famous poet associated with Guruvayur.