Editing Malayalam literature (section)

===Bhakti era===
[[File:THUNCHAN MEMORIAL.jpg|thumbnail|300px|The [[Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University]] is situated at [[Thunchan Parambu]], [[Tirur]], [[Malappuram district|Malappuram]]]]
[[File:Portrait of Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan,the father of the Malayalam language.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan]]]]
Malayalam literature passed through a tremendous process of development in the 15th and 16th centuries. [[Cherusseri]]'s ''Krishnagatha'' bore witness to the evolution of modern Malayalam language as a proper medium for serious poetic communication. Alongside this, there flourished numerous Sanskrit poets who were very active during this period. The greatest of them was [[Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri]] (1559–1665), the author of ''[[Narayaniyam]]''. The most significant development of the time took place in the field of Malayalam poetry. [[Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan|Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan]] wrote his two great epics ''[[Adhyathmaramayanam]]'' and ''Srimahabharatam'' and two shorter pieces, ''Irupathinalu Vrittam'' and ''Harinama Kirtanam'' and thereby revolutionised Malayalam language and literature at once. Ezhuthachan refined the style of Malayalam language and it was during his period that Malayalam literature attained its individuality and Malayalam became a fully fledged independent language. Today he is known as the father of Malayalam language and its literature. The ''[[Kilippattu]]'' form he adopted in ''Ramayanam'' and ''Bharatam'' may be a pointer to his recognition of the importance of sound effect in poetry. Ezhuthachan is perhaps the greatest spokesman of the [[Bhakti movement]] in Malayalam but he is more than a writer of devotional hymns. [[K. Ayyappa Paniker]] has noted that "the transition from Cherrusseri to Ezhuthachan marks the triumph of modernism over medievalism."<ref name="Panicker"/> Another important poet of this period was [[Poonthanam|Poonthanam Nambudiri]] (1547–1640). His chief poems are ''[[Jnanappana]]'' (The Song of Divine Wisdom), ''Bhasha Karnamritam'' and ''Kumaraharanam'' or ''Santanagopalam Pana''.<ref name="mlm"/>