Kavalam Narayana Panicker

Kavalam Narayana Panicker (1 May 1928 – 26 June 2016) was an Indian dramatist, theatre director, and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiyam (1981, 1996), Shakuntalam (1982), Bhasa's Madhyamavyayogam (1979), Karnabharam (1984, 2001), Uru Bhangam (1988), Swapnavasavadattam, and Dootavakyam (1996). He was the founder – director of theatre troupe, Sopanam, which led to the foundation of Bhashabharati: Centre for Performing Arts, Training and Research, in Trivandrum. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1983 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, and its highest award for lifetime achievement, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2002. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the field of Arts, by the Government of India. He died in his residence on 26 June 2016, aged 88, a few days after returning from the hospital. He was born in the village of Kavalam, into an ancient family from Kuttanad in Alappuzha, Kerala, India. His family name is Chalayil and he was a nephew of Sardar Kavalam Madhava Panikkar and a cousin of Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker, a Malayalam poet.