Udumalai Narayana Kavi


Udumalai Narayana Kavi was a tamil poet.

Early life

Udumalai Narayana was born on 25 September 1899 in Poolavadi, a small village in Udumalaipettai taluk, Tiruppur district, Tamil Nadu, India. His parents died at a very young age and poverty deprived him of school. With the help of his brother, he made a small living selling matchboxes to the nearby villages. Even when young he had a keen interest in play and music. He initially started off acting in plays at the local temple and then got connected with some leading play groups in Tamil Nadu. Today's Kollywood is an amalgamation of several of those play groups.

Songwriting

He is best known for writing several lyrics that were used in the freedom movement in his early days and between 1950 and 1972. He wrote lyrics for several Tamil movies.
Several of the movies that he wrote lyrics for were box office hits including Velaikari, Nallathambi, Poompuhar, Manohara. He was affectionately known as "Kaviraayar" in the movie industry. He was also associated with N. S. Krishnan the famous comedian in the 1940s. In Manohara, he was paid 15000 per song, which was highly paid in those days. He written only for PUC Chinnappa, while Papanasam sivam written songs for Thiyagaraja bhagavathar.

Filmography

  1. Kannagi
  2. Tamizhariyum Perumal
  3. Kubera Kuchela
  4. Vidyapathi
  5. Vikatayogi
  6. Paithiyakkaran
  7. Rajakumari
  8. Krishna Bakthi
  9. Nallathambi
  10. Pavalakodi
  11. Velaikkaari
  12. Parijatham
  13. Vijayakumari
  14. Manamagal
  15. Marmayogi
  16. Vanasundari
  17. Panam
  18. Parasakthi
  19. Devadas
  20. Marumagal
  21. Ponni
  22. Manohara
  23. Penn
  24. Ratha Kanneer
  25. Sorgavasal
  26. Thookku Thookki
  27. Chella Pillai
  28. Doctor Savithri
  29. Kaveri
  30. Mangaiyar Thilakam
  31. Mudhal Thethi
  32. Needhipathi
  33. Aasai
  34. Amara Deepam
  35. Madurai Veeran
  36. Mathar Kula Manickam
  37. Rangoon Radha
  38. Engal Veettu Mahalakshmi
  39. Karpukkarasi
  40. Bommai Kalyanam
  41. Mangalya Bhagyam
  42. Abalai Anjugam
  43. Amudhavalli
  44. Mamiyar Mechina Marumagal
  45. Manjal Mahimai
  46. Nalla Theerpu
  47. Pudhumai Penn
  48. Thaai Magalukku Kattiya Thaali
  49. Thanga Padhumai
  50. Chavukkadi Chandrakantha
  51. Deivapiravi
  52. Pattaliyin Vetri
  53. Raja Desingu
  54. Arasilangkumari
  55. Chittoor Rani Padmini
  56. Poompuhar
  57. Chitthi
  58. Vivasayee
  59. Aathi Parasakthi
  60. Kurathi Magan
  61. ''Dasavatharam

    Respect

In respect for his contribution to Tamil and its people, the government of Tamil Nadu has erected a memorial for him at Udumalaipettai. What made Narayana Kavi very popular was his ability to use simple language that could be understood even by peasants. He died in 1981.