Ulloor was born on 6 June 1877 at Thamarassery Illam in Perunna, Changanassery in the south Indian state of Kerala to Subramania Iyer and Bhagavathi Ammal. His early schooling was at Changanassery but father died when he was young and in 1890, the family shifted to Thiruvanathapuram where his mother raised him. He graduated with Honors in Philosophy from Maharajas College in 1897 and joined the Travancore State Services. He continued his studies and took a graduate degree in Law and master's degrees in Malayalam and Tamil. He held various positions in the government service such as those of a Land revenue and Income Tax Commissioner before superannuating from service as the Chief Secretary of the State. Iyer married Ananthalakshmi Ammal in 1892 when he was only 15 years old but his wife died in 1903. Subsequently, he married Subbammal in 1905, who died in 1930. He had three daughters and five sons from his two marriages. He died on June 15, 1949, aged 72.
Legacy
Iyer assumed his name, Ulloor, after the place of his ancestral home. Unlike the other two members of the modern triumvirates, Kumaran Asan and Vallathol Narayana Menon, who were romanticists, Ulloor was known to be a classicist and his works were marked by Sanskrit words, mythological references, satirical undertones and scholarship. One of his most notable works was published in 1914, a mahakavya titled Umakeralam when the language had only one complete mahakavya until then, Rukmamgadacharitham of Pandalam Kerala Varma. Poet K. Ayyappa Paniker noted that Umakeralam was a work of great devotion: devotion to the land, to the language, to a poetic tradition. He also wrote short narratives or khandakavyas and Karnabhooshanam and Pingala are two notable works in that genre; the former an account of Karna's infinite generosity and dedication to principles while the latter is a portrayal of the transformation of a courtesan overnight into a pious and saintly character. Some of his other best known works were Bhakthideepika, and Chithrasala. Uloor also wrote quite a large number of lyrics and shorter pieces, now available in various collections. The most noted of his historical works was Kerala Sahitya Charithram, which narrates the history of Malayalam language, culture, and literature and the book was published by the University of Kerala after the writer's death in 1949. He did research on ancient literature and palm leaf manuscripts and was successful in discovering works such as Rama Charitham poem and Doothavakyam prose. Besides, he wrote a play, Amba and such other works in prose as Bashachampukkal, a study on Champu literature and Vijnana Deepika, a compilation of essays in four volumes. He also wrote poems for children and the popular song, Kakke, Kakke, Koodevide is one among them.
