Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar

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Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861- 14th November 1914) was a Malayali journalist, essay writer, critic and short story writer. One of the pioneers in these fields in Kerala, Nayanar was born in an aristocratic Nair family known as "Vengayil" in Chirackal Thaluk, North Malabar. He was born to Perinchellor Puliapadappu Hardasan Somayaji (a Nambudiri Brahmin priest who did "Somayajna") and Kunjakkam Amma of Vengayil. Nayanar was educated in Calicut and Saidampetta Agricultural College. In 1907 he became member of Malabar District Board. In 1912 he was elected to Madras Assembly. He came to the literary world through Kerala Pathrika.

He wrote the first Malayalam short story, Vasanavikriti. Under the pen names "Kesari","Vajrasoochi","Vajrabahu", Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar's works obtained wide appreciation from all over South India. Kesari was a sharp critic of social reality, criticising social inequalities.

As a barrister, in 1913 he also moved a resolution at the Madras Governor's Council to have the Kasaragod taluk merge with the Malabar District. This was withdrawn, however, due to strong opposition from Karnataka. On 1 November 1956, Kasaragod finally became part of Kerala.

He was also a close friend of Dr. Herman Gundert and William Logan who did a lot of research on the history, language, culture of Kerala.^{[citation needed]}