Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan was a Malayalam devotional poet and linguist from around the 16th century. He is today known as the father of Malayalam language' the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep' and it's literature. Ezhuthachan was born in Trikkantiyur, near the present day Tirur municipality, in south Malabar in an under-privileged sudra caste. After the birth of his daughter, Ezhuthachan became a monk and wandered throughout southern India before finally building his monastery at modern day Chittoor, Palghat.