Novelist Unnikrishnan Puthur no more

Veteran Malayalam writer Unnikrishnan Puthur, whose novels and stories focused on lives of common people living around the famous Sree Krishna temple here, died today.
Puthur (81) was undergoing treatment for age-related ailments in a private hospital at nearby Chavakkad, family sources said. He is survived by wife and two sons.
Puthur's novels and scores of short stories narrated the tales of ordinary men and women bound to the famous temple, unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of the pilgrim town visited by thousands from outside.
It was his novels like 'Balikkallu' and 'Anappaka' that brought to light the plight of men and women destined to eke out a living by doing menial chores of the rich temple like mahouts and charwomen.

Puthur, himself an employee of the temple for long, also took the initiative in organising the temple employees under a union. He was nominated to the Temple Managing Committee as the representative of the temple employees.
He was a recipient of several literary awards.