Malayalam is one of the Dravidian languages. It originated as a split from Tamil and by 9th century AD it became an independent language. It is the major language of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Literary texts written in Malayalam language comes under Malayalam literature.

Malayalam poetry starts from the 12th century and it has a history of nearly eight hundred years. Rama Charitham was the earliest poetic work in Malayalam (12th century AD). It was written in a near Tamil language or in Malayalam which was under the influence of Tamil and in a lyrical meter named ‘Pattu’. The ‘Manipravalam’ poetry (combination of native tongue and Sanskrit) also flourished in this period. Manipravalam style gained more currency and Malayalam showed a tendency to stay more closer with Sanskrit. A wave of folk songs appeared with Manipravalam movement. These songs reflected the life of peasants, laborer’s etc. These songs gained power and started adopting mythological stories. Cherusseri’s Krishnagadha is an example. It is the story of Lord Krishna taken from Bhagavatha and composed in a song meter called Manjari. After Krishnagadha Sanskrit domination regained it’s power over Malayalam through ‘Champus'(works of deep Sanskrit scholars). The Manipravalam poets got encouragement from royal courts and they write to praise their benefactors. So we can’t find contemporary issues in those works and they believed in “Poetry for poetry’s sake”.

The modern period was heralded by Tunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan. He is credited with ushering in the modern Malayalam period by fusing Pattu and Manipravalam in to a single language pattern of the Modern Malayalam. He acted as a poet and a philosopher and initiated Bhakthy movement and Modern Malayalam Movement. He introduced a new lyrical meter Kilipattu -the bird’s song- and it helps fascinating common people. He was best known for his Ramayana and Mahabharata. After Ezhuthachan the period focused on Kathakali- a combination of dance, music and literature. But it shows a world far from contemporary issues and it flourished under the shade of royal families. Kunchan Nambiar- the famous critic of that period adapted ‘thullal’ form in his poems. He indirectly criticised the evil things of society through his writing by using mythological contexts and characters. Kerala Varma, A R Rajaraja Varma were also the notable poets of that period.

Kumaran Assan, Ullur S Parameshwara Iyyer and Vallathol Narayana Menon formed a trio in the Romantic Age. Some of the main characteristics of Romantic literature include a focus on the writer or narrator’s emotions and inner world; celebration of nature, beauty, and imagination; rejection of industrialization, organized religion, rationalism, and social convention; idealization of women, children, and rural life; inclusion of supernatural or mythological elements; interest in the past; frequent use of personification. There may be variations on these characteristics. They supported personal freedom much. The waves of French Revolution influenced Malayalam literature too.