It was a tragic end to Kerala’s people’s poet A. Ayyappan who died here under mysterious circumstances on Thursday night with his identity remaining unknown till Friday afternoon.
According to the police, the 61-year-old poet was brought to the General Hospital on Thursday night after he was found unconscious near the Thiruvananthapuram railway station. He passed away late in the night but his identity remained unknown to police and hospital authorities.
After his identity was ascertained in the afternoon, politicians and general public made a beeline to the hospital to pay their last respects to the people’s poet.
Ayyappan, known for his heart-touching poems and bohemian lifestyle, was on his way to Chennai to receive the Asan Puraskaram, one of the highest literary awards in Malayalam literature, for the year 2010, sources close to his family said.
Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan and culture minister M.A. Baby have condoled his death.