Njattelya Sreedharan, Self-Taught Linguist and Dictionary Creator,Passed Away.
Obituary
On August 13, 2025, renowned self-taught linguist Njattelya Sreedharan passed away at the age of 87 in Kannur, Kerala. Born in 1938 in Thalassery, Kerala, he was celebrated for compiling the landmark 860-page Chathur Dravida Bhasha Padhaparichayam, a dictionary uniting four Dravidian languages.
- Njattelya Sreedharan, without any formal linguistic training, dedicated over 25 years to lexicography. His magnum opus connected Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu, marking a rare contribution to Dravidian linguistic heritage.
- His career began as a blueprinting staffer in the Kerala Public Works Department (PWD) and later the Irrigation Department, before retiring in 1994. Post-retirement, he fully devoted himself to his dictionary project.
- The Chathur Dravida Bhasha Padhaparichayam was first published in November 2020 by the Kerala Bhasha Institute. The first edition contained 500 copies priced at ₹4,000 each, which sold out quickly.
Main Point :- (i) A revised and expanded second edition was released in May 2023 by the Kerala Language Institute, strengthening his legacy as a key figure in modern lexicography.
(ii) Apart from lexicography, he played a leadership role as Kannur Taluk President of the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Arts and Literary Association) and was also a State Council member of the NGO Union.
(iii) His life and dedication were documented in the award-winning film Dreaming of Words, directed by Nandan, which received the 2021 National Film Award – Special Jury Mention. He was also honored with recognitions like the Dr. T.P. Sukumaran Master Award and the Dr. Hermann Gundert Award.
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