Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 22 December 2009: Folklore expert and writer M.V. Vishnu Namboothiri has won P.K. Kalan Prize (2009) instituted by the State government. The Prize carries Rs. 1 lakh and a citation.

Minister for Education and Culture M.A. Baby, who announced the Prize here this evening, said that Dr. Namboothiri was chosen for the Prize considering his research work, studies and writings on folklore during the last four decades.

Dr. Namboodiri, who was the chairman of the Folklore Akademi, had written more than 50 books including a folklore dictionary. He has won awards previously from the Kerala Folklore Akademi, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

The State government instituted the Prize in 2008 in memory of Kalan who was a former chairman of the Folklore Academy, social worker and Gaddika artist. Theyyam artist P. P. Kannaperuvannan won the Prize last year.