Poonthanam and Melpathur were contemporaries. Poonthanam was the family name; his personal name is not known. He married  at 20, but for a long time  had no children. Poonthanam began to propitiate the Lord of Guruvayur. A son was born to him in 1586. He called for a celebration and everybody known was invited, but the child died an hour before the ceremony. Grief-stricken Poonthanam sought refuge at Guruvayur and started praying .

Gradually Poonthanam become enlightened and self realised – while little Krishna is dancing in our hearts, why do we need any other little ones?Poonthanam spent the rest of his life of 90 odd years reading the Bhagavatam and singing the Lord's glories in simple Malayalam. He composed 'Bahsakarnamritam', a devotional work. The Anandakarnamritam (dance of ecstasy) was his last contribution to devotional literature.