Ponnamma was born as one of five children of Malethu Kesava Pillai and Parukutty Amma in Aranmula, Old Quilon, Travancore (present-day Pathanamthitta district).^[3] She has four siblings, Ramakrishna Pillai, Pankiyamma, Bhaskara Pillai and Thankamma.^[4] She started her career at the age of 12 as a Carnatic music vocalist. She began by singing before meetings organised by the Hindu Mahamandal on the banks of the Pampa river. At the age of 15, she was appointed as a music teacher in a primary school in Pala, before starting to teach in the senior classes. Later she joined the first batch of students at the Swati Tirunal Music Academy. After the course, she was appointed as the music teacher in Cotton Hill Girls' High School in Trivandrum.^[5]

She was married to Late Kochu Krishna Pillai. The couple had a son, Late Rajashekharan and a daughter, Rajamma. Her granddaughter Radhika Suresh is married to Suresh Gopi.^[6] and Gokul Suresh was her great grandson

Ponnamma's acting debut happened at the age of 29, in a play titled Bhagyalakshmi.^[5] Before making her film debut, she went on to perform in plays like Prasanna, Chechi, Jeevithayathra, and Rakthabandham. Her debut role was that of the mother of the character played by Miss Kumari, a prominent actress at that time, in Sasidharan (1950).^[2] The same year she did another role as a mother in the Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair starrer Amma, which was the first film of noted producer T. E. Vasudevan and also the 18th Malayalam film.^[7] In 1968, she acted in the film Viruthan Shanku directed by P. Venu, the first full-length comedy in Malayalam cinema. She was typecasted in mother roles. In her own words: "I did play a negative role in Paadunna Puzha and that of a wayward woman in Yachakan. But after that I was always cast as the mother. As the mother of two children, I was very comfortable in that role. My role model was my mother, Parukutty Amma, who had to look after her five children on her own after my father, Malethu Kesava Pillai, passed away when I was nine. In fact, in Amma, my fifth film, I was merely acting as my mother."^[2] In her career spanning over 60 years, she acted as the mother or grandmother of first generation actors like Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, second generation actors like Prem Nazir and Sathyan and third generation actors like Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi.

She appeared last in the film Gourisankaram (2004). She died on 21 February 2011, aged 96, at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.^[8][9][10]

National Film Awards edit

• 1996: Best Supporting Actress - Kathapurushan^[5]

Kerala State Film Awards edit

• 2005: J. C. Daniel Award^[5]
• 1996: Second Best Actress - Kathapurushan

Asianet Film Awards edit

• 1998: Lifetime Achievement Award

• Akashadoothu (Surya TV) - 2011
• Kadamattathu Kathanar (Asianet) - 2004
• Chuvappu Naada
• Akshayapaathram
• Mangalyasoothram

• Bhagyalakshmi
• Rakthabandham
• Chechi
• Jeevithayathra
• Prasanna
• Randu Janmam

• Aranmula Ponnamma at IMDb
• Aranmula Ponnamma at MSI
• Malayalamcinema.com profile