Renowned Malayalam poet and Jnanpith laureate Mahakavi Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri died at a private hospital on Thursday, family sources said. He was 94.

Akkitham, who was admitted to the hospital due to age-related ailments, died at 8.10 am, hospital sources said.

Recently, he was conferred with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in the country, at a special function held at his house at Kumaranallur in Palakkad district.

The poet, who was instrumental in heralding modernism in Malayalam poetry, was also a true Gandhian, social reformer, journalist, and an example of simplicity.