Tholan is believed to have been the first Namboothiri poet of Malayalam. Believed to have lived in the 9th century AD, Tholan is thought to have pioneered the use of Manipravalam

Manipravalam

Manipravalam was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, which used an admixture of Tamil and Sanskrit. Manipravalam is termed a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil...

 (Malayalam and Sanskrit mix) in poetry. Tholan was a court poet and jester of the Kulasekhara

Kulasekhara

Kulasekhara or Later Chera dynasty was a classical Hindu dynasty founded by the saint King Kulashekhara Varman. The dynasty ruled the whole of modern Kerala state , Guddalore and some parts of Nilgiri district and Salem - Coimbatore region in southern India between 9th and 12th centuries AD...

s and would write plays in which the Vidooshaka (clown) would parody the Sanskrit verses (spoken by a protagonist) in Malayalam. This began a long standing tradition in Koodiyattam

Koodiyattam

Koodiyattam or Kutiyattam is a form of Sanskrit theatre traditionally performed in the state of Kerala, India. Performed in the Sanskrit language in Hindu temples, it is believed to be 2,000 years old...

 and Koothu

Koothu

Koothu , means dance or performance in Tamil language, is a folk art originated from the early Tamil country. But more precisely Koothu refers Therukoothu that is street dance or street play since it will be performed village squares. At early age the art of entertainment reached its peak in...

.

The manual of acting in Koodiyattam, Aattaprakaarams, is attributed to him.