Ponneelan is the pen name of Kandeswara Bhaktavatsalan, a Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India. He was born on 1940 in Kanyakumari district. He is a Marxist and was influenced by Tamil Communist leader P. Jeevanandham in his younger days. He became a teacher and eventually retired as the deputy director of school education for Tamil Nadu. He won the 1994 Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil his novel Pudhiya Dharisanangal. He is currently the state president of the Tamil literary organisation Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram. During 2005-2008, he was a member of the Central Board of Film Certification. He also wrote the script for the 2008 film Ayyavazhi.