Aranmula Ponnamma (8 April 1914 – 21 February 2011) was an Indian actress known for her roles as mother of the protagonist in numerous films in a career spanning over five decades.

Ponnamma was born as one of five children of M. Kesava Pillai of the Malethu house and Parukutty Amma in Aranmula, Old Quilon, Travancore (present-day Pathanamthitta district).

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.

Her debut role was that of the mother of the character played by Miss Kumari, a prominent actress at that time, in Sasidharan (1950).

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.