Kerala - Its Contribution to Indian History & Culture

[padmanabha]

That was a sarcastic smile. Experts say in Kutiyattam this is a challenging one for any artiste. Margi Sathi renowned Kutiyattam artiste performed with perfection at Fort Margi while staging “Agnipravesankam.”
“Why is she laughing like that”- wondered Sugrivan? Is it because she had spent such a long period in the custody of Ravana and had gained audacity? Or is it because she is a chaste woman?
Earlier the show began with the purappd of Sita who is in a dilemma. She was kidnapped by Ravana and airlifted to Lanka. She was concerned about the people’s opinion and Rama’s attitude towards her. In deep sorrow she approaches Rama. When she presents herself before Rama she looked elegant. That was the result of the boon by Ausuya, which Rama was unaware of. So he suspects her, and remarks of the people add his suspicion. Agni pravesam was suggested. She escapes unhurt.

People call her “pumchali.” She could not tolerate the insult. Suddenly she gains mental strength and laughs sarcastically, which has many connotations.
Margi Sathi-now working as a tutor at Kerala Kalamandalam was in the city recently, to perform Kutiyattam (“Agnipravesam” from Aschraya chudamani) at Fort Margi.
She was thrilled for she was invited by Kamala Surayya before the latter left for Pune.
“I love Kamala Surayya for she resembled my mother, who passed away nine years ago. I have not met Kamala Surayya before. When she expressed her desire to meet me, I was so thrilled. When she passionately held my hands together, I could feel the invisible presence of my mother. Though the writer intended to finish our meeting with in half an hour it went on for four hours. The past two years had been a bad time for me. In those days I desired the proximity of my loving mother. When I met Kamala I could feel it” said Sathi.
“She gifted this chain of beads (presented to her by Sandeep Chaitanya) and a kasavu set mundu. I have nothing to give her except for the book Sree Rama Charitham authored by me. She held that book close to her bosom and wept” reminisce Sathi.

How is the new role of teaching at Kalamandalam?
“I am a product of Kalamandalam. It was Margi that made me what I am today and I became Margi Sathi. The problem is we seldom get opportunities to perform-which is essential for any artiste to develop the talents and exploit the potentials. I have to abide the rules of Kalamandalam. It is the best place for doing research. Plenty of materials are available. I have to make use of those facilities” she said.

[padmanabha]

KOOTIYATTAM:-
It is a unique temple art of Kerala and is the only surviving form of Sanskrit drama. The performance is confined to temple theatres known as koothambalams. The performers belong to the communities of chakkyars and nambiars. The chakkiars are the actors and the female members of the nambiar community undertake the female roles. Mizhavu is the accompanying instrument besides edakka, and kuzhithalam.
The plays:-
They belong to the Sanskrit series of Thiruvananthapuram-namely, those of Bhasa, kulasekhara Varman, sree harshan, Mahendra Vikrama Pallavan, Bodhayanan, apart from Aschary choodamani by Sakthi Bhadran.
Presentation:-
The Kootiyattam presented today was choreographed ten centuries ago by King Kulasekhara Varman with the assistance of Tholan. The presentation was highly stylized in Aharya Abhinaya (make-up, costume, and scenic spectacle) Angika Abhinaya (gesture) and Vachika Abhinaya (oral rendering).
In angika abhinaya the haasthamudras are liberally used, which are not totally or faithfully adapted from Natysastra or other texts in Hindu dramaturgy. The mudras are adapted from Hasthalakshanadeepika which draws from the Tantric mudras prevalent in Kerala. The charis, gatis and the movements of the angas and the upangas also do not follow Natyasastra.
In aharya the make up and costume do not copy the external features of the characters. It is symbolic. There is no typifying of characters as in Kathakali.
In Vachika ABHINAYA, THE TEXT OF THE SANSKRIT drama is rendered by the actor in intonations reminding us of the Yajur vedic chantings of the Nampoothiri brahmins. There is no attempt at making the speeches naturalistic. Even the ragas (they are called swaras in kootiyattam) do not have the solfa symbols of music.
Kootiyattam are never presented in full. It is elaborate and time consuming. It is played in parts. Swapana vasava datha is played as six different performances-each one called an anka. In Prathinga Nataka there is one anka called Mantrankam which requires 41 days to perform. There will be an oral exposition of the vidhushaka. Anguliyankam of Ascharya chudamani lasts for 12 full days. It tells the story of Ramayana including Vanarolpathi, by Hanuman by hand gestures alone.
Since one anka is performed at one time there a prelude to the performance called Nirvahana. Here one of the characters sums up the story presented in earlier acts. This takes many days and if this nirvahana is rendered by vidhushaka, it is an oral exposition. Other characters use only hand gestures for this.

There are plays in which Vidhushaka palys a dominant role-first act of subhadradhananjayam and Tapatisanvaranam. Here the emphasis is on the Vachika Abhinaya.
The slokas are enacted in such a way that the hidden meanings of the slokas are explained. For example, in Abhishekanataka, in Thorana Yudha, there is a sloka in which Ravana speculates that the reason for the attack of monkeys is due to the disrespect shown to him to Nandikeswara. The actor describes in detail the war between Ravana and Devas. Then the preparations of the war, the triumphant journey, description of Lanka, the blocking of pushpaka vimana by mount kailas, the features of the mount, the fight between Parvathi and Siva. The angika abhinaya takes three to four hours.
This seems tedious to an indifferent audience. For entertainment the vidhushaka spices it with humor and vulgarity. He expounds the four purusharthas (the four ultimate attainments in human life)-Rajaseva, aSanam(greedy enjoyment of food)Vinodam (sexual enjoyment with prostitute) and Vanchanam (betrayal). It is interpreted in place of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
(To be continued)
The Nangiars:-
The female members of the Nambiars are the nangiars, who have chosen the profession of dancing, acting and singing. Their spouses accompanied them on the mizhavu or edakka. The contribution of nangiars and nambiars to Kutiyattam is immense.

As said earlier, kootu and kootiyattam are practiced by chakkyars of Kerala. It was Kulasekhara Perumal who laid a strong foundation to this art form. He was a great connoisseur and one of the scholars of his court, a manual explaining the presentational aspects of his plays. Thus vyngya vakhya was composed.
Perumal introduced Nangiar into kootiyattam. They essayed the female roles along with the Nambiars and later solo performances of nangiars too developed which is called Nangiarkoothu. It is always the Nambiar who played the mizhavu. Thus the nangiars performed the female roles, with the chakkiyars (kootiyattam), performed nangiarkoothu and rendered songs and maintained tala with cymbals (kuzhithalam).
The chakkyars, wear upanayanam and they perform sandya while the nambiars don’t. If any nampoothiri woman is made an outcaste, her sons cane be made into chakkyars, and her daughters nangiars.
Duties of Nambiars:--. They play mizhavu. They help in the green room. He has to recite “arangu thaLi” just before the play. Certain plays are tough language wise. Nambiars translate them in the vernacular language (which was then Tamil) and it is called Nambiar Tamil.
Yet another role of Nambiars is the performance of Padhakam. They narrate stories on the basis of Chambu-s in Malayalam. He wears a special head gear called mudi. In olden days the nambiars is asked to perform Padhakam in the temple of ThaLi in calicut. If he passed the test he is entitled to wear the mudi.
Padhakam is different from Chakkyar koothu (Prabhanda koothu). Mizhavu is essential for the prabhanda koothu. The chakkyar has the liberty to make sarcastic remarks on anything under the sun. He passes comments at the audience. This liberty is not provided for the Nambiars while performing Padhakam.

One who recited Padhakam is a Padhakan. The Nambiars who play mizhavu are called Panivadan. Kunchan Nambiar the legendary poet who invented Thullal, was a panivadhan.

(To be continued)

[padmanabha]

Meet Surendra designer of a different kind-he has been designing “wardrobe” for the Pancha Pandavas (No less) for the several years. Come the Painkuni festival in the Padmanabha Swami temple, it is hectic time for Surendran who stitches the costume for the Pandavas. They are no ultra-modern costumes-but a simple paavada and chatta. It is the quantity of clothes required for making these costumes that makes one wonder struck!

Says Surendran, “I am an employee of Ananthasree Arts and Crafts near the flight of steps in the eastern entrance of the temple. Here I design nettipattam and thidambu for elephants carved in wood. But basically I am a tailor and our family runs a tailoring unit in Pravachambalam. That is how I happened to design costumes for the Pandavas.”

Could you tell us about the quantity of cloth used for these effigies?
“Though Bhima is very tall, the effigy of Dharmaputra in the sitting posture demands 60 mts of cloth. Bhima requires 45 mts, Arjuna 20 mts Nakula 18 mts and Sahadeva 15 mts. Red polyester cloth is used. Yellow satin bands are used on the waist, on the sleeves and in the seams of the paavada. 25 spools of red and 6 spools of yellow thread were employed. (The biggest spools available in the market). Cuttings were required for the neck and arm whole. First I made pieces of the dimension 45”x2.5 mts. These pieces were joined later. 12 such pieces were used for the Bhiman paavada. For Nakulan and Sahadevan there is no separate paavada and chatta. It is a single piece, costume from top to bottom with joints at the waist akin to petticoats. The sleeves of the chatta are fastened to the effigy with knots, and buttons, hooks, Velcro, or zips are not used” explained Surendran.

How are these giants erected?
“Before installation paalpayasam for Sree Padmanabha and vadamala for the Hanuman are offered. Once Chandran a worker had a fall while installing the effigy of Bhima and since then he is called Bhiman Chnadran. The workers then decided to make some offerings to the deities to prevent untoward incidents as this. We had the statue of Gaurda Jadayu and Sree Krishna and Gopikas beneath a fig” they are damaged and hence are not displayed” said Satheesh, the owner of Anathasree Crafts work.

Earlier effigies were made of wood and were too heavy to lift. But they had finely decorated faces with bulging eyes, and colorful head gear. Their long red robes are decked with chains of beads. They all have long tresses and nails. Yudhishtira alone is installed in the sitting posture with his right leg on his left thigh. The giant Bhima holds an ornamental mace and the others with a medium sized clubs. Time had its effect on them. So the trust decided to make effigies in fiber glass. They weigh less and are easy to install. Installation is executed at dawn and is continued till 10 am and is restarted in the evening” said Parameswaran Nair…..Installation begins from the youngest member. However the effigy of Bhima is erected only towards the end. In those days Bhiman Kanji was prepared and distributed as soon as the installation is complete. Another striking feature is that once the effigy is taken out and installed nature pays its respect and there will be a drizzle” recollects Satheesh.

In front these effigies the unique war dance of Kerala –velakali was performed twice daily after the seeveli. More than a hundred men symbolically enact the battle of kurushetra, and accept defeat and fly in disorder. Their colorful make up is akin to the battle uniform of ancient Kerala. They wear a loin up to the ankles which is held in position by a strip of white cloth. Their bare chest is adorned with colorful beads and shells and the performer cover their heads with laced red turbans with a protruding knot at the left. They hold a shield and a stick.

They march along with rhythmic movements. A band of drums and bugles lead the battalion. Spectators gather at the flight of steps at the eastern entrance of the temple, and watch the Kaurava pada attacking their enemies.


Though the ten days long impressive temple festival and the installation of the effigies of the Pandavas continue Velakali remains as a colorful memory in the minds of the old timers.
Box III The ulsavam which lasts for ten days begins with the kodiyettu-the hoisting of the God’s Flag and concludes with Aarat procession. During these days the Gods are escorted by His Highness Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma with the entire paraphernalia of the temple and the State.

The ulsava vigrahams of Sree Padmanabha, Sree Krishna, and Sree Narasimha are elaborately decorated and seated in vahanams made of gold and silver. Their marvelous intricacy and design are an eloquent testimony to the art and craftsmanship, of an ancient era. The idols are lavishly decorated with colorful silk fresh flowers.


The procession is lead by an elegantly caparisoned elephant, followed by men carrying the God’s flags, umbrellas, and other emblems of divinity. Clad in traditional temple costume His Highness with drawn sword comes next followed by the heir apparent and other male members of the family. The idols are carried by the temple in the rear. Immediately ahead of the idols walk the temple musicians playing melodiously on the thimiri nagaswaram. A group of vocalist accompanied by violin and mridangam rendering ulsava prabandam follow the vahanams.

[devapriya]

Dear Friends,

Most of coastal Kerala was below Sea till around 750CE.


Literature Former Professor of Chennai University Head of the Department of Archeaology Professor-Dr.K.V.Raman in Tamil says

கொடுங்கல்லூர் நகருக்குத் தெற்கில் பல இடங்களில், வடக்கில் பழமையானவை என்று கருத்ப்ப்ட்ட சில இடங்களிலும் அகழ்வாய்வுகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டது....
கேரளாவில் நடைபெற்ற இந்த அகழ்வாய்வுகளை நடுநிலை நின்று பார்த்தால் கீழ்கண்ட, தற்காலிகமான முடிவிற்கு வரலாம்.

கொடுங்கல்லூருக்கு உள்ளும் புறமுமாக, பல முக்கிய இடங்களிலும் நடத்தப்பட்ட அகழ்வாய்வுஅள் எல்லாவற்றிலும் கிடைத்த மிகப் பழைமையான படிவுகள் கி.பி.8 அல்லது 9-ஆம் நூற்றாண்டைச் செர்ந்த்ததாகத்தான் உள்ளன. ஆக, ஓரே சீரான பண்பாட்டுக் கூறுகள் எல்லா இடங்களிலும் வெளிப்பட்டுள்ளன என்பது தெளிவாகிறது.
கொடுங்கல்லூர் பகுதியில், மனித சமுதாயத்தில் முதல் குடியிருப்புகள் 8,9-ஆம் நூற்றாண்டுகளில் தான் ஏற்பட்டிருக்க வேண்டும். குலசேகர மரபினர், கண்ணனூர்ப் பகுதியில் குடியேறி, அதைத் தங்களுடைய தலைநகராக கொண்ட பொழுது இந்தப் பகுதி முழுவதும் முக்கியத்துவம் பெற்றிருக்க வேண்டும். குலசேகர மரபினர்களைப் பற்றிய நல்ல காலக் கணிப்புகள் நமக்குக் கிடைத்திருக்கின்றன. ஆனால் அதற்கு முற்பட்ட காலத்தைச் சேர்ந்த எந்த விதமான ஆதாரமும் கிடைக்கவில்லை.. ..

திருவஞ்சிக்களம் இங்கே ந்டந்த அகழ்வாய்வு கலவையான(M) பல ஆதாரங்களை வெளிப்படுத்தியது. அவை மிகவும் பழைமையானவை10 அல்லது 9ம் நுற்றாண்டுக்கு முற்பட்டதாக இல்லை.

திருவஞ்சிக்களம், கருப்பதானா அல்லது மதிலகம் போன்றவற்றின் பெயர்களை மட்டும் கொண்டு, அவைகள் பழைய வஞ்சியாகவோ கருராகவோ இருக்கலாம் என்று கருதப்பட்டது. ஆனால் இங்கு நடந்த அகழ்வாய்வுகள் கி.பி 8-ஆம் நூற்றாண்டைச் சேர்ந்த இரண்டாம் சேரப் பேரரசுக் காலத்து ஆதாரங்களைத் தான் வெளிப்படுத்தி உள்ளனவே அல்லாமல் பழங்காலச் சேரர்களை பற்றிய எந்தவிதமமன ஆதாரத்தையும் வில்லை. ஆகவே, இந்த இடங்களில் தான், பழைய வங்சியோ, கருரோ இருந்தது என்று சொல்ல முடிய வெளிப்படுத்தவில்லை.

பழைய முசிறித் துறைமுகம் இருந்த இடத்தைக் கண்டுபிடிக்க வேண்டிய அவசியம் ஏற்பட்டிருக்கின்றது. அது நிச்சயமாக கொடுங்கல்லூராக இருக்க முடியாது. பக்-68-70 கே.வி..ராமன், தொல்லியல் ஆய்வுகள் and this article was earlier published in Araichi, 170, under the Heading “Archaeological Investigations in Kerala”

I summarise it in English, Professor refers to the Archaeological research work done under Mr.Anu John Achhan and after analyzing all the findings says First Occupation of Humankind in Kodungallore Belt and surroundings happened in 8 or 9th Century AD, as Virgin Soil without Any Human Occupation came then, all researches in the surrounding areas took us to the Second Chera period of and certainly Kodungallore is not the Musiri the famous Port referred in Sangam Literature.

PLEASE REMEMBER THIS
Devapriya

[padmanabha]

The sky in the city is overcast. Monsoon would commence within a few days. Many centuries ago traders waited this season to set sail to this amazing land. They came along with advancing monsoon and returned with the retreating monsoon. Their journey took 40 days each way. They brought wine, fish and olive oil in huge amphora, with big handles on either side. There is very chance of these containers breaking in transit. Once emptied, they were disposed. Many years later they were discovered by archaeologists.

A team of Archeologists spent two months near Pattanam near Kodungallur. “We could not afford to spare even an inch. It was rich with remnants for the past” said Jenee Peter research assistant of the Pattanam excavation project. THE findings are displayed at the Vyloppilli Samskriti Bhawan organized by KCHR.
Most of the artifacts are discovered from three meters underground. Roman pottery west Asian ceramics, Chinese pottery, roulette ware, innumerable varieties of beads, bits and pieces of bones, chera coins-all indicating the rich maritime heritage and urban character of the site.

There is a broken piece of neck ornament made of pure gold. The design is so intricate that it created awe among the viewers. A number of semi precious stones glass beads were also recovered.
Five trenches covering an area of 120 sq.m were dug in the north eastern part of PATTANAM. “The site seems to have occupied by the indigenous megalithic (Iron Age) PEOPLE followed by Roman and west Asian contacts in the early historic phase till the early medieval period.” said K C Cherian the director of KCHR.
The excavations shows layers and layers of construction strengthen with local materials and Welsh bonding bricks. Though our ancestors lead a simple life they lead organized and planned life. The extensive brick work shows that this site could have been a township and a trading centre. This was the first ever multidisciplinary archaeological excavation in the state with technical support from various disciplines like geo archaeology, archaeo-zoology, paleobotany, archaeo-chemistry and metallurgy. Many materials recovered from the now land locked site at chittattukara village have been sent for carbon dating. In due course this site would become the State’s first site museum with all artifacts preserved right at the site.

[MazhaiKuruvi]

Ilango Adikal and Silappathikaram came from Chera country/Kerala

[padmanabha]

It was intuition that guided them. On 8th April, they delved the cupboard and the wooden box at the Mannur Madam Palace Mavelikkara which housed heaps of cadjan leafs. The team was on the look-out for some valuable treasures on early Travancore history in the form of rich and valuable literature.
Towards evening, they could trace the "syanandura pura varnanaprabandham", one of the precious works of Maharaja Swati Tirunal.

Sasidharan Varma of Mannur Madam Palace is a descendant of historian and research scholar-M Raja Raja Varma. His father T Raja Raja Varma of Paliyekkara Palace had prepared the family chart of Paliyekkara. Inspired by this work, Sasi decided to draw up the family tree of Mavelikkara Kottaram. "It took six years. The period covered was from 1788 to 1999. Diaries and notes of M. Raja Raja Varma were extremely useful in collating the available information. When I was elected as the treasurer of Mannur Madam Palace Trust, I had the opportunity and access to go through the available cadjan leafs. But I had no idea about its contents, but always had a hunch that it would contain precious records. So I preserved all I could. Knowing this, Dr R.P. Raja, the author of "New Light on Swati Tirunal" approached us. That was a turning point."
What made Dr Raja search for Swati Tirunal compositions at Mavelikara? "Historian late Kizhakkemadam Govindan Nair had recorded that Swati Tirunal had sent a copy of all his works to Mavelikkara."
But, Why? "Swati Tirunal's mother's mother Bharani Tirunal Parvathi Bayi a member of Mavelikkara Kottaram was adopted to Travancore on 13th Thulam 964 ME. Her mother Chathayam Tirunal Mahaprabha Amma Tampuran and five children fled from Chirakkal as Tippu Sulthan invaded Malabar Coast. Karthika Tirunal Dharmaraja gave them asylum and accordingly they settled in Mavelikkara. She outlived her daughter and had the fortune to witness the coronation of Maharaja Swati Tirunal. Mavelikkara being the root family, Swati Tirunal made it a point to send a copy of all his works. Now that we could retrieve a few cadjan leaves of Swati compositions, we know the lead was apt," explains Dr. R P Raja.
What is the significance of the present discovery? It is the Syanadurapura varnana Prabandham, a Sanskrit Champu penned by Swati Tirunal. The work has 83 leafs. We could retrieve only 67 of them. The only copy of this magnificent work is available at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. It is recited to this day when the Maharaja visits the temple. The present discovery is significant in the sense that it furnishes the date of completion of the work as 15th Midhunam, 1014 ME which corresponds to 27th June 1839.
"We were assisted by P L Shaji, Manuscript assistant of the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscript Library of the Kerala University. Our search began at 10 in the morning. Most of the cadjan leafs were on Ayurveda Puranas and Jyothisha. Around 5 pm, Shaji traced this leaf and we were elated and retrieval of 67 cadjan leaves added to our excitement. We are planning to pursue the work which might bring valuable works of Swati Tirunal and other documents” said Dr. Raja, hopefully.