Kerala: Kudallur Mana and ‘Nazrani Thampuran’

Kerala has always welcomed people from different parts of the world. They came from the East and the West – traders, travelers, Apostle St. Thomas, St. Francis Xavier and other missionaries, displaced communities and so on. The array of religions included Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. All were received warmly and a healthy symbiosis developed. Kerala was a land of communal harmony.

It is against this background that one has to view the story of Kudallur Mana situated in Naglasserry Panchayat, Palakkad District, Kerala. Mana means the home of Nampoothiris (Kerala Brahmins). Kudallur was a center of culture and learning. The Family gave great importance to learning and teaching. People who were interested in Sanskrit were welcome to free stay and tutorials at the Mana.

At the same time, the Nampoothiris were not able to obtain modern education without compromising their age-old traditions and beliefs. Kudallur Kunchunny Nampoothiripad was aware of this problem and approached the Government of Cochin in the 1870s to start a special school for the community. This move fructified with the establishment of Nampoothiri Vidyaalayam at Edakkunni near Thrissur almost five decades later.

The ancient Kudallur Mana was fabulously rich and powerful. But even during the height of feudalism, the enlightened and magnanimous members of the family were progressive in their outlook. The tenants were always treated fairly. People who needed help were never turned away empty-handed.

In spite of all these, the Communists once organized a struggle against the Mana with their stock slogans about capitalism, uplifting the downtrodden, imperialism, religious domination and the like. EMS Nampoothiripad, the undisputed leader of the Kerala Communists, himself ordered that the agitation be called off!

A piece from recent history – the last Karanavar (head of the family) of Kudallur Mana, Dr. K Narayanan Nampoothiripad, went to England for higher studies. He came back a Christian and continued as the chief of the family. No one tried to protest, or to ostracize him. Along with Vedic texts, readings from the Bible also resounded within the walls of the Mana.

When the doctor who came to be known as Nazrani Thampuran (Lord) died in 1995, he was buried in the western yard of the Mana. His tomb has a cross and a quotation from the Bible inscribed on it.

Right now Kudallur Mana is again in the limelight. The controversial social studies textbook for 7^th Standard introduced by Kerala’s Left Government this year reportedly gives demeaning hints about this historic institution. The Communists seem to have forgotten the advice of EMS Napoothiripad.

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[Note: This piece is inspired by an article on Kudallur Mana by Vasudevan Nampoothiripad in the Sunday Supplement of the Malayala Manorama dated July 27, 2008.]

Also see:

Kerala Brahmins – moving with the times

Vedas, Syrian Christians

Photos: Flowers from Kerala again

Photos from Olavipe by me. Copyright reserved.
Click on images for enlarged view.

Also see:

Gardening: More photos of Kerala flowers

Another strange flower

Photos: Olavipe blooms

Nightmare on a train

[Due to certain problems I could not post for a week. Hope to restart regular postings. I thank the readers for being patient.]

Last Saturday (19^th) I boarded the Chennai-Trivandrum Mail, for Cochin. This is a fast train (they call it ‘super fast’) by Indian standards. Leaving Chennai at 8p.m., it normally reaches Cochin at 6.45a.m. Each time I travel by this train, there seems to be some improvement in the quality of the rake and standards of cleanliness particularly of the toilets.

I had an early dinner and went to sleep. At about 2 a.m. I woke up, disturbed by the sound of people moving around. The train had stopped. A lady official and a policeman were next to my berth. They asked me to identify my baggage. On asking what was the problem, I was told that an important bag was misplaced and they were looking for it.

I expected the train to restart soon, but the wait continued and I could not get back to sleep. After a couple of hours I went outside and found that the train was parked on a sideline at Podannur Station near Coimbatore. Some people who were standing around in groups told me that there was a bomb scare and expert squads were checking the train.

My first thought was that the officials should have, as a precautionary step, asked the passengers to vacate the train. That of course would have created panic at a time when the passengers were deep asleep. And without any trained person around to guide them, there would have been chaos and people could have got hurt.

Whoever was in charge of the operation took a difficult decision to carry out the search with least disturbance to the travelers. When the train finally resumed the journey after a three-hour stoppage, some people were criticizing the inefficiency of the Railways. Most of them would have realized the reason for the delay only when they read about the bomb scare in the next day’s newspapers.

We certainly have to congratulate and thank the personnel of the bomb squads all over the world. These brave men and women put their lives on line almost every day to save the lives of others.

Ends.

Also see: The romance of railways

Back to bicycles

Bike rentals, a fashion in Paris. His suggestion is to try out in Bangalore what is fashionable in Paris. It is easy to imagine the benefits if more people take to bikes instead of automated transport - exercise, cheaper transport, easing traffic congestion, saving fuel and above all, reduction of pollution. I hope that the business community and the citizens would give this a serious thought.

Once upon a time Bangalore was a town of bicycles. With the increase in the number of cars and buses and the eagerness of people to reduce transit time, the humble pedal vehicles were pushed to the background. But now we have come a full circle and often the bicycles can get you to your destination faster than an automobile.

Bicycle rentals were quite common in Bangalore fifty years or so back. In the early 1950s we had one next to St. Joseph’s College Hostel. It was owned by an Anglo-Indian couple. I forget their name now. The bikes were available any time on nominal rent. It was a great facility for the hostel boys because very few of them owned vehicles.

During a class on the importance of punctuation, the English professor at St. Joseph’s asked us a question. The owner of a bicycle rental had a new name board made for his shop. It included the caption ’Bicycles for gentlemen and ladies for hire’.

The painter put a comma at the wrong place on the board and that changed the entire meaning. I am sure that you can guess after which word the comma was inserted.

That was a lesson well learned.

Coming back to bicycles, I remember that in Kerala too, bike rentals were quite common in villages and small towns. At least in our area this service is making a comeback. Why wait for a bus or auto rickshaw? Take a two wheeler and pedal away.

Ends.

Also see: Bangalore memories

The Nuclear Deal: An ideal opportunity to study Indian politics and politicians

How many of the elected representatives of the people of India are really interested in the nuclear deal or the country for that matter? I feel the present political circus should be recorded in detail and preserved for the posterity. It could even be a textbook for political studies. A suggested title: ‘Who is for India?’

Or should it be ‘The value of Indian MPs?

The purpose of this short post is to draw the attention of those who want to evaluate the deal to the comments on my post Nuclear Deal: The Left, and the right. They are rather lengthy but worth reading.

Ends.

Garden photos: Lantanas of Olavipe

The British never invaded India. But, in a manner of speaking, the lantanas which they introduced at the beginning of the 19c as a garden plant did. It is considered to be among the most invasive weeds in the world.

Nevertheless, the lantana flowers are beautiful. They come in a number of colors. As they mature, the lantana blooms change color and you can see two or three hues on the same bunch of flowers. The invasive character of lantana can be controlled if proper attention is paid right from the time it is planted.

One interesting point I have noticed is that the butterflies are attracted more by the lantanas than the other flowers around them. So much so, one patch of our garden where a group of lantanas grow has come to be called ‘butterfly corner’.

It is said that lantana finds a place in folk medicine as an antiseptic and also for various health problems like itches and scabies, eczema, swellings, tumors, high blood pressure, infections, tetanus etc. It is also used as firewood in many areas.

The local names of lantana include Raimuniya, Samballei, Thirei, Nongballei, Tantani, Unnichedi, Konginipoo, Aripoo, and Ghaner.

Given below are some of the photographs I took of the lantanas at Olavipe. (I have a doubt whether the plant in the last picture is really a lantana.)

Ends.

Copyright reserved. Click on images for enlarged view.

Also see:

Photos: Flowers from Peermade

Kerala Flowers?

A tree of death?

The photograph above is that of one of the oldest trees in Olavipe. It is a huge mango tree on our estate which I had featured in MANGO TREE Vs. COCONUT TREE - Elbowing in the sky.

One of the details which is not clear in the picture is that the tree has no low branches. It used to have once upon a time, but not any longer. Therein lies a story. Long after the tree stopped yielding it still served a noble purpose.

The practice in Olavipe till recently was that we provided pyre wood for cremating the bodies of our Hindu employees when they die. This is one of the trees earmarked for that use.

Looking at the stubs of the branches that have been cut off, some of the elders can recall for whose cremation the wood was utilized. That brings back memories of the people who have passed on.

What would happen to the tree now? The remaining branches are too high and that makes cutting them down difficult. The wood of mango trees is not considered good for house construction or for making furniture though some people do use them. This tree is unlikely to get uprooted for decades to come because of its buttress roots. See the photo below:

But at sometime a tree has to go, vacating the space it had occupied to permit new growth. That is the way of life. In Kerala there is the legend of Perumthachan, the master craftsman and builder who would prayerfully seek permission from an old tree before cutting it down. Japan has the story of Orosu, a touching narration of the love affair between a girl and a tree. You can read it at:

http://www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/stallings/orosu.html#top

This mango tree too has to go. But in death it would still serve a purpose. The idea is to fell it and donate the suitable parts to a storage facility from where people can draw hard to get pyre wood for cremation.

Ends.

Photos by me. Copyright reserved. Click on them for enlarged view.

Also see:

Cremation woes