tipofindia

Thirur, the Other Capital of Kerala

2010-05-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ripe mangoes falling down, birds and squirrels feeding on it, small children running to get a mango that just fell down in the passing winds. In the spacious lawn under the huge mango trees are the young and old, some relishing the sweet native mangoes. The mother mango tree looks down pleased. This is Thunchan Parambu, at Thirur in Malappuram district of Kerala. Where the old world charm of Kerala comes back, this was how a people took the bounties of nature few decades back. No more, they fell the trees for houses, offices, sold or or auctioned the mangoes for a pittance. This is the place where the Atchan, father, of Ezhuthu, Malayalam literature, Ezhuthachan, is believed to have been born and wrote. It is thus the cultural capital of the Malayali people. The vast area of the memorial has a subdued ambience, a soothing meditative quality, despite its location close to the small town. Students sit and study scattered here and there, thankfully the place is not yet crowded. Visitors walk silently through the beautiful lawns with only the chirruping of birds to accompany.

A discernible peace this, not easy to find in these days where boastful institutions and threatening buildings are the order. The rural landscape , harmonious buildings, all merge in to each other at Thunchan Parambu. It also reflects on the people behind. Though, one feels sad that the kind of predominance ought to have been given to this place is wanting. Just across the borders the way Tamilnadu honors poet-saint Thiru Valluar is a comparison. What Ezhuthachan too demands. That not many know about Thiru Valluar in Kerala, despite the composite Tamil past, despite the high content of Malayalam usages in Thirukkural, is something that deserves attention. The usual problems of Kerala as they say, but as it seems things are changing.

Poet-saint Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, is one from the many in India who sang about Lord Ram, Tulasidasa, Kambar were all there, and the Adhyatma Ramayanam in Malayalam is more than a story, it has embedded in it great mystical revelations. Ezhuthachan wrote that in a unique way, as being told by a bird, Kili, called it ‘Kilipatu’ bird song. This it seems is a Parrot, which talks. And at Thunchan Parambu one can see a huge bird built of granite. The most popular work of Ezhuthachan is Harinama Keerthanam, what is a short rendering in the name of Hari, generally believed to be Lord Vishnu, whose chanting was part of Kerala culture till recently, it still continues in a small population. This is also a work with great wisdom and Ezhuthachan tells that it is accessible to all: low castes, women in their monthly periods, what is an oblique reference to the monopoly priestly Hinduism of the day. Where it was forbidden for low castes to learn the Vedas, Ved means knowledge. Shutting down the doors of knowledge, and these were all considered polluting by the rigid Vedic religion, rudiments of the belief still exist.

It was a revolution as can be inferred. If one studies Harinama Keerthanam it is as good as studying all the Hindu Vedas and Puranas is what many believe. This is a simple language of Malayalam, different from the highly Sanskritized language of the day, when the Brahminical dogma was powerful. And this is a region where the Brahmin hold on society was too powerful, from the days of Saivite Sidhas with a liberal outlook things seems to have shifted to a closed Vaishnavite faith. The predominant community of Hindus are Nayars here, who were in times past unmistakably Saiva, for in instance, to quote a case, in the root language Tamil Nayanmar means Saivite saints. That Kerala drifted away from the composite Tamizh past was a tragedy in history.

Thunchan Parambu is close to Thirur railway station on the Shorannur – Mangalapuram line and is not far from the Karippur International Airport. Nearest railway junction is Palakad, which has a beautiful railway station. Thiroor is an unassuming town with many pilgrim spots, mainly Hindu also Muslim, scattered around. This site of Thunchan Parambu is believed to be the same location where the great seer’s house was in the 16 th century and where the great renderings flowed. The place now has a Saraswathy Mandapam, for the Goddess of Learning Saraswathy, and during the Navaratri days young children are initiated in to the world of learning here, what is a unique Kerala tradition during Vijaya Dasami. It is also the time when the martial people were initiated, but this has almost ceased.

Thousands come here for the ritual called Vidyarambham when the Acharyas give the first words of formal learning, this is normally done writing in a silver plate with rice with the little fingers of tiny tots. The children obviously try to shake away from the prison of learning, and a lot of weeping can be seen, children are free by birth but human society binds them down by their learning is what can be said poetically. This Centre has a library of rare manuscripts, a light and sound show, auditorium and resting places. The picture gallery presents a well researched panel of Kerala culture and traditions, what can be very useful for students with a serious interest in these areas.

The ‘Kanjiram’, nux vomica, tree in the compound is celebrated and together with the parrot myth it is a metaphor of the inherent oneness of all beings, the parrot that sang the wisdom and the tree that gave the shade. The tree stands near a pond which must have been a household pond of the family. It is a practice in Kerala to have household ponds and wells, it was an advanced civilization from before the days of piped water and amenities. Eating mangoes falling down and watching the squirrels and birds having a feast one can sit at the place for hours and rejuvenate one self. No crowds of tourists, so far. The huge granite parrot and the iron stylus that was used by the poet, to write on palm leaf from before paper was invented, are land marks and the general terrain on the banks of the Nila is in tune with the Thunchan Parambu.

The Thunchan Memmorial Trust that runs the facility ought to get more support from the people that this becomes a better place with better amenities. In a state that underwent colonization at two levels, one priestly and another European, the crafty taking advantage of both, language and native culture are no more symbols of pride in Kerala. Aimed at revitalizing these this place has meanings beyond tourism and travel. Perhaps one could pay homage to the poet-saint had there been a place for that, for this is a place of sublime spirituality. An spot where one can light incense sticks, sit and meditate, wish that too comes. Many graceful politicians and beurocrats have helped in this venture, not the other kind so far. Many of the facilities are from donations that came from devotees and patrons and that is a tribute to Ezhuthachan, a light house in the Sidha tradition from south India. From the liberal faith of the Sidha traditions Kerala had undergone changes and Ezhuthachan was perhaps a turning point. Middlemen between man and god are not inevitable, that was a crucial message in the great works. That myth had damaged a people for long. Thunchan Parambu has a message, very much relevant for today’s Malayali.

The pictures, except the one of Palakkad railway station, mine, are from various sources.

Buying Up Mangrove Forests to Conserve

2009-11-17T01:02:00.001-08:00

I am a ‘pranthan kandal’, mad mangrove tree, says K. Pokkudan, an agricultural laborer in Payangadi. This is a man whose name is now identified with mangrove conservation in Kerala. The name board in front of his house says prominently ‘Kallyen Pokkudan’ with ‘Kandal Pokkudan’ in brackets. That means ‘Mangrove Pokkudan’ in Malayalam, it is now to him a title of honor. It is a passion for this simple man from the Pulaya community, locally considered low caste, to plant the wild mangrove trees on every mud bank around. This is over and above what he plants on his own land, what was purchased as mangrove lands as it came cheap once. This after selling his small bit of dry land, he had seen his land lord plant mangroves to protect the bunds from falling off. The mangroves give fodder, food, medicine and fuel wood, he had his reasons but this man who goes on planting mangroves in the wilderness for no apparent reason appeared weird for the local people.

It is an era that goes by profit motives, they called him a mad man, ‘pranthan’ in Malayalam. But then ‘pranthan kandal’ is the name of a mangrove species and he proudly chose it as his own name. In front of his house are the sylvan backwaters of Kannur and they have an abundance of mangroves. These islands of lush green, some of these springing up from the middle of the water body when the rivers are full, are beautiful scenes that beckon. The dark stems of the trees are as strong as iron, tell the local people. They survive in salty waters and some of the species excrete salt from their bark. How it is believed that they help purify saline waters. In some of the wells with mangroves around there is potable water, as Pookkudabn himself tells. And in Kerala mystic of the mangroves can only be seen in Kannur now. It was there across the coastal areas in the state but the bull dozers of development finished it all. There are only rudiments remaining in other places.

Pokkudan, an old communist, has his convictions, ‘these island forests are fast disappearing’, he says. ‘And we get many things like edibles fruits, fodder, leaf manure and plenty of fish’. This, to the native community of Pokkudan comes as their traditional knowledge. But to the general people this was at best a nuisance and the fast spreading mangroves many considered a weed. And even to this day the Forest Department has not included it in their classification of forests in the state. How these got converted in to coconut farms, roads, and real estate. Or tese were sold at cheap rates for various purposes, including prawn cultivation in the coasts. As days passed, with the scientific community catching up with the new insight people like Pokkudan became a celebrity. The Ramsar Convention and the international attention on wetlands, mangroves in particular, became turning points.

A Kannur based NGO called SEEK ( Society for Environmental Education in Kerala) played a key role in making Pokkudan’s work known to outside world. Mangroves, unique ecosystems that flourish in coastal estuaries and river mouths with saline and fresh water cycles, present a rare symbiosis between plants and animals. In India the biggest mangroves are in the Sunderbans and in Kerala it is found in three northern districts, mainly in Kannur. It is believed that the state had as much as 700 sq. km. of mangroves spread over its long coastline in olden days but this is now reduced to 4200 ha. Kerala’s high density of population puts pressure on land, more so at the coastal areas. The paddy farmers complain that the trees sprout so fast that their paddy fields left idle becomes a forest in a year. Good news for foresters but not farmers. And then came the intensive aqua culture programs, growing prawns in coastal saline tanks. This was heavily subsidized by the government.

With the aggressive prawn farming all kinds of people started buying up mangroves, for starting projects and also as real estate. There was massive destruction of mangroves and it was at this time that SEEK became active. First they went around telling people about its unique value, how they could even shield people from storms and even tsunamis, how they nurture fish habitats and help conserve birds and other fauna. But nothing much happened, lure for money was making people sell the lands. And 90 percent of mangroves in Kerala are in private holdings. With its mangle of roots and muddy soils it is an inhospitable terrain for human beings and people try to cut it down or sell for whatever money they could get. When the sales became alarming SEEK decided that they will have to use money to rescue the ecosystem. ‘We send an appeal through our monthly publication ‘Soochimukhi’ about the plan, sponsor a bit of mangrove land, and there was good response’ said T P Padmanabhan, of SEEK.

SEEK works with the funds pooled in from members without any external support. The donors sent even Rs. 100 and this was pooled to buy 4 acres of prime mangroves. This at Kunhimangalam, near Payyanur. This was already sold to a group of aqua culture entrepreneurs and was bought back. What followed was a wave of people purchasing mangroves at Kunhimangalam. These backwaters are formed by interlinking rivers and lakes which drain in to the sea. No one is permitted to go in to the mangroves purchased here, save the students who are taken to study and village fishermen. Another group of individuals under a local organization ‘One Earth One Life’ purchased the adjoining mangrove lands after SEEK registered the land title. Later the Delhi based ‘Wild Life Trust of India’ purchased another area of 8.4 ha. The last was with assistance from the World Land Trust, the global Conservation NGO supporting such buy offs. The mangroves now have owners, not many can trespass or destroy it. For SEEK it is sacred ground and they take students in to the mangroves like a primitive nature worship ritual. ‘It is a dark and a eerie silence within’, says Sujyothi, who attended a Camp by a small boat, the only way to enter a thick mangrove. With all the media attention that came the general public are also now keen to conserve mangroves.

SEEK conducts a series of Nature Camps and both rain forests up in the hills and the mangroves are their destinations. ‘The roles of rainforests are now known but not so with the mangroves which are as rich and important’, says Prof. M. Jayarajan, President of SEEK who is now the mangrove landlord. SEEK whose evolution started from the Zoology Club of Government College, Payyanur is perhaps the oldest environment organization in Kerala and the early agitations against the famous Silent Valley Project started here. Conducting Nature Camps form the major work and no wonder many of the best environmentalists in the state are molded here. ‘We call it eco-spirituality’ tells Padmanabhan of SEEK. One of their mentors was Prof. John C Jacob, a former professor of Zoology at the Payyanur College who worked and lived like an ascetic. This saffron clad teacher fitted well in to this land of sacred groves and has left behind a whole team of nature lovers in and around Payyanur.

After the Payyanur saga there were agitations at Mangalavanam in Kochi, and this mangrove area was later declared a Bird Sanctuary. There was agitation also at Ashramam, Kollam but this beautiful mangrove lost out, a Tourism Department Hotel stands there now. As the message spread the state’s Forest Department came out with a legislation in 2005 that bans destroying mangroves of more than 0.5 ha in area, even when it is private. Recently under this Act, meant for promotion of tree growth in non-forest areas, the Forest Department had taken action against the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) for their building an International Stadium at Kochi. The KCA, it is alleged, destroyed more than 8 ha of mangroves. This was a case where the increased awareness is helping salvage these magic lands. With large scale encroachments on backwaters across Kerala the mangroves are the first casualties and helpless mangrove species surviving here and there can be seen at many places, relics of a bygone glory.

This law in the meantime has created a furor and many farmers object to the law, there are protests in Payangadi where Pokkudan lives. The farmers resent the state entry in what is their land. ‘We will decide what should be done to our lands’ tell a farmer at Madai. But these lands were once river embankments which were common property as old timers tell. But now individuals own the title deeds. ‘Without the government acquiring the mangrove lands there is no hope’, tells A. Bijukumar, with the Department of Aquatic Biology at the Kerala University in Thiruvananthapuram. ‘And it won’t cost much, if we can afforest the entire coast of Kerala with mangroves all the better’ adds Biju Kumar. ‘The huge investment made year after year to fence the seas with rocks, sea-walls, to prevent sea erosion may not be necessary if mangroves are there’ he adds. As it is with out a strong policy the last of Kerala’s mangroves may vanish. As Pokkudan’s earthy science tells ‘it is mangroves that make soil out of sands’. And the scientists who are studying the chemistry of plant-animal interaction in mangroves agree.

(Pictures are pasted from a collection by K. Pokkudan)