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Buddha Poornima at Thirunavaya

Ajay — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:48:59 +0000

Super Moon of Buddha Poornima 2012 reflected in river Perar or Nila at Thirunavaya. May 6, 2012

The full moon day of Vaisakha is celebrated in all the Asian countries as the birthday of the Buddha. Vaisakha Paurnami or Buddha Poornima is conceived as representing the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of the compassionate one. It was a lifetime opportunity for me to watch the super moon of 2012 Buddha Poornima, rise in the eastern horizon on the banks of the Nila or ancient Perar. Coincidentally I witnessed the unusually big moon at Thirunavaya on the northern bank of the river while returning from the ancient port city of Ponnani that forms the mouth of the river Perar where it drains into the mighty Arabian Sea.

Nila or Perar at Thirunavaya. Early 2012

Thirunavaya is known for its religious and historical significances. It is the location of the ancient carnival called Mamankam. In the middle ages it deteriorated into a bloody feud between the Zamorin of Calicut and the Valluva Konathiri or Vellatiri of Valluvanad. But before the 10th century it was a great cultural and spiritual festival related to the Sramana democratic traditions of ancient Kerala. Historians like P K Gopalakrishnan, Velayudhan Panikkassery and V V K Valath argue that it was a great Buddhist festival originally called Mahamargolsavam. Maha Margam is nothing but the way of the Buddha or the Dhama Pada.

But after the Brahmanic take over and spiritual hijacking that happened between the sixth and ninth centuries it degraded into a petty competition between the regional local chieftains resulting in bloody duels and the massacre of the suicidal militia called Chaver. The barbarism and violence involved in the establishment of the Savarna Brahmanical high culture in Kerala could be read in the vulgar decadence of this ancient carnival in Kerala. The well used to dump the bodies of the militia (Mani Kinar), the platform used by the kings (Nilapadu Thara) and the Changampally Kalari (school of martial arts) are still surviving here.

Buddha Poornima or Vaisakha Paurnami an image of the birth, enlightenment and Mahaparinibana/demise of the Buddha

Thirunavaya is also associated with the transition from Sramana culture to Brahmanical one. Keralolpathy and other Brahmanical texts testify that it was here that the Buddhists were defeated in verbal combats and their texts burned and tongues cut by the pedantic perverts of elite barbarism. Radical Malayalam scholars like P Pavithran argue that the ‘Nava’ reference in the place name is linked to this hoary episode in Kerala history. Conventional interpretations associate it with the Navagraha Yogis who performed the installation in the Navamukunda temple. Some versions also talk about the repetition of the installation that happened nine times . Whatever may be the etymological root of the place name it is inextricably linked to the cultural pasts of Kerala. The pulled or plucked tongue of the Chamana become a key icon of cultural hegemony and the resistance of the silenced.

Thirunavaya offers the best views of Nila or Perar. The Mamankam memorials and the old temples make it a historically and architecturally rich cultural location. I had a long and enlightening conversation with Mr Rajiv, a police officer who patrols the region as illegal sand mining is ruining the river and the ecology. We talked about the early human settlements and civilizations on the banks of the Perar and ventured deep into the history and cultural pasts of the region. We watched the super moon climbing like poetry in the dark blue canvas of the starry night. It was a great and meaningful dialogue with a sensitive and informed fellow being and we really enjoyed the time. When we parted it was almost 9pm and I rode to Kuttippuram, five kilometers east, where I am currently residing in a rented quarters.

Perar and Pakkanar

Ajay — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:09:57 +0000

Perar or Bharathapuzha at Tritala. Tritala regulator-cum-bridge in the background

The myth of the ancient aboriginal Paraya woman giving birth to the whole clans and communities in the river basin of Bharathapuzha or Perar (Parayi-petta-pathirukulam) articulates multiple truths regarding the heterologies of the region as far as Valluvanad and Vannerinad are concerned. Historians and anthropologists assert the fact that the Paraya were one of the ancient settlers in south India. As the “Out of Africa” theory that situates the whole human race in the womb of an ancient black mother, the Parayi myth traces the origin of the Kerala people to an ancient aboriginal Paraya woman who inhabited the banks of the ancient Perar.

Great Banyans by the Perar between Kudallur and Tritala

The legendary Pakkanar who immortalized the subaltern legacy along the river Perar was also a child of the ancient aboriginal woman. His ancestral household and family called Eerattingal is still found in Tritala on the river bank. I visited this ancient family and their temple in memory of Pakkanar in the afternoon of May 5, 2012. The current elder Mr Pakkan told me about the oral tales related to Pakkanar. According to him Pakkanar redirected the course of the river for the installation of the family deity, the goddess. His staff was a pole from a Kanjira tree and when he passed away it was planted on the river bank and it grew into a new tree. A huge and old Kanjira tree is still found by the river that is revered as a memorial for Pakkanar.

The huge Kanjiram that is worshiped as a Pakkanar memorial by the Perar at Tritala

Along with Pakkanar the temple deities include Eerattu Kutty, Chathan and Bhagavathy. The idol of the goddess in rough granite style closely resemble the posture of the Sapta Kanyas found in Krishnapuram palace museum. The local deities like Chathan and Kutty also show remarkable linkages to the corrupt form of Buddhist worship. It is clear that the family and people were one of the earliest inhabitants of the region and the family has witnessed various waves of cultural invasions and influences over the ages. In the discussion I urged the elder to record and publish the family legends and regional heterology to resist hegemonic appropriations and reversals.

Pakkan the current elder of Eerattingal family talking before the Pakkanar temple, Tritala

Changeable Hawk Eagle of Thrikanapuram

Ajay — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:46:53 +0000

Changeable Hawk Eagle, Thrikanapuram on the banks of Perar. May 1, 2012

Thrikanapuram is an ancient cultural site on the southern bank of Perar or Bharathapuzha. Kuttippuram bridge connects it with Kuttippuram on the northern bank. Thrikanapuram is distinguished for its sacred groves and shrines. It houses some of the ancient grove-shrines like Papini Kavu. The similarity in place names to Papini Vattam and Thrikanamathilakam (or Mathilakam) near Kodungallur that are situated at the mouth of Periyar towards the south is remarkable.

Papini Kavu, Thrikanapuram

Thrikanamathilakam is also called Thirukunavayil Kottam and was an ancient Jain cultural centre and university till the 8th century. Papini Vattam was an ancient Jain nunnery later condemned as the ‘temple of sinners’ (Papini means accursed witches and Vattam denotes a Sramana shrine) by Brahmanism. It is evident that Thrikanapuram in Malappuram district on the southern banks of the Perar was an ancient Jain cultural centre like Thrikanamathilakam near the mouth of the Periyar in Thrissur district.

Changeable Hawk Eagle at Thrikanapuram

In the evening of May Day 2012 I visited this ancient laterite plateau rising up to 100 meters from the river bed. Near the Papini Kavu I could see a huge hawk being chased by crows. I got a few shots of this big raptor and it escaped into the dying light of the evening salvaging itself from the crows. The long pronounced crest and tail bands of the bird were clear. The out-thrown wings and swooping flight of the raptor was amazing and awesome. On returning I found it to be a Changeable Hawk Engle with the field books.

Sunset at Thrikanapuram. Thirunavaya on the northern banks in the horizon

Sahodaran and the Futures of Kerala

Ajay — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:02:15 +0000

Cover of Sahodaran Ayyappan: Towards a Democratic Future. Life and Select Works by Ajay Sekher (Calicut: Other Books, 2012)

He was condemned as “Pulayan Ayyappan” by the elites and the orthodox who upheld the values of caste and Brahmanism. He considered it an honorary title that marked his radical cultural activism that aligned him with the excluded. He is the chief architect of Kerala modernity and democracy in various fields including social reform, human rights, civil rights, rationalism, journalism, poetry, prose, public cultural activism, representative democracy and policy planning. He was affectionately addressed as brother or Sahodaran by the people that formed the title of his journal and later daily. K Ayyappan B. A. or Sahodaran Ayyappan of Cherai is one of the key organic intellectuals who shaped the literary culture of Kerala and imagined its secular and democratic public sphere. He is one of the pioneers of counter hegemonic and democratic cultural politics in Kerala that revolutionized the state at the wake of the 20th century.

B R P Bhaskar releasing Sahodaran Ayyappan at Press Club, Trivandrum. Zakariah, Dalitbandhu...

As the leading intellectual-disciple of Narayana Guru the philosopher of Kerala renaissance and modernity, Sahodaran reformed language, culture and social reality in Kerala through his radical democratic political interventions and rationalist practices. He is the founder of the rationalist movement in Kerala. He is the founder of public journalism and media cultures in Kerala. He has also contributed to the development of trade unionism and literacy movement among the basic working classes and communities in Kerala. His 1917 inter-dining campaign at Cherai and 1945 Human Rights Declaration at Kochi are historic landmarks that changed society and polity in Kerala towards a better future.

His strategic early interventions in the launching of civil rights movement, Neo Buddhist movement, universal adult franchise movement, rational and scientific movement, affirmative action and social inclusion movements etc. form the bedrock of Kerala democracy and social progress. As a life long warrior against caste and related social inequality his critique of cultural elitism and religious dogmas are scathing and lasting. His original thinking and imagination in the field of futuristic development and decenter ed progress of the state is yet to be studied in epistemological terms and applied in political practices.

Sahodaran Ayyappan: Towards a Democratic Future is an attempt to critically contextualize and reread the life and legacies of this pivotal thinker and social practitioner. It includes a critical biography of Sahodaran and English translations of his select works. The foreword by Gail Omvedt and reflections by J Reghu are incorporated in the volume. The book was launched on 13th of April 2012 by the veteran journalist and human rights activist B R P Bhaskar and the leading Malayalam writer Zakariah at Trivandrum Press Club. It is published by Other Books, Calicut who specializes in bringing out books of socio-cultural significance in Kerala in English language for a global audience. The book is available in their showroom in Calicut which is situated in the Railway Link Road and also in leading bookshops all over Kerala on demand. Online purchasing through sites like Flipkart.com is also ensured by the publishers.

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Architectural and Iconographic Relics of Buddhism in Kerala

Ajay — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 06:33:57 +0000

Like a floating pagoda: Ananthapura temple, Kasaragod

Most of the temples that are a thousand years old are modified Buddhist temples in Kerala. According to historians Brahmanism came and converted the temples from 8th to 16th centuries. Buddhism and Jainism came to south India as early as BC 3rd century and established the early Sramana civilization of Kerala that was casteless and democratic. They also spread literacy and scripts in ancient Tamilakam.

Gautamapuram temple, Kottayam

Pali, Sanskrit, Ayurveda, Vasthuvidya, Visual arts and music that flourished in Kerala were legacies of Buddhism and Jainism. Kerala gave birth to some of the leading intellectuals of Buddhism including architects, astrologers and medical practitioners.

A seated Boddhisatva on the wall of Ananthapura temple

A Sreedhara Menon in his official History of Kerala observes that the present Hindu temples in Malabar resemble the architectural style of Sramana temples (Menon 99). The temples of Kasaragod show this remarkable similarity and the missing link. In his linguistic and cultural analytical work Budddh’s Footprints, Prof. P O Purushothaman through his linguistic archeology affirms that all the ancient monuments of worship in Kerala were originally related to Buddhism and Jainism ( Purushothaman 50-51).

Seema Malaka lake temple, Srilanka

Ananthapura temple near Kumbala looks exactly like a Buddhist lake temple. Its replicas could be found all over Asia as far as China, Japan, Korea and Thailand. The reliefs on the wall of the shrine also show some Buddhist motifs including the figures of Boddhisatvas, though slightly modified many times in the last millennium during the renovations.

Kilirur temple shrine housing Buddha relief, in Gaja Prishta style (simple)

The legend that associates this temple with Padmanabha temple,Thiruvananthapuram also proves the Buddhist past of this temple as Padmanabha temple was a Buddhist temple before the 8^thcentury. A reclining Padmapaani (lotus in hand) Buddha idol was modified into a Padmanabha (lotus from the navel) Vishnu icon (Ayyappan, Jayaprakas, Jose).

Gaja Prishta style: Madhur temple, Kasaragod

The ancient practice of keeping the crocodile in the pond also enacts the conservationist spirit of Buddhism that established hospitals even for animals and birds as testified by the second edict of Asoka in which Kerala is mentioned in connection with wild life conservation. The word Anantha found in both place names could be a later modification of Aananda (Buddha’s foremost disciple and also the Buddhist concept of “bliss and joy”). Any way the temple even today looks exactly like a Japanese lake temple or a floating Korean Buddhist pagoda.

Ananthapura temple, Kasaragod

The Hindu temples at Adur and Madhur in Kasaragod district also show marked architectural affiliations to Buddhist and Jain monuments. The three-tiered sanctorum in Gaja Prishta style in both the temples; is often linked to the Sramana architectural style by archeologists (Sarkar 23). The same Gaja Prishta (elephant butt) style is also surviving in many other Hindu temples with Buddhist past as in Kilirur temple in Kottayam in south Kerala.

Adur temple, Kasaragod. Gaja Prishta style

A close comparative study of the ancient monuments in Kerala reveals the fact that the temple architecture and ritual practices were appropriated from the Sramana traditions of Jainism and Buddhism. Religion, power and politics were misused for this take over by the forces of internal imperialism.

Buddha recovered at Pallikal Bharanikavu, Kayamkulam. C. 7th century AD

Cheat, usurpation, violence and unimaginable barbarism were also employed for this erasing act. But somehow it is still violently re-enacted in carnivals like Kodungallur Bharani in which low castes are given one-day license to invade and pollute the shrine after drunken and obscene parleys. The altars inside the present shrine still shows the lotus carvings that prove that it was the seat of a Buddhist idol, says experts (Valath).

Buddha as Krishna in Kilirur temple, Kottayam

Brahmanism with the help of tribal chieftains, servile militia and petty kings converted these temples around 8^th and 9^thcenturies. The partially damaged Buddhist idols and Jain reliefs recovered from central and south Kerala testify this bloody and fierce invasion that subverted the ethical and egalitarian democratic culture of Kerala that began in BC third century with the arrival of Sramana monks.

A Japanese Buddhist shrine in a pond of white lotuses

But the lasting imprints of the Sramana culture are still tangible and visible in the folk as well as classical architecture and ritualistic practices all over Kerala in connection with ancient temples and carnivals (Valath). The Mamankam of Thirunavaya, Kettukazhcha of horses and oxen found in Thrissur and Kollam, Annamkettu and Paravathookam of Kottayam and Alapuzha districts are all abiding articulations of the ancient Sramana democratic culture of Kerala.

Mavelikara Buddha idol. c. 8th century AD

References

Ayyappan, A. “Padmanabha Vigraham.” Mathrubhumi Weekly. April 8, 1984.

Jayaprakas, M S. Padmanabha Kshetra Vivadam. Trivandrum: BSP, 2011.

Jose, Dalitbandhu N K. Sripadmanabha Kshetranidhi Arutethu? Trivandrum: Bahujan Vartha, 2011.

Menon, Sreedhara. Kerala Charithram. Kottayam: DCB, 2010.

Purushothaman, P O. Buddhante Kalpadukal. Kottayam: Current Books, 2006.

Sarkar. Temple Architecture in Kerala. Trivandrum: Govt of Kerala,1998.

Valath, V V K. Thrissur Jilla. Thrissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi, 2008.

Polyphony of Lives and Struggles: Vibgyor Film Fest 2012

Ajay — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:50:21 +0000

Dalit musicians playing at Vibgyor 2012

Mazhavilmela or Vibgyor International Film Festival 2012 was held in Thrissur from Feb 22 to 26. The seventh edition was a great event with the participation of documentary/short film makers and their films and spectator-activists from all over the world.

Patwardhan, Tabone, Bradbury and Sarabhai at the opening of Vibgyor 2012

Jai Bhim Comrade, the opening movie by Anand Patwardhan was a critical act of defiance against the growth of Indian fascism, especially in the post Gujarath India. Political documentaries by David Bradbury and Frencesco Tabone were also illuminating on similar issues of inequality and violence all over the world.

Poet Anwar Ali reading his poem at Vibgyor 2012

The fest was also a meeting point for activists and students from various parts of Kerala. It was a carnival of music and dance with an accent on the politics of culture. The atmosphere of cultural interaction and micro and minor resistance was meaningful.

From Jai Bhim Comrade, opening movie at Vibgyor 2012

Conferences and campaigns on key issues of life and livelihood in South Asia was apt and relevant. It was a true celebration of differences and diversities. Minor and little subjects and expressions got their space and voice in this new age festival.

A Life in People’s History: Dalitbandhu N K Jose

Ajay — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:07:02 +0000

Dalitbandhu N K Jose before his works in his study at Namasivayam house, Kudavechur, Vaikam. 19 Feb 2012. He turned 84 recently

History is lived and fought by the people and not by the kings and priests, says Dalitbandhu. Mr N K Jose hailing from Kudavechur in Vaikam in Kottayam district of Kerala is a people’s historian. He has given Malayalam more than 140 books on key issues in Kerala history that are vital for the people at the bottom of Kerala society. He has completed his 84^th year of relentless and committed service to the people the subaltern classes of Kerala through his vibrant and insightful historical writings.

Historiography is not an elite academic exercise for him but an inevitable part of life and struggle. It is the struggle to survive, resisting the onslaughts of cultural invasions and hegemony. It is a counter hegemonic practice and quintessential life struggle for this veteran freedom fighter who was a secretary of J P during his youth and spent some time even in Wardha ashram. In his mature later career he became an ardent critique of Brahmanism and the Savarna or Caste Hindu hegemonic culture in India and Kerala.

Vaikam temple. Dalitbandhu's Namasivayam household was associated with it a few centuries ago says the learned historian

Though the mainstream media and academia excluded him the people at the bottom, especially the dalitbahujans of Kerala have embraced him and his vital and strategically essential epistemological contributions that are so important to their sense of the past and present. His books are bibles in almost every dalit home in Kerala today. Everyday the people visit his home and interact with him on various issues related to culture, politics and history. It is open to all throughout the day and is a common resort of the excluded.

There are critics who say that his historiography lacks methodology, ideological tenor and depth, but his political intentions and affiliation to the liberation of the people, the downtrodden can never be contested. There are academics who preach that such writings are trivial and could not be considered as knowledge but even they are moved by the organic integrity and power of his counter narratives and simple humane wisdom. Through more than 50 years of consistent committed writing Dalitbandhu N K Jose has proved himself to be a real relative of the depressed.

Mavelikara Buddha idol. 7th century in Anuradhapura style according to peoples like Dalitbandhu

I was delighted to visit him at his beautiful simple home called Namasivayam at Ambika Market close to the Thanneermukkam barrage across the lake Vembanad on its eastern shore, on the morning of Sunday 19 Feb 2012. He was surrounded by young activists and scholars especially from the dalit sections as always. It was DHRM youth who celebrated his 84^thbirthday recently. Even amidst his busy schedule talking to the students and writing his regular notes he welcomed me with a whole heart and showed me all his books and publications.

Pathiramanal Island in Lake Vembanad the heart of Kuttanad the land of Kuttan or Buddhan

We had an intimate and enlightening dialogue before his exquisite book shelf in his study. A wooden engraved portrait of Jesus blessed me with endless love from the top of the bookshelf. I also got his latest titles on Padmanabha Temple Treasures and Buddha Dhamam Keralathil. He suddenly remembered the visit of Nithyachaitanya Yati to Namasivayam and showed me a Siva Linga installed by him in the garden. After meeting the young friends briefly I returned back to Kottayam and it was a truly illuminating journey for me.

You may visit his home page here.

Deepan Sivaraman’s Peer Gynt: A Photo Applause

Ajay — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:21:59 +0000

Deepan's Play at ITFoK, Thrissur. Feb 2012

Sandwich-reachout stage and prop improvizations

Dramatization of violence and the uncanny

Awesome puppets and props in tandom with dynamic action and choreography

Theatre, puppetry, dance, music and more...

Gautamapuram and Beyond:Towards a Cultural History of Kottayam

Ajay — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:01:27 +0000

Gautamapuram temple, Kottayam

Kottayam offers at least two etymological possibilities of interpretation. Ayam of a Kotta means pond of a Kotta or pond by a Kottam. Akam of a Kotta makes it the interior of a fort. The second one is more popular but the first one seems more historically relevant. In both ways the place is associated with a Kotta or Kottam that signifies a pre Hindu place of worship in south India often associated with Sramana or Chamana culture. Jain and Buddhist temples are often called Kottam, Vattam, Kutti, Ambalam etc. Pally was more of a sacred word in Pali language used to refer to more established Viharas, Chaityas and Basatis of greater sanctity. Simple pagodas, pillors, towers, Stupas, Pipal platforms with ponds nearby etc. were referred to with these words of common denomination and popular currency.

Biodiversity of river Kodur: Cotton Pigmy Goose and Cormorant in a backwater formation of Kodurar that forms the southern margin of Kottayam town

It is clear that Kottayam before the 8^thcentury was the abode of Kottams, ponds and Ambalams. Place names that survive centuries of cultural onslaughts like Muttambalam, Pallypurathu Kavu, Mariyapally, Gautamapuram etc. point towards the Sramana antiqutity of Kottayam. Pallypurathu Kavu on the banks of the Kodurar close to the lake Vembanad in the west literally means an ancient sacred grove outside but in the vicinity of the Pally (Buddhist temple after disseminating the slurs). Mariyapally could be an alteration of Maariyapally or changed shrine. Muttambalam may refer to a spherical Stupa of Buddhist worship as relic worship was popular in many schools of Buddhism.

Panachikad shrine on the southern bank of Kodurar

It is also important to note that Panachikad an ancient seat of a Naga Yakshi and her sacred grove and spring is located just across the river on the southern bank. Yakshi itself is a corrupt and demonized term related to Buddhist Nuns and Teachers (imagined as evil by Brahmanism in order to exterminate them after disseminating the slur). There are also ancient shrines of Buddhist antiquity like Neelamperur Pally Bhagavathy Temple a few miles south west and Kilirur Kunnummel Bhagavathy Temple in the west. According to historians these temples remained Buddhist even up to 15^th or 16^th century.

Apart from a place in Chennai in south India only Kottayam has a place name called Gautamapuram that is located on the northern bank of river Kodur between Pallypurathukavu and Muttambalam. It lies in the slope just south of present Baselius College and Manorama. An ancient temple there is also called Thri (Thiru) Gautamapuram temple. Though Krishna is worshiped here today in the central shrine as in Kilirur temple just a few miles west on the banks of lake Vembanad, local people especially the Avarnas believe that it was an ancient Buddhist shrine. But according to the NSS officials of the temple it is named Gautamapuram as a sage Gautama has performed the installation here.

In his masterpiece Kerala and Buddhism, S Sanku Iyer talks about Gautamapuram and its Buddhist past. According to him it was the location of a Buddhist Vihara that was lost or demolished (Iyer 5) and it was named after Gautama Buddha himself by the early missionaries who reached Kerala in the third or fourth century BC. He also cites Changanassery Parameswaran Pillai saying that there was a Buddha idol in the ruins at Gautamapuram (Iyer 67).

Endorsing this view and rehabilitating the local legends and oral narratives by the Avarna people in the locality who have become extinct in the area because of rapid urbanization and the pressures of the newly moneyed classes, Dalitbandhu N K Jose also records about the Buddhist past of Gautamapuram at the heart of Kottayam in his polemical work Buddh Dhamam Keralathil (Dalitbandhu 36). It is also interesting to note that same legends are also existing among dalitbahujans regarding Thiru Nakkara temple just a mile afar in the west.

Named after Gautama Muni or Gautama Buddha?

It is evidently clear that the official historical versions on Kottayam that begin with the Thali rule and Thekumkur associated with the Brahmanical Savarna hegemony that begins with 16^th century are grossly inadequate and obsolete in interpreting the greater and ancient legacies of the people, their cultural traditions and trajectories of resistance against internal imperialism of caste, cultural elitism and absolute hegemony by the forces of barbaric violence, Varna and Veda. Epistemological violence related to mutilation and erasure of history and culture done through linguistic and semiotic doctoring may take centuries of de-colonizing and rewriting to achieve balance and poise.

Mamankam and Changampally Kalari: Ancient Practices of Healthcare and Martial Arts in Kerala

Ajay — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:33:47 +0000

Mamankam memorial: Changampally Kalari near Thirunavaya

The healthcare and self defense practices of Ayurveda and Kalari in Kerala are of Buddhist origin. They are lasting legacies of Buddhism in Kerala as literacy and the general intellectual culture. The Avarna communities like Ezhavas constitute the chunk of its practitioners traditionally and even in the present. Vagbhata and Nagarjuna who developed this indigenous practice of medicine were Buddhist monks who did missionary work in south India.

Pazhuka Mandapam near Navamukunda temple, Thirunavaya on the banks of Nila

Even in 18^th century, at the peak of Brahmanical untouchability and exclusion on caste lines, the Dutch appointed an Ezhava medic, Itty Achuthan of Kadakarapally near Cherthala to write the famous Hortus Malabaricus. Even today one of the ancient Kalaris surviving in Kerala like Cheerapanchira in Alapuzha district, that trained the legendary Ayyappan of Sabarimala, belongs to an Avarna Ezhava household.

Manikinar: well used to dump the Chaver, Thirunavaya

Changampally Kalari in Thirunavaya in Malapuram district is associated with Mamankam, the martial carnival that settled the succession disputes in ancient Kerala once in every 12 years. Historians like Velayudhan Panikasery argue that the festival is of Buddhist origin. Initially it was a great cultural and trade festival of human interaction on the banks of the great Perar or Bharathapuzha just above the ancient port city of Ponnani where trade and passenger ships from across the world anchored in the calm waters of the inland port.

Nilapadu Thara: vantage used by the Konathiries and Zamorins

Anyway the Changampally household was appointed in charge of the Kalari here by the Zamorin of Calicut in the middle ages according to local legends. The family has converted to Islam in the 18^thcentury during the Mysore occupation. When I visited the Kalari in early February 2012, Mr Jaffar Gurukal who is running an Ayurvedic centre near the ancient Kalari told me that before conversion they were Tulu Brahmans. This could be an elitist assimilation or fabrication done later under the hegemony of Brahmanical values; as Tulu Brahmans are never identified as traditionally having martial Kalari practice or institutions in Tulunadu or down south. Almost all Kalari households in Tulunadu and Malabar belonged to Sudra and Avarna communities.

Carving in Changampally Kalari

The Changam and Pally words in their house name are marked key words associated with Buddhism. Changam or Chingam represent Chamana or Amana or Sramana culture as in Chinga Vanam or Changanassery (place names in Kottayam district). As Sramana culture is inseparable from the month of Chingam and the great secular egalitarian festival of Onam in Kerala, the words Changam/Chingam and Pally/Pilly are also inextricably linked to the Buddhist past of Kerala that is the foundation of egalitarian culture here, that was erased by Brahmanism after the 8^th century.

It is great to see the ancient Kalari shrine and surroundings and the Mamankam sites being preserved by the Government and the people. An apt museum and interpretation centre that could educate the people on their rich cultural traditions can be an added attraction here. The road from Thirunavaya to Kuttipuram is also in good condition. The Nila Park just below the Kuttipuram bridge about which poets like Idassery have written is also luring visitors. I found a large group of Small Pratincoles on the sandy flats of the river near the park as the sun was setting beyond the river and into the trees.