Saga of Kalpathy

Title: Saga of Kalpathy – The Story of Palghat Iyers
Author: M K Das
Publisher: Prism Books, 2017 (First)
ISBN: 9789386506108
Pages: 228

Kerala, on the southwestern coast of India, is gifted with abundant rain and a lush tropical climate that are good for leading a peaceful life. Unlike many parts of India, Kerala has not witnessed any large-scale military operations in a millennium, save perhaps the invasions of Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. Not for nothing is it called ‘God’s Own Country’. In fact, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin are perhaps the only region in mainland India that has never come under Muslim rule. Now you realise why the Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram still possesses an immense hoard of wealth accumulated over centuries. However, the land offered a hearty welcome to others who chose to migrate here such as Tamil Brahmins, Konkani Brahmins, Gujaratis and Jews. People fleeing religious persecution sought refuge in Kerala which provided ample opportunities for trade, being a prominent exporter of spices and forest-produce. This book studies Tamil Brahmins who settled in Palakkad – in the famous Kalpathy town and its surrounding villages. This is in fact a coffee-table book with a large font size and a simplified narrative of history. A large number of sketches are included in the book, but no photographs. M K Das is a Kochi-based journalist who had worked in the New Indian Express group. He has authored some books also. E P Unny, who has drawn the sketches in this book, is a newspaper cartoonist also from the Indian Express group.

The first two chapters furnish the historical groundwork for the arrival of Tamil Brahmins beginning in the fourteenth century. Some parts of it are purely legendary, such as accounts of Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar personally invading Malabar. Some legends try to reconcile and connect all the subjects of a ruler to him. Such a story recounts that the Brahmins were the invitees of a ruling raja of Palakkad, Sekharivarman, who wanted them to take over the religious duties of Namboodiris who were expelled by him to nearby Valluvanad for opposing his marriage to a tribal girl he loved. In a curious way, he was anticipating Henry VIII and the birth of the Protestant Church! The reason for the Tamil Brahmins’ ready acceptance of the offer is also noted. The thirteenth century was a period of great socio-political churning in Tamizhakam. The collapse of Cholas and the folding out of Pallavas and Pandyas made the land vulnerable to any adventurer. Malik Kafur, the general of Ala ud-din Khilji, invaded Madurai in 1310. Hindu temples were plundered, desecrated and hundreds of thousands of people were butchered. According to Ferishta, Kafur returned with 312 elephants, 20,000 horses, 96,000 manns of gold and several boxes of pearls and jewels. Even allowing for a fair amount of exaggeration, it is clear that a large chunk of Tamil wealth was being taken out of the country by the Delhi sultans, never to return. Haider Ali’s invasion in 1781 caused similar distress and another wave of migration, but the ancestors of Palghat Iyers had reached Kerala much earlier.

Das reiterates on several occasions that the Palghat Brahmins never aroused animosity among the local people. The Palghat Raja was only a minor feudal lord and the patronage he could extend to the migrants was limited, quite unlike the Travancore Maharaja who favoured them in government jobs thereby inviting the wrath of locals who demanded a more judicious distribution. Absence of any clash of interest eased coexistence. The amiability of settlers matched with affability of the natives. This was hugely advantageous to both as Kerala witnessed economic prosperity due to opening up of sea trade with the Portuguese after 1498. This proved a catalyst for more Tamil Brahmin migration. They streamed in from Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Mayavaram and Chidambaram into Palakkad. They effortlessly blended in by adopting Bhagavathi, which was a Kerala goddess, as kuladeivam (family goddess). The original Kerala cuisine was quite bland, with limited choice of vegetables. Tamil Brahmins introduced the popular sambar, rasam, pappadam, dosa, vada etc. The book also discusses about other groups of immigrants like Jews, Konkani Brahmins and Gujaratis to other parts of Kerala and concludes that the pattern remains the same as of Tamil Brahmins. They have strictly adhered to their socio-religious and cultural mores and resolutely resisted any attempt to dilute them. How long they will be able to stick to tradition and customs is something none is prepared to bet on (p.92).

Several specificities of Palghat Iyers are examined in this book. An agraharam (street where the Tamil Brahmins live in a group) has almost become a geographic indicator by its fame. A typical agraharam has a row of houses on both sides of the road with a temple at one end and an open well at the other. Each house has a common wall separating them. The street formed an integral part of the community, which was the venue of all religious, familial and social functions. The smaller agraharams consisted of anything between 50-100 houses and the bigger ones upwards of 300 units. Those persons who turned to various professions in the modern economy quickly carved out a niche for themselves as they possessed an inclination to be content with backroom operations and total loyalty to the authority (p.189). Curiously enough, these were the same traits that so endeared the Tamil Brahmins to the royalty in past centuries. They worked for persons with money or power, but never tried to graduate into industrial entrepreneurship. Many have turned to trade, however. Carnatic music is posited to arrive in Kerala along with Tamil Brahmins. Palakkad earned the sobriquet of the ‘Thanjavur of Kerala’ on account of the numerous maestros in vocal music and accompanying instruments the region produced. Every girl in a Brahmin family learns classical music as if it is a pre-requisite to being married off. Noorni Parameswara Bhagavathar and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar were the doyens of vocal music. The Palghat Iyers also popularized Harikatha, a musical narration of Puranic stories set in Carnatic ragas. Kerala’s own kathaprasamgam evolved out of this. Mridangam virtuoso Palakkad Mani Iyer was also a name worthy of eminent mention in this regard.

The author also addresses some of the issues and historical remembrances related to Palghat Iyers. Haider and Tipu spared them of plunder and pillage quite unlike other Hindus in Palakkad. Tipu’s excellent rapport with the Sankaracharya of Sringeri is said to be the reason behind this magnanimity on the part of that bigoted sultan. The book points out the disadvantages faced by the community following revolutionary agrarian reforms legislation. Being traditional moneylenders, the Iyers had amassed vast landed property from their debtors insolvent to pay them back in cash. Bulk of this wealth was eventually lost to tenants or as surplus to the government. Strict segregation of castes was practised at Kalpathy with people of the lower castes not allowed to come near the Brahmin settlements along public roads. When agitation for equality broke out in the 1940s, a few conservatives opposed the entry of low-castes to Kalpathy, but progressives among them strove for granting this basic human right to all people. The book describes the migration of educated, young Iyers to India’s metro cities in search of jobs and career growth. The social organizations they have set up in those urban areas serve as a model of cohesion. Das finishes his narrative with briefly touching upon the reverse or second migration back to Kalpathy where Tamil Brahmins who had retired from service in the institutions located elsewhere return to Kalpathy to live out a quiet and happy old age. In view of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and their strident anti-Brahmin posture in the middle of the twentieth century, many Tamil Brahmins preferred to settle in Kerala where no such discrimination was experienced by them.

This book sports a foreword penned by the noted historian M G S Narayanan. While he offers only a vague support for the many historical incidents mentioned in the book, he goes overboard with the unwarranted assertion that Keralites harbour an undercurrent of jealousy towards Tamil Brahmins which he likens to anti-Semitism of European Christians against the Jews. This preposterous comparison doesn’t stand factual scrutiny and is blatantly uncharitable considering the ease with which the immigrants were absorbed into Kerala society. Das has chosen sketches instead of photographs in the book to ‘evoke an old-world charm and capture the spirit and soul of the period and people’ in the narrative. There are a total of 62 sketches in the book which also covers subjects outside the Kalpathy area. The author has maintained old colonial names like ‘Palghat’, ‘Calicut’ and ‘Alleppey’ as they seem to ‘resonate with history and the romance that goes with it’ (p.15). However, for some places like Puducherry and Thiruvananthapuram, he forgets this rule and uses the new names. A diagrammatic plan of a typical agraharam could have been included instead of the verbal description that may confuse readers who are not familiar with local patterns. Almost half of the book is actually a primer on Kerala history and the social peculiarities of the people. This is unrelated to the intended topic, but the author keeps sufficient leeway to claim that these passages are essential to make the footing for explaining how Tamil Brahmins interacted with the land and its people.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star