The Evergreen Legends of Kerala

Title: The Evergreen Legends of Kerala
Author: Sreekumari Ramachandran
Publisher: Vintage, 2024 (First)
ISBN: 9780143470144
Pages: 455

Anyone who has visited or at least seen pictures of Kerala need no prompting to realize that the region is incredibly beautiful physically. Kerala is tightly integrated to India’s national economy and even to international business on many levels from export of spices to extremely well-trained manpower. The impressive point to note amid this seamless connectivity with external partners is the cultural distinctness Kerala had always maintained. Its unique dance forms, artistic expressions, and inimitable festival pageantry make Kerala into a class of its own. Besides these, the people of Kerala nurtures a lot of legends, folk tales and ballads that are carried from one generation to the next. This book offers a glimpse into the rich lore and legends of Kerala where heritage and culture are not just remembered, but lived. The author promises at the outset that the book would not disappoint the reader. And she has kept the promise. Sreekumari Ramachandran is a bilingual writer in Malayalam and English. She has authored forty books including short stories, novels and biographies. Her English translation of the iconic Malayalam work Aithihyamala earned her intellectual recognition as a translator. She resides in Kochi.

Considering the antiquity of Malayalam literature, it may come as a surprise to many to learn that an anthology of legendary stories of the language was published only in the early-twentieth century. That task was undertaken by Kottarathil Shankunni, a school teacher and editor of Malayala Manorama’s poetry section. Aithihyamala (a string of legends) compiled in eight volumes, was the first of its kind and still serves as the standard interpretation of many folk tales that are in vogue. This book introduces some new stories not found in the Aithihyamala. The legend of Attukal Bhagavathy of Thiruvananthapuram is included along with the annual Pongala festival which holds the Guinness world record for the largest congregation of women. This seems to be a personal choice of the author as she extolls the experience of taking part in the festival as extremely unique which ‘must be soaked in first-hand to understand its magnificence’. This festival has gained huge popularity in the last two decades and has metamorphosed lately into a collective outing of women in so-called ‘she trips’ that helps to empower them. This book includes a section on the revered elephants of Kerala, which is the state animal. These giants hold a special place in the hearts of the people, and their significance extends far beyond the wild. Elephants are deeply woven into the fabric of the region’s culture. Their presence in festivals lend an air of grandeur and auspiciousness to the celebration. This section gets added relevance in the wake of nefarious efforts on the part of some activist judges to do away with this age-old custom through a court indictment. The author has greatly embellished the elephantine legends with fact and fiction and should be considered by the readers only as a fable. Almost all of the stories refer to a period in Kerala’s history when the caste hierarchy ruled supreme and stifled individual initiative and enterprise. However, there are some tales which exemplify the oneness of man and the futility of the caste system in demarcating people of talent. The twelve siblings born to a Pariah woman in her wedlock with Vararuchi, a Brahmin, is a case in point. The legend of Puliyambilly Nambudiri who was a Brahmin tantric but consumed liquor and meat is an extreme example. Even then, he humbled other Brahmins with his magical powers. The morale of the story is that true wisdom lies not in worldly knowledge, but in humility and open-mindedness. But Puliyambilly was not entirely above his times. His faculty to view the goddess Shakti in her corporeal form was taken away when he complained about the goddess accepting devotion from a low-caste person. This also serves as a lesson to thinkers and scholars.

Kottarathil Shankunni was a resident of Travancore and most of the stories of Aithihyamala were concerned with the legends circulating in the Travancore-Kochi region. This book makes up for the earlier tome’s omissions and includes an entire section of theyyams with eleven chapters so as to represent this unique cultural dance form of Malabar in a book professed to showcase the legends of the entire Kerala landmass. Kerala is famous not only for its breath-taking landscapes and serene backwaters but also for its mesmerizing kaleidoscope of festivals that embody the harmonious fusion of history, culture and spirituality. This book also includes a collection of the must-see festival events in Kerala.

The book is excellent for light reading and is a fine accessory as a travel companion. Pleasantness is the only experience it imparts to the reader. Several hand-drawn illustrations are included which add depth to the narrative. Each chapter is unrelated to the others but is grouped according to broader themes like famous temples, elephants, theyyams and so on. They can be read sequentially or randomly without any diminution of interest. A good thing about the narrative is that the author does not reinterpret the tales according to her worldview and in that sense does not draw upon much from artistic license. She faithfully follows the logic (or lack of it) of the original tale and takes some care to iron out the wrinkles to smoothen the reading experience for young, new readers. The author could have included a note on the criteria used for selection of topics because this is not an exclusive translation of Aithihyamala.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 4 Star