Mamankam and Changampally Kalari: Ancient Practices of Healthcare and Martial Arts in Kerala
// February 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Cultural Politics
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 18th 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 18thcentury 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 8th 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.
