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Posts Tagged ‘Changampally Kalari’

Buddhism, Ayurveda and the Avarna Medical Tradition of Kerala:Itty Achuthan and Kadakarapally

// July 18th, 2012 // 1 Comment » // Cultural Politics

All that remains of Itty Achuthan: The small pagoda (Kuryala) eructed in his memory at Kollatt house in Kadakarapally, Cherthala. 8 July 2012

Kadakarapally is a coastal village west of Cherthala town in Alapuzha district of Kerala. The place name proclaims that it was the location of an ancient Buddhist Pally close to the sea. Places like Paruthiampally and Thankipally are close by. The renowned Ayurveda scholar Kollatt Itty Achuthan hails from Kadakarapally. Even in the 17th century at the height of the caste system and its untouchability discourses the colonial Dutch Governer Henrik Van Reed had to appoint Achuthan an Avarna Vaidyar and Ezhava by community, as the chief expert-consultant towards the compilation of The Horthus Malabaricus the first scientific work on the plants and shrubs of Kerala.

Sacred grove in the memory of Itty Achuthan Vaidyar at Kollatt, Kadakarapally. Certain plant species in the grove are yet to be identified.

Legend has it that medics like Achuthan inherited the precious knowledge and practice of Ayurveda and the specialized knowledge on rare endemic medicinal shrubs from the students of the legendary Nagarjuna, the Buddhist monk who studied the flora of southern Kerala, especially that of Maruthwamala and spent his last years in Kadakarapally. The direct linkage between Buddhism, Ayurveda and Avarna Vaidya tradition is undoubtedly signified through this iconic medic in Kerala history. It is also notable that Ashtanga Hridaya a seminal text of Ayurveda was written by Vagbhata another Buddhist sage. Uppottil Kannan an Avarna Vaidyar from Malabar composed the first interpretation to this key Ayurvedic text in Malayalam.

Arthungal Church south of Kadakarapally

The Arthungal church which has close cultural associations with Buddhism in the past lies south of Kadakarapally. The Avarnas who make their annual pilgrimage to Sabarimala (the seat of Avalokiteswara Boddhisatva) of the region begin and end their pilgrimage at Arthunkal church. Prof Purushothaman has argued in his Buddhante Kalpadukal (Current 2008) that the Veluthachan deity of the church is a Boddhistava in regional coastal manifestation.

Thykal in Kadakarapally where a wooden vessel was excavated. It was dated to be 1000 years old and was identified as an Arabian one. A sign of overseas trade and cultural links of the region for more than a millennium.

Today the Kollatt family is still there in Kadakarapally. There is just a small collapsing pagoda like hut (called Kuryala) in the memory of the late Vaidyar. A sacred grove is also surviving under various threats of erasure. The local bodies and the government must act immediately to preserve the valuable relics and significant memories of Itty Achuthan in a well studied way for posterity. The future monument or museum must focus on the historic legacy of Ayurveda and the ethical philosophy of Buddhism that promoted and propagated livelihood skills among the most depressed and needy people in the peripheries like the coastal belts and marshes of Alapuzha. The democratic legacies of literacy and healthcare are lasting impacts of the Sramana tradition in Kerala that need to be recovered, critically studied and reasserted by the people.

Click to read Hortus Malabaricus online

Buddha Poornima at Thirunavaya

// May 9th, 2012 // No Comments » // Cultural Politics, Culture and Ecology

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.