You may have seen a sensuous Mohiniattam by the dancer in the traditional Kerala whites and you would have seen may others in Malayalam movies and sometimes bits in a Hindi movie like dil se..but how did mohiniyattam get formulated? What has Maharaja Swati Tirunal got to do with it? What role did Violin maestro Vadivelu play in the drama and who indeed was Sugandhavalli? Those who have seen the movie Swati Tirunal would have an inkling about the tempestuous days of the young king, in fact his last happy and sad years, but let us try and take another look, for it is a story of persons, and of their simple desires in life, a story of dance, music and love and as we all know, these have a habit of coexistence, and is the formula in many a heartwarming story.
Before we get to Travancore and delve into this story, I have to start in Tanjavur, going back to a time of the renowned Dikshitar, the illustrious trio, and the musically rapturous courts of the Maratha kings. Well without getting into too much details, let me dive straight into the court rooms of the last independent Bhonsle ruler of Tanjore - Maratha Maharaja Serfoji II. The period was the late 1820’s. It was a crowning period for Carnatic music and a time when the dance form Dasiattam had finally morphed into the earliest systematic versions of a more respectable Bharatanatyam. The people who worked hard at it were the four vellalar brothers who served in Serfoji’s court, named the Tanjavur quartet comprising Chinnayya, Ponnaiyya, Shivanandam and Vadivelu. All of them had received ample training from childhood and also from the illustrious Muthuswamy Diskshitar. Chinnayya the Abhinaya guru danced himself and the first mattu pongal dances of Tamilnadu are credited to him. Sivanandam brought in the western Clarinet to the realms of Carnatic music, Vadivelu was credited (also many others like Varahapayyar and Baluswami dikshitar) with popularizing Violin in carnatic music accompaniment and Ponnayya created many famous kritis. As luck or lack thereof would have it the brothers quarreled with the King around 1830 and were promptly banished from the court due to the relationship between Serfoji and a young boy who was trained in dancing and music by Vadivelu, and due to the preference shown by the king to the boy instead of the illustrious four. It appears that the boy was felicitated during a Chittira Thiruvazha, instead of the quartet. The foursome showed their irritation by refusing to sing standing up or something of that sort. The inebriated (?) king curtailed their temple honors and that worsened the issue further, eventually resulting in their banishment.
With that, the collective creativity was destroyed and the brothers separated. They first travelled to Travancore, but Chinayya moved soon to the Mysore court of Wodeyar, Shivanandam & Ponnaiyyah returned to Tanjore after accepting Serfoji’s apologetic re-invitation, whereas Vadivelu remained in the courts of Travancore to become a friend, advisor and court musician of Swati Tirunal. With the Tanjore masters arrived a retinue of Bharatnatyam dancers and accompanying musicians plus teachers like Meruswami to enrich the carnatic music arena of Anathapuram. As history was to record, Vadivelu would remain until 1845 in the Sankara Vilasa mansion created by the king for him. His life in Travancore was mainly one of creativity and contentment though he had his fights with this king as well, but all of which ended soon due to amicable mutual respect.
What did the quartet have to do with the Bharatnatyam revival? – MKK Nayar explains - When the disintegration of the Chola, Pandya and Chera empires began, Devadasis (practicing dasiattam) were forced to seek the protection of local warlords and chieftains. As distinct from an organized society under powerful empire building kings, warlords and chieftains held sway over small principalities. Standards of law and order or morality were also totally different in the new situation. Devadasis gradually fell prey to the newly emerging carnal society and the situation deteriorated in every manner. Ultimately Dasiattam was even banned by law. It was at that time that the immortal Thanjavur quartet came like an Avatar to rescue this beautiful damsel in distress. The Tanjore Quartet organized all the basic Bharatnatyam movements of pure dance into a progressive series called Adavus. They composed new music specifically for Bharatnatyam and introduced a different sequence of items that brought out the various aspects of dance and music.
Karnatik.com adds - Vadivelu and the quartet propagated the Pandanallur style of dance (in fact, the vidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Pandanallur is a direct descendant of the quartet!) from the traditional Sadir Natyam or Dasiattam.
As fleeting glimpses into his life shows us, there were. Lover’s anguish, happiness and even small things like a tiff are reflected in the music and dance forms that came out of these royal courts, if you forget the arguments about authorship and other rumors for a moment. One such verse that uncle Thampi created, has this interesting backdrop and I will get to it soon, for you need to get an introduction to one more person, the centerpiece in this large real life mural, the dancer herself.
From the arid Tamil regions, the musically talented brothers who had mastered dance moved through the rough terrains in slow moving bullock carts to the fertile and coastal Chera nadu, passing the Ghats and finally arriving at Travancore. The two brothers, Vadivelu and Sivanandam, along with Nirajakshi and Satyabhama (and Mankammal – was she Neerajakshi?), and another beauty were welcomed enthusiastically by the Maharaja Swati Tirunal. The unnamed beauty, who was to become the main court dancer, would also one day, dance into the king’s heart. She was none other than the mysterious Sugandhavalli who lived in plain sight, as a royal consort, but very little is known about her even today.
I toiled hard to dredge details on her, but books and articles provide only flashing glimpses of her and her relationship with the king. Who was she? Should I make the mistake of adding flesh to the bones myself like the movie script writer of the movie Swati Tirunal did? I decided not to, for hopefully my continuing search or that of another reader will provide me more details for more complete article about her in the future, but let us try & get to know her anyway from what we have.
When somebody prohibits something, man’s interest in it is automatically roused. It could be sex, it could be alcohol, and it could be books. Well, around that time the British had decided to ban Bharatnatyam and Dasiattam, confusing the former with raunchy nautch ( the anglicized name for natch-dance) dances. Perhaps that raised the ire of Swati Tirunal, and Vadivelu after all was one of the people behind the versions of Bharatnatyam. Anyway the courts of Travancore soon marveled at the steps of the Tamil dancers and the masterly music provided by the groups that had arrived from Tanjore. It was then that the king saw her, the sensuous dancer and he thought, how it would be if she provided steps for what uncle Thampi used to talk about – the old dances of the Mohini’s, the mohiniattam (interestingly the mohinis of the Chera nadu danced only in temples, never at a patron’s home or to ones wish). Malabar had by then provided the Zamorin’s Krishanttam, the Kottayam Raja’s had popularized Kathakali, but they were serious forms, and not created to relax and sooth a person. For that you needed a Mohini and Mohiniattam, which was a form of dance the king wanted, one that was flowing, soft and sensuous. Vadivelu suggested that his young dancer would easily be able to demonstrate the steps for this based on the Sadir principles and with that the first formal years of Mohiniattam as we know it today, were created. The dancer Sugandhavalli, knew instinctively how to move to music and how she moved, for she danced straight into the young king’s heart.
What do purists say? MKK Nayar states - The origin and development of Mohiniyattam is shrouded in mystery. Though there have been legends and folklore no definite ideas are as yet available from a historian’s point of view. Some hold that it was as ancient as Chilappathikaram and Manimekala, well-known Tamil classics; a few think that it was evolved by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in the nineteenth century. Mohiniyattam literally means the dance of the Mohini. Mohini is name of the great enchantress. By the name itself Mohiniyattam sounds seductive or erotic. As a term Mohiniyattam is found only in Kerala. Swati Tirunal and his illustrious courtiers Irayimmen Thampi and Kilimanoor Koil Thampuran (Karindran) evidently put their aesthetic heads together and produced out of the Dasiattam of the time, the refinement that is known as Mohiniyattam today. They composed many pieces for it - Swarajathis, Varnas and scores of Padas. Swathi Thirunal had the rare assistance and advice of Vadivelu of Thanjavur too. Vadivelu had just come out to Trivandrum after witnessing, and participating in the renaissance of Dasiattam into Bharatanatyam. His accounts aroused enough interest in the Maharaja to get the famous danseuse Sugandhavalli from Tanjavur. It is possible that the influence of Vadivelu and Sugandhavalli may have contributed to some movements or other in Mohiniyattam too.
Sugandhavalli – ah! The mysterious woman who enchanted the king! Who was she? The official documents certify as follows
Thanjavoor Ammachi Panapilla Amma Srimathi Sundaralakshmi Kochamma (d. 1856), née Suganda Parvathi Bayi [Sugandhavalli], a Bharatanatyam dancer who came to his court with the famous Guru Vadivelu, adopted into the Vadasseri Ammaveedu in 1843 and raised to the status of a consort or Ammachi in 1845 when the new house of Thanjavoor Ammaveedu was created for her, daughter of a mudaliyar from Tanjore.
MKK Nayar continues in the ST website - Vadivelu had come along with his sister and two other girls, one called Sugandhavally and her elder sister. Sugandhavally and her sister had their origin in south Travancore. Their ancestors had moved over to Tanjavoor a few decades earlier. There they had got Sugandhavally and her sister trained in Bharatanatyam under Vadivelu. During the presence of Vadivelu and the three girls the Maharaja got the idea of re-choreographing Mohiniyattam. A few years after the death of Sarabhi Sivanandam, Chinnayya & Ponnayya went back and Vadivelu stayed over for some more time. Nayar continues - Sugandhavally was only years old when the Maharaja took her as his second wife. She died a few years later. Vadivelu had hopes that the Maharaja would, in the re-bound, take his sister in place of Suganthavally. That was why he stayed behind. But a year later he realized that the Maharaja was no longer interested in the pleasure of the flesh. So he went back with his sister to Thanjavoor.
Author’s note - This is obviously not right as Sugandhavally outlived Swati tirunal as events were to show, a full 10-11 years.
So what was the story of Sughandavally? We glean the following from Pattom G Ramachandran Nair who wrote Thiruvanathapurathinde Ithihasam, extracts of which are reflected in Wikipedia & other books.
Sometime around 1843 Swaiti Tirunal terminated the courtship and formalized his marriage with Sundara Lakshmi Ammal, a.k.a Sugandhavalli. The Maharajah first adopted her into Vadasseri Ammaveedu, making her an Ammachi and bestowing the title of Thampi on her family members. In 1845 he constructed the Thanjavur Ammaveedu and Sugandhavalli, along with her family members resided here. The Maharajah's second wife, Thiruvattar Ammachi, whose sister was married to Uthram Thirunal as it appears did not approve of this marriage. Soon after, the Maharajah died in 1846. Legend and folklore has it that Sugandhavalli was banished from Travancore following which the Maharajah died broken hearted. However facts and records prove otherwise.
Sugandhavalli continued to live in Trivandrum at Thanjavur Ammaveedu until her own death in 1856, a full decade after the death of Swathi Thirunal, enjoying all the provisions and privileges she was entitled to as a royal consort. However soon after her death, her late husband's brother and successor, Maharajah Uthram Thirunal issued an order to attach the estate and properties that belonged to Thanjavur Ammaveedu on the ground that Sugandhavalli for whom they were made, had died. Sugandhavalli's sister Sundara Parvathi Pillai Thankachi, who had been married to Singaravelu Mudaliyar the former Alleppey District Judge, then filed a petition in Madras. The High Court of Madras in 1858 permitted the Travancore Government to attach the properties after compensating the family. Accordingly Rs. 10,000, a princely sum, was given to Sugandhavalli's family and the Thanjavur Ammaveedu taken over by the Travancore Government. The Ganapathi idol worshiped by Sugandhavalli was moved and consecrated at the Palkulangara Temple in Trivandrum. Her sister later died in 1883.
The mudaliar website adds this strange note - After Swathi Thirunal's mysterious death at an early age of 33, the Kerala Muthali community faced various threats. Then British resident, General Cullen's timely involvement helped to avert a great backlash on the community
The Thanjavur ammaveedu from the ST website- The Maharaja accepted her as a consort and the Tanjavoor Amma Veedu was constructed to house his beloved. It is a beautiful wooden building with two courtyards and elaborate wood carvings. It is believed that this house was once a place that echoed with music and dance incessantly. Sugandha Valli lured the Maharaja more and more into the world of arts and Swathi who was tired of the British dominance might have been only too glad to concentrate in his music and the dance of his beloved. But this was not acceptable to the close family members and courtesans. The forlorn Tanjavoor Amma Veedu exists even today as a store house of mysteries and stories.
Nayar continues - Although Swathi Thirunal and his courtiers made much of Mohiniyattam, it did not catch on in Kerala. That was because Swathi’s successor Uttram Thirunal was fanatically devoted to Kathakali. In his time all courtiers turned to Kathakali for gaining royal favor. At the same time in Cochin State too Kathakali had become the dominant art form. Mohiniyattam therefore travelled down to petty principalities and the dancers were forced to earn a living by disreputable means. At the end of the last century it had reached the lowest depths an art form could descend to.
Vadivelu’s story is not complete, his unhappy relatives (not his children, as he had none), by then settled in Tamil Nadu took on the legacy of the king stating that the authorship of the various krithis was actually Vadivelu’s. Some others said that many were actually done by Iryamman Thampi. I will not get into that now, it is a long and complicated subject best tackled another day.
Swati Tirunal’s short 32 year life had a sad ending. Presumably due to the pressures, the problems with the British and his Dewan, his family and so on, he had a woeful period at the end, living the life of a loner. When he died, he was virtually alone and there was no Sugandhavally to comfort him, though she was but a few miles away.
But I have to conclude by introducing another great by Thampi. So here is the legend behind and the meaning of
Prananathan Enikku nalkiya– Iraviyamman Thampi
It is a work of love with ample doses of sensuous text. As the story goes, Swati Tirunal and Sugandhavalli had a lover’s tiff, following which they did not talk to each other for some time. Sugandhavalli finally decided to ask uncle Irayivarman thanmpi for ideas to break the ice, and of course the learned man who knew his nephew very well, provided her the words below to explain her ecstasy and joy from the union between the two on an earlier occasion (to explain it in clearer words would classify this as a blog of ‘another’ sexy kind). As the story goes, she sang and danced to it and well, that broke not only the ice, but brought them together again. And as the legend goes, many more of the songs were composed by the king with her in mind like Jalaja bandhu and as it appears, the tiff with his first wife followed an insistence by the young king to have his first wife Narayani play the violin for these tunes and Sughandhavalli’s dancing. A great defense for Narayani can be read in this nice article
But back to the song (lyrics from malayalasangeetham.info)…
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥനെà´¨ിà´•്à´•ു നല്à´•ിà´¯
പരമാനന്ദരസത്à´¤േ പറവതിà´¨െà´³ുà´¤ാà´®ോ
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥന്....
à´…à´™്à´•à´¤്à´¤ിà´²ിà´°ുà´¤്à´¤ിà´¯െà´¨് à´•ൊà´™്à´•à´¤്തടങ്ങള് à´•à´°
പങ്à´•à´œം à´•ൊà´£്ടവന് തലോà´Ÿി
à´ªുà´ž്à´šിà´°ിà´ªൂà´£്à´Ÿു തങ്à´•à´•്à´•ുà´Ÿà´®െà´¨്à´¨െ à´•ൊà´£്à´Ÿാà´Ÿി
à´—ാà´¢ം à´ªുണര്à´¨്à´¨ും à´…à´™്à´•ുà´°ിà´¤ à´ªുളകം കലര്à´¨്à´¨െà´´ു-
à´®െà´¨് à´•à´ªോലമതിà´™്കലന്à´ªൊà´Ÿു
à´¤ിà´™്à´•à´³്à´®ുà´–à´¤്à´¤െയണച്ചധരത്à´¤െ à´¨ുà´•à´°്à´¨്à´¨ും
പലവേലതുà´Ÿà´°്à´¨്à´¨ും......
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥനെà´¨ിà´•്à´•ു നല്à´•ിà´¯
പരമാനന്ദരസത്à´¤േ പറവതിà´¨െà´³ുà´¤ാà´®ോ
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥന്....
à´•ാà´¨്തനോà´°ോà´°ോ à´°à´¤ിà´•ാà´¨്തതന്à´¤്à´°à´¤്à´¤ിà´²െà´¨്à´±െ
à´ªൂà´¨്à´¤ുà´•ിലഴിà´š്à´šൊà´°ു à´¨േà´°ം
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തന്à´¨െ മറന്à´¨ും à´¨ീà´¨്à´¤ി മദനà´്à´°ാà´¨്à´¤ിà´¨ാലതി à´¤ാà´¨്തയാà´¯ി
à´¨ിà´¨്à´¤ാà´¨്തമങ്à´™ിà´¨െ à´•ാà´¨്à´¤ à´•ൃà´¤ം
à´¸ുà´°à´¤ാà´£്ഡമഹോà´¤്സവഘോà´·ം à´ªുനരെà´¤്à´° à´µിà´¶േà´·ം!
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥനെà´¨ിà´•്à´•ു നല്à´•ിà´¯
പരമാനന്ദരസത്à´¤േ പറവതിà´¨െà´³ുà´¤ാà´®ോ
à´ª്à´°ാണനാഥന്....
praana naadhanenikku nalkiya
paramaananda rasathe
paravathineluthaamo (praana)
angathil iruthiyen konga thadangal
kara pankajam kondavan thalodee (angathil)
punjiri poondu thanka kudamennu kondaadee
gaadam punarnnum angulitha pulakam
kalarnnezhumen kapolamathingal anpodu
thinkal mukhatheyanachadharathe
nukarnnum pala leela thudarnnoo(praana)
kaanthanororo rathi kaantha thanthrathilente
poonthukil azhichoru neram (kaantha)
thudangi njaanum maanthaasharakkadalil paaram
thanne marannum neenthi madanabhraanthinaalathi
thaanthayaayi nithaanthamangine kaantha krutham
sura thaantha maholsava ghosham punarethra vishesham
(praananaathan)
A link to the version by Madhuri –
Notes
The origins of Monhiniattam – Nirmala Panikkar
The first reference to Mohiniyattam is in Vyavaharamala composed by Mayamangalam Narayanan Namboodri in 1709 A.D. It mentions rules to be observed regarding fees of artistes to be shared during a performance. Maharaja Kartika Tirunal Balarama Varma, author of Balarama Bharatam (1758-1798) said that the book had been written after a careful study of Lasya Tantra ( the style of the lasya dance). Travancore palace records reveal that even as early as 1801, the palace was incurring expenditure on Mohiniyattam. We also get an idea of the popularity of Mohiniyattam from the works of Kunchan Nambiar, who in his Ghoshayatra mentions Mohiniyattam in passing.There is also a reference to Mohini natana in the great treatise on the regional art forms of Kerala, Balarama Bharatam.
The Ammachi’s of Travancore
Samuel Mateer elaborates in his book - The ammachi is not a member of the royal household, and is in nowise associated with the royal court. She has neither official nor social position at Court, and cannot even be seen in public with the ruler whose wife she is. Her issues occupy the same position as herself, and the law of Malabar excludes them from all claims to public recognition.
In the case of the royal family, a number of splendid cloths are sent, and she is brought to the palace of her consort. But, unlike other Sudra unions, the Ammachi, having once been married to a Rajah, is required to remain single all the remainder of her days; and is shut up and guarded in her own residence. Hence it is not all parents that are willing to give their daughters on these terms. The bereaved lady is comfortably provided for by endowment during the life of the husband, and pension after his decease. Precisely similar is the custom in China, where, on the death of an emperor, his women are removed to a portion of the palace, in which they are shut up for the remainder of their lives.
Manu Pillai at Inorite adds - The status of the Ammachis was not always happy. Maharajah Swathi Thirunal married a lady from Kollam and invested her with the titles of Ammachi, Panapillai Amma etc. after adopting her into the Thiruvattar Ammaveedu. A few years later he was enamored of a Thanjavur dancer, known popularly as Sugandhavalli, and decided to marry her. Since she was not a Nair and was far from aristocratic, her adoption into the Vadasseri Ammaveedu was opposed and hence the Maharajah, defiantly, constructed a house for her and named it Thanjavur Ammaveedu. The first wife, known as Thiruvattar Ammachi, was put aside with little freedom.
For further details refer hyperlinked article by Manu
References
Swatitirunal Website
Yalburi afrticle - MKK Nayar
Singing the classical, voicing the modern - Amanda Weidman
Puzha article
Hindu article
Malayalasangeetham site
33 comments:
Wow. That was a great read. Thank you!
-Vrinda
Travancore Kingdom is in news again and internationally too....
nd what a discovery!
Thanks Vrinda, and welcome to my ramblings..
thanks HK..
i heard that on the radio, have to get to the news...
thanks again maddy for that absorbing insight into the sugnadhavalli and the paramanandha rahasaya rahasyam
i wish you should delve into the padmanabha swamy treasure trove next which every politician would be itching to plunge his filthy paws into !
thanks hari..
you want one more amateur to mess around with that stuff? na baba..
other than adding the comment that some of it would have come from the Zamorin's family which fled with their treasure to Travancore while escaping Hyder, i have nothing more to add...If you recall the sultans plundered temples with the sure knowledge that that is where the rajas would hide their wealth. Lannoys fortification helped in this case or it would have been in Mysore already.
but i agree, soon you will find that khajanavu empty after the politicians make their plunges into it..,.
I have been away traveling, and what a treat to come back to the Internet world and read this! Just marvelous, Maddy, particularly since it is on my favorite topics! I will forward this to many people who I know will also love it.
Kamini.
thanks kamini..
it is so nice to hear that somebody enjoyed the fruit of quite a bit of this effort.keeps me going..
thanks a lot..
So thus goes the story of Sundaravalli and Mohiniattam. Very comprehensive. Thanks.
Maddy,
Good article.Don't know much about the King and the dancer. Lot of stories.
Well,I have heard from my mother a different version of the origin of the song by Irayimman Thampi. This was written for Narayani Pillai , the king's first wife. She was an accomplished Veena player. She and Kuttikunju Thankachi were great friends too.
Best regards,
Anamika
thanks anamika..
these kinds of legends are always just that, but well, as we know narayani was not on good terms with tirunal by the time sugandhavally arrived, right? but then again this could have been composed earlier...
thanks PNS..
i enjoyed studying this as well.
What a great post! You have re-created the atmosphere minus the squabbles!
There was another shadowy character - the uncle's daughter, Kuttikkunju Thankachi. But for the early death of Swathi, we would have heard much more about them!
You mention that Swathi's early death might have been brought about by the pressures from all sides. There might well have been a medical reason, as hinted in the medical report of the British physician! http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=15&ved=0CDQQFjAEOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fsite%2Fprintachuth%2FColinPatersonhisMedicalReportofTrava.pdf&ei=xYgiTtnrBs_jrAfct5WlAg&usg=AFQjCNEtX3VRHtFAlozDgWD6YxvNtPN52A
thanks CHF..
Kuttikunju was also materly oin music..
I was intrigued by the Holloways ointment ad that I had chanced upon earlier, but did not connect the dots. then again, the connection is quite vague, will have to study this in more detail with a clinical bent
I must fully reject your blog's version of 'ammachies' especially with regard to the Mudaliar girl, Sugandhavally. Both Mr Nayar and Mr Manu Pillai are famed for their ignorance in Travancore History.
But, I must request you to check the Matilakam as well as Palace records in Trivandrum.
The points of difference are
1. Thiruvattar Ammachi Ayikutty Narayani Pillai was adopted from a family in Kollam to Thiruvattar Ammaveedu. Swathi Thirunal married her and had 3 issues including a son, Anantha Padmanabhan. All these including the mother and 3 children dies at diffrent stages due to illness.
2. Narayani Pillai died before their Children and then the King for upbringing their children, married Madhavi Pillai. She also died soon.
3. Then Swathi Thirunal married Sugandhar Parvathy not Sugandhavally as you mentioned.
4. The song 'pranan nathan' was written by Ir. Thampy to dispell the quarel between Narayani Pillai and the King and not the other way round. This is confirmed by Irayimman Thampi himself in his writings.
5. Ammchies' condition was not at all bad as Manu suggested. They were land and buildings and were given respect during the temple festivals.
Thampi was never considered as the Uncle of Swathi Thirunal b'cz at that time the then rules would only accept Marumakkathayam in Kshatriya and Nair households. Although Nairs were called Malayala Kshatriyas, they were not given that status unfortunately. So, thampies were viewed as Maharajas and Maharanies'
brother (not through direct lines).
It was a fact that thampies were considered as 3rd class Nairs or Swaroopam or Thoruvam after Illathu and Kiriyathu Nairs.
Thanks Gautham for your valuable comments
As you see, we are writing about times long gone. In text, I can only address or relate Thampi as Swati Tirunal’s uncle.
I would also say that Mathilakom & palace records are good from a legal or accounting perspective, but never a personal perspective as it is always on the side of the ruler, right or wrong.
Nevertheless, if you could provide me the account of Sugnadhavally, I would be much obliged.
The article is not focused on the life of the Ammachis, they are mentioned only for perspective.
Also see the official reference to Sugandhavally in blue text.
Coming to the relevant part – the connection between the song and Sugandhavally. I am not aware of any documented record by Thampi stating it was written for Narayani Pillai. Can you provide the references? If so I can quickly correct this article.
But from the flow of text and words, and the fact that a third person was involved, logically it does not look like something a wife would resort to!!!
In my mind, it was written before Swati married Sugandhavalli, during their courting period perhaps.
When one mistake is hallowed either through a drama or film and without questioning it, it finally ends up in a gross injustice to History.
As I said, the proof is History only.
Irayimman Thampi. his daughter, Thankachy were close with Narayani and not with Madhavi or Sundara Lakshmy (SL). So we can understand that the song was written by Thampi for Narayani Pillai only. Another proof is that, the song was written in Thiruvattar. The manuscript reveals it all.
I won't talk ill of your article, but the final message of your blog is not giving a postive aprroach to History. Swathi Thirunal was a bold King, When he married SL, the Palace and his Aunt (Senior Princess of Attingal)were not in favour and his relatives including Thampi had a decisive role in sending her out back to Tanjore.
The term Panapilla was already in use before Swathi's time and Manu's claim that she was far from aristocracy is nothing but non-sense. She belonged to a great Mudaliyar family in here area. Mudaliyars were very aristocratic as Nayars in Kerala. It makes me laugh that MAnu quotes these things from Film and not from History. Narayani Pillai was no more when Swathi married SL.
Please forgive I was rude in any way. There are many people who through their blogs write about Travancore History for cheap publicity. I'm sure Sir, you wont be one among them. Keep searching and find the Truth. A historian should never write history for anyone. He should find history and narrate it for generations to come without bias.
gautam.
thanks, i think we have to agree to disagree till i am convinced otherwise.
I do not know manu nor is he material to this specific discussion, the role of a thankachi is also not relevant, but mentioned only for perspective, i will cover it in a separate article someday.
as for the song, i still do not believe it was written for a wife to sing to her husband, that too by the court poet. I would like to believe that the society was very bold then, but i know it was not.
or maybe the song was never meant for any such purpose, probably thampi wrote it for his own amusement as a lasya kriti.
Gautham Padmanabhan is right, because it turns out my article does have a few factual errors. However, those errors were in the sources themselves, so I can vindicate myself by redrafting and correcting the whole piece, which I am in the process of doing.
As for what book would be useful, the one I recently found, called New Light on Swathi Thirunal, by RP Raja, is quite excellent and clarifies all the details regarding ST and his wives etc.
This is only of marginal importance to your post, but no harm in letting you know :-)
thanks manu.
much appreciated.
any idea where i can get the book you mention?
rgds
The post has been updated on my blog!
The book sadly is not available in the market and I managed to refer to it because a Tvm-based friend had a copy. It has been published by an academic institution I think, so it may be difficult to find it. I remember, however, seeing it on Flipkart or one of those websites some time ago. Worth a try perhaps.
I have link this post in a mohiniyattam forum on facebook! for others who will be interested to read on this topic :)
nanditha(hope you remember me)
Dear Sir, Vyavaharamala is not the first book to use the word 'Mohiniyattam'. It was a mistake happened to Mahakavi Ulloor while compiling the details for his book 'Kerala Sahity Charithram '. He himself corrected the mistake in the later editions. But Kala. Kalyanikutty referred the old version for her book on Mohiniyattam. Regards, Divya Nedungadi
http://divya-nedungadi.blogspot.com/2011_07_03_archive.html
thanks Nanditha.
of course, I remember you. hope you are doing well and settled in India..I have just written something about Kathakali & krishnattam too if you are interested
http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2012/01/from-krishnattam-to-kathakali.html
hi Divya..
thanks for your comment, but I did not quite follow. the Vyvaharamala was referred to in namboodiri's book, I did not mention ulloor. I took this from Nirmala's book.. perhaps you could elaborate?
Inspiring post, Maddy. Took me back by centuries into the palace of Swati Thirunal and his consorts. But don't fully believe the fact that Irayimman Thampi, assuming that he's the uncle of ST, would write amorous lyrics for his nephew's wife. Either he was just a court poet or it was penned down just to experience an aesthetic high.
hi wordsmith...
Thanks alot
I agree, as I explained it , I was just recounting the legend. Also I stated that it is more likely Thanmpi was writing such lyrics for his nephews consort, rather than his wife Narayani.
Later the consort also became a wife...
Dear Maddy,
This is a long one from u. Wow, u must have done quite some research for this. Maharaja Swati Thirunal was a real genius & quite a gentle person as well. I think he saw devadasis/dancers as artists & not in a derogatory light. Maddy, i had heard & read that the song 'Prananathan...' was written for Narayani. Anyways, wat intrigues me the most about the Maharaja was his premature death. Do u know more about that ??? I think it was on 'Pazhayathu Blogspot' i read about the poisoning angle. But i also read that in those day, arsenic was used to treat patients ! Wat caused the death of the Maharaja ??? Have u read anything regarding the subject ?
thanks jk47
I will get to the story of swati tirunal's death one of these days, there is some intrigue behind it..
and the connection to the vases of cream linked by calicut heritage forum signifies something i suppose
rgds
I would like to see this movie man, is this movie available on net? I searched it couldn't find it where can we get this movie, it would be great if somebody could help me out finding this movie.
mayshoe..
thanks for the comment, you can find the songs on youtube, i do not know about the film though - look around or you can find it in Kerala, i am sure.
Hi,thanks for a great read.I heard another story that there was a challenge between Maharaja and Uncle that which one of them could pen a song with Sringara rasa.And the story goes like Maharaja penned Alarsara parithapam ,Thampi wrote Prananathan and finally Maharaja accepted Thampis kriti to be best among the two.Pl throw some light.
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