EVOLUTION OF MALAYALAM LITERATURE
According to the most dependable evidence now available to us,
Malayalam literature is at least a thousands years old. The language
must certainly be older, but linguistic research has yet to discover
unmistakable evidence to prove its antiquity. Historical accuracy
has often been a problem since the records in most cases show no
reference to the exact date of their composition. Legends and
folklore have often taken the place of historical facts and
chronology has been consciously or inconsciously tampered with.
Modern research on scientific lines, however, has gone a long way to
explain the origin and early development of the language.
It is difficult to provide documentary evidence for the existence of
the earliest literary works written in Malayalam. The folk-songs and
ballads of popular origin have been orally transmitted from
generation to generation, but the forms in which they survive today
must be quite different from their original forms. Any sweeping
generalizations based on their present day forms are bound to be
wrong. However, it would not be wrong to think that in some of them
at least one can find evidence of the earliest springs of poetic
inspiration in Malayalam. A large number of these folk songs are
associated with various kinds of religious rituals dating back to
primitive Dravidian and Pre-Aryan times. Among these are perhaps the
songs recited by Pulluvars at the festivals in serpent groves by
Panars when the used to go form house to house waking the people up
in the early hours of the morning. The intrusion of Aryan faith even
into these primitive rituals has led to their total transformation
in theme, diction and imagery. The secular songs for popular
entertainment and for agricultural operations have probably survived
without serious damage. These are marked by a simplicity of
structure and commitment to the problems of every day life. Some of
them relate to the tragedy and pathos of the poorer classes; others
are marked by a sparkling sense of humour.
Interspersed with beautiful choric refrains made up of of
meaningless vocables constituting Vyathari metres, these folk-songs
have preserved for centuries the pristine musical traditions of
Kerala. The Christians and Muslims, along with Brahmins and other
upper classes, have also had their religious and social songs.
Examples are the door-opening song of the Christians associated with
mar-riage celebrations, coaxing the bridegroom to open the door of
the bridal chamber; the famous Moplah songs and ballads with their
lyrical tilt and fervour; the Sanghakali songs of the Brahmin
theatre, the songs about Kali used for Thiyyattu and Mudiyettu, the
boat songs or Vanchipattu sung by choral groups to accompany
spirited boat race activities: and songs used for Kalamezhuthu,
thira and other kinds of ritualistic worship.
Among the ballads of a later period we have the famous Vatakkan Pat-tukal
(ballads of the north) and Thekkan Pattukal (ballads of the south).
They cover a wide variety of themes ranging from the historical
exploits of the legendary heroes of non-religious folk mythology to
songs of lamentation and mourning. The ballads of the north are
narratives full of dramatic tension: the main characters belong to
the Nayar or Ezhava communities, and are distinguished for their
valour, military skill and sense of honour. Family feuds often
provide the background or foreground of these stories in verse.
Among the ballads of the south, one of the most powerful is the
Iravikkuttipillai Battle, also called the battle of Kaniyamukulam.
The dialogue between the distinguished warrior Iravikuttipillai and
his wife, the latter asking her husband not to proceed to battle
because she had seen bad dreams about its dire consequences, is
particularly touching. Another equally arresting passage is the
description of how the women celebrated the occasion of the hero's
glorious marhc ot the battlefield in full array. The southern songs
have a greater admixture of Tamil words. Ramakatha Pattu which is
perhaps the most elaborate and most magnificent of these southern
poems is not a ballad but a genuine folk epic. Ayyappilli Asan, the
author of this massive epic on the theme of Ramayana is believed to
have lived in the 15th century A.D. But the language and literary
type point to a folk bias. Born near Kovalam to the south of
Trivandrum, Asan was a master of Tamil too, his language thus
remains very close to Tamil. There are numerous passages in
Ramakatha Pattu which have highly lyrical quality and an unmatched
delicacy of imagination.
The folk poetry of Kerala is still an unspent force. It has always
shown greater vigour and vitality than the poetry of the elite. The
metrical richness of Malayalam folk poetry, too, is immense. It
reflects the fundamentally music approach to poetry that manifests
itself in Malayalam literature. A predominant and all pervasive
sense of rhythm seems to be so characteristic a feature of Kerala
culture. It might even be said that the perennial appeal of the
Pattu school of poetry is mainly due to the inexhaustible melodic
potentiality of its metrical structure. The vitality of the folk
tradition in historical times is demonstrated by the Mappila
Pattukal (Moplah songs) which have not only enriched the metrical
resources of the language but put special emphasis of vira and
sringara (the heroic and the erotic). The Arabi Malayalam language
used in these moplah songs establishes the quaint beauty of their
melodies. In the same way the Idanadam Pattu, a ballad with a Pulaya
hero, adds to the variety of folk poetry in Malayalam.
Ramacharitham
The evidence for the beginning of conscious literary creation in
Malayalam is to be found in Ramacharitham, written in the 12th
century and believed to be the oldest extant classic in Malayalam
(some scholars have assigned it to the 14th century). The language
represented here is an early form of Malayalam which appears to be
almost indistinguishable from Tamil, except perhaps for a linguist.
Ramacharitham is the earliest of the many poetic versions of the
story of Ramayana that have appeared in Malayalam. The work is thus
important from the linguistic as well as the literary point of view.
Ulloor Parameswara Iyer who was the first to bring to light long
excerpts from this poem holds the view that it was written by Sri
Vira Rama Varma who ruled over Travancore from 1195 to 1208. A.D.
Scholars are not agreed whether the language of Ramacharitham
represents the literary dialect or the spoken dialect of Malayalam
of that period.
The beginning of Prose
There is not literary work in prose, matching in quality with
Ramacharitham of the same period. The earliest pieces of prose in
existence are of a documentary nature, with no touch of imagination.
The Attoor Copper Plate of Vira Udaya Marthanda Varma of Venad dated
1251 is, according to Ulloor, the earliest document wholly in
Malayalam proper. But Bhasha Kautaliyam a Malayalam translation of
Kautalya's Artha Sastra, is contemporaneous with Ramacharitham and
illustrates the use of prose for imaginative purposes as well. The
writer reveals a remarkable sense of style. The alternation between
short and long sentences produces a sense of rhythm without
destroying the straight-forwardness of the writing.
MANIPRAVALAM
While the Pattu school flourished among certain sections of the
people, the literature of the elite was composed of a curious
mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam which is referred to as
Manipravalam, mani meaning ruby (Malayalam) and pravalam meaning
coral (Sanskrit). Lilathilakam, a work of grammar and rhetoric,
written in the last quarter of the 14th century discusses the
relationship between Manipravalam and Pattu as poetic forms. It lays
special emphasis on the types of words that blend harmoniously. It
points out that the rules of Sanskrit prosody should be followed in
Manipravlam poetry. This particular school of poetry was patronized
by the upper classes, especially the Nambudiris. It is also to be
remembered that the composition of this dialect also reflects the
ways Aryan and Dravidian cultures were moving towards synthesis.
Dramatic performances given in Koothampalams known by names of
Koothu and Koodiyattam otten used Sanskrit and Malayalam. In
Koodiyattam the clown (Vidooshaka) is allowed to use Malayalam while
the hero recites slokas in Sanskrit. Tholan, a legendary court poet
in the period of the Kulasekhara kings, is believed to have started
this practice. The language of Kramadeepikas and Attaprakarams,
which lay down the rules and regulations for these dramatic
performances, is considerably influenced by the composite literary
dialect of Manipravalam.
Perhaps the most representative of these early Manipravalam works
are the tales of courtesans (Achi Charitams) and the Message Poems (Sandesa
Kavyas).
THE EARLY CHAMPUS
Unniyachi Charitam, Unnichiruthevi Charitam and Unniyadi Charitam
are examples of the former type which is known by the name champu
written in close imitation of the champus in Sanskrit. The "Verse"
portion is in Sanskrit metres and the gadya or "prose" portion is
mostly in Dravidian metres.
The Sandesa Kavyas
It is natural that Manipravalam looked to Sanskrit for models of
literary works. The Sandesa Kavyas are an important poetic genre in
Sanskrit, and on the model of Kalidas's Meghadoot and Lakshmidasa's
Sukasan-desa a number of message poem came to be written first in
Manipravalam and later in pure Malayalam. The best of these sandesas
is perhaps Unnuneeli-sandesam written in the 14th century. The poem
is a treasure house of information relating to the conditions of
life in Kerala in the fourteenth century. In addition it contains
several quartrains of unexceptionable beauty, both in its thought
and in its verbal felicity. In two hundred and forty stanzas, with
breath-taking eroticism and exquisite imagery, this message poem
reaches the high watermark of early Manipravalam poetry, it combines
extreme sophistication and complexity in its poetic craft with
remarkable naturalness and authenticity in its theme and thought.
The Niranam Poets
While the Manipravala poetry flourished as diversion from the
mainstream, the tradition set up by Cher-man of Ramacharitham and
the more enlightened among the anonymous folk poets was resumed and
replenished by three writers, commonly referred to as Niranam poets.
The Bhakti school was thus revived and in the place of the excessive
sensuality and eroticism of the Manipravala poets, the seriousness
of the poetic vocation was reasserted by them. It is believed that
they all belonged to the same Kan-nassa family and that Madhava Pan-ikkar
and Sankara Panikkar were the uncles of Rama Panikkar, the youngest
of the three. They lived between 1350 and 1450 and made valuable
contribution to the pattu school. The greatest of the three is of
course Rama Panikkar, the author of Ramayanam, Bharatham,
Bhagavatham and Sivarathri Mahatmyam. Kannassa Ramayanam and
Kannassa Bharatham are the most important of these Niranam works.
The Dravidianization of Aryan mythology and philosophy was their
joint achievement, coming in the wake of the heroic effort of
Sankaracharya, who wrote only in Sanskrit. The central native
tradition of Malayalam poetry has its most significant watershed in
the works of the Niranam poets. Their success led to the gradual
replacement of the Manipravala cult of worldliness and sensul
revelry by an indigenous poetics of high seriousness. One step
forward from the Niranam poets will take us to Ch-erusserri and his
Krishnagatha; two steps together will land us in the company of
Kerala's greatest poet, Thunchattu Ezhuthachan. The central-ity of
Niranam Rama Panikkar is of vital concern to any conscientious
literary historian of Malayalam.
THE LATER CHAMPUS
The 15th century saw two parallel movements in Malayalam literature:
One sperheaded by the Manipravala works, especially the Champus,
mixing verse and prose, and continuing the trend of the earlier
Champus at least in part; the other emanating from the Pattu school
and adumbrated in Cherusseri's magnum opus the Krishnagatha (song of
Krishna). As the earliast Manipravala, Champu school is going to
disappear later in the next century, it may be discussed first. The
language of the later Champus reads more like modern Malayalam than
that of the earlier Champus and Sande-sakavyas.. Perhaps it can also
be said that there is an improvement in poetic quality and
craftsmanship too. The greatest Manipravala Champu of the 15th
century is Punam Nambudiri's Ramayanam. It is believed that Punam
was responsible for using Puranic themes and episodes in Champus for
the first time, unlike the 14th century Champus came to be used for
dramatic oral narration by performing artists in their Koothu and
Patakam.
Chandrotsavam
Chandrotsavam, a long narrative poem written in Manipravala on the
model of the Kavyas in Sanskrit, should also be mentioned here. The
authorship is unknown. A shy intrusion of romantic sensibility may
be detected in parts of this poem. There are also lines which seem
to strike an ironic note. Some scholars consider it a work of
satire. Hyperbole was a regular feature of Champu literature, but to
our taste today it might look like conscious exaggeration to provoke
ridicule and laughter.
Cherusseri's Krishnagatha
If the Champus represent the aesthetic tastes of the scholarly
and sophisticated readership, the average readers without much
grounding in Sanskrit had their favourite poems and poets in the
so-called Pattu school. The folk poems as well as Ramacharitham and
Niranam helped to preserve the proletarian tastes. The poetics of
the Pattu school find a further confirmation in the celebrated and
popular Song of Krishna (Krishnagatha) by Cherusseri Nambudiri. With
the writing of Krishnagatha the validity of the use of spoken
Malayalam for literary purposes receives its ultimate justification.
Unlike the language of Ramacharitham and the works of the Niranam
poets, the language of Krishnagatha marks the culmination of a stage
of evolution. Cherusseri excels by the simplicity and limpidness of
his diction and imagery. Krishnagatha is an epic in Malayalam
written in a popular Dravidian metre which has evolved from a folk
metre. It does not have the tightness and characteristic
concentratendness of either Ramacharitham or Kannassa Ramayanam.
There are also local touches in an abundant measures. Sweetness and
light, rather than vigour or high seriousness, is Cherusseri's
forte. It arises partly from his localizing devices. There is also
an entrancing freshness about his description of domestic life. The
naturalness and ease of his flowing lines also accounts for
Cherusseri's popularity.
Cherusseri belonged to Kalathunad in northern Kerala. The conscensus
among scholars is that he lived and wrote in the 15th century. There
is some dispute about the author's name and his identity. Some
scholars are of opinion that he was the same as the Punam Nambudiri
of Champus. The difference between the style of Krishnagatha and
that of any of the champus should point to the impossibility of this
identification. Even a casual reading of the work will convince one
of the uniqueness of its style. Later poets have learned a lot from
him, but no one can successfully imitate him. The distinctive
Cherusseri stamp is deeply marked on every line of his poem. His use
of figures of speech, his pleasant diction and his mastery over the
matrical structure (especially the pause and the caesura) are borne
out by almost any part of the poem. Bhakti, Vatsalyam (love of
children etc.) Karuna, Sringaras these are the dominant moods in Ch-erusseri's
poetry.
THE GROWTH OF PROSE
The evolution of prose literature in the early centuries was a very
slow process. In the wake of Bhashakutaliyam several translations
began to appear in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The prose
of Attapprakarams was meant to aid the Chakiyars in learning the art
of Koodiyattam. Doothavakyam (14 century) is one of the earliest of
these free renderings which reveals a kind of style that is suited
for elaborate oral narration. The long, rolling sonorous sentences
are interspread with pieces of dialogue which contain spoken forms.
Fifteenth century Malayalam prose is represented by Brahmanda
Puranam a summary of the original in Sanskrit. The prose here is
more free from the Sanskrit influence than in Doothavakyam. The
syntax is less cumbersome and the units are presented in the
sequential order without resorting to specific coordination or
subordination. There are, however numerous Tamil and Sanskrit
expressions scattered here and there. These give a stylized effect
to the prose. A large number of prose works appeared during this
period, most of which are either narratives based on Puranas and
religious works in Sanskrit or commentaries on similar works. With
the starting of the first printing presses in the sixteenth century
by Christian missionaries, prose literature received a great boost.
THUNCHATTU EZHUTHACHAN
Malayalam literature passed through a tremendous process of
development in the 15th and 16th centuries. Cherusseri's
Krishnagatha bore witness to the evolution of modern Malayalam
language as a proper medium for serious poetic communication.
Alongside this, there flourished numerous Sanskrit poets who were
very active during this period. The greatest of them was Melpathu
Narayana Bhattathiri the author of Narayanaiyam. The Manipravala
poets were no less active, as is shown by a series of champus and
Kavyas and single quartrians produced in the period, the greatest
monument of which is perhaps the Naishadham champu. But the most
significant development of the time took place in the field of
Malayalam poetry. Thunnchatu Ezhuthachan, the greatest Malayalam
poet of all time, wrote his two great epics Adhyatma Ramayanam and
Srimahabharatham and thereby revolutionized Malayalam language and
literature at once. He is rightly regarded as the maker of modern
Malayalam and the father of Malayalam poetry. The study of Malayalam
should properly begin with the acquisition of the skill to read
Ezhuthachan's Ramayanam with fluence. It was his works that the
Sanskrit and Dravidian streams in our language as well as literature
achieved a proper merger. The evolution of modern Malayalam becomes
with his judicious fusion of the disparate elements. In his diction
there is no violation of euphony. Ezhuthachan's mind and ear went
together in the selection and ordering of phonological and
morphological units. The Kilippattu form he adopted in Ramayanam and
Bharatham may be pointed to his recognition of the importance of the
sound effect in poetry. It enabled him to combine fluence with
elegance, spontaneity with complexity, naturalness with depth of
meaning, and simplicity with high seriousness. Ezhuthachan is the
greatest spokesman of the Bhakti movement in Malayalam but he is
more than a writer of devotional hymns. It is possible to think of
him primarily as a poet imbued with a sense of mission, but not
willing to fritter away his energies on negative projects like
castigating any section or community. Ezhuthachan is the greatest
synthesizer Kerala has ever seen. A non-Brahmins and always revealed
a sublime sense of humility.
That Ezhuthachan is not mere translator is granted by all critics
and schol-ars. In fact he follows the earlier Kerala writers in
freely elaborating or condensing the original as he thinks proper.
The celebration of this freedom gained in poetic creation is what
enlivens and ennobles the hymns interspersed in his works. The
transition from Cherusseri to Ezhuthachan marks the triumph of
modernism over medievalism. The intimacy one feels in reading
Ezhuthachan is accounted for by the efficient handling of the
linguistic resources. With his absolute sincerity, his adept skill
in the use of language, his total dedication to poetry and religion,
his disarming humility, Ezhuthachan was able to create and establish
once and for all a language, a literature, a culture and a people.
In later times, whenever there was a deviation or distoration in the
cultural trend, the return to the central native tradition was
facilitated by a true recognition and fresh realization of what
Ezhuthachan had done and had stood for. He is thus a mag-nificient
symbol, or greatest cultural monument.
POONTHANAM NAMBUDIRI
If there ever was another writer who could be Ezhuthachan's equal in
bhakti, if not in poetic power, it was Poonthanam Nambudiri, a
contemporary of Melpathur Bhattathiri and possibly of Ezhuthachan
himself. His chief poems in Malayalam are Bhasha Knrnamritam,
Kumaraharanam or San-thana gopalam, Pana and Gnanappana The first of
these is a devotional work intended to create Krishna bhakti in the
readers. The second is a touching narrative, in very simple and
straight forward language and fast moving verse.
Gnanappana or the Song of Divine Wisdom is a veritable storehouse of
transcendental knowledge which is firmly rooted in the experiences
of this world. In language, absolutely free from regionalism and
dialectel influences, unadorned with excessive rhetorical features,
through a series of concrete pictures taken from contemporary life,
the poet is able to drive home his perception of the shortlived
nature of the ephemeral aspects of life.
A large number of hymns and prayer songs which are still popular
have been attributed to Poonthanam.
THE PERFORMING ARTS
The sixteenth century also saw the writing of some dramatic works in
Manipravalam and pure Malayalam. Bhamtavakyam, often described as a
choral narration, is a work in Manipravalam which was used for stage
performance. The authoriship is uncertain, but the work seems to
have been staged several times. It is a comedy with a large dose of
farce in it. it may be regarded as the first roopakam in which
Malayalam is combined with Sanskrit in to present in a visual form a
story based on Kerala society centring round a few characters such
as a Nambudiri (Apphan), his Nayar wife, his manager (Ilayathu) and
the children's tutor (Pisharoti).
Margamkali was form of ritual and entertainment among the Syrian
Christians corresponding to the Sanghakali of the Brahmins.
Margamkalipattu is the song for this performance depicting the story
of St. Thomas, the Apostle. This was one of the numer- ous pieces of
Christian literature that must have gained currency in the 16th 17th
centuries.
Attakkatha
The main development in the cultural field in Kerala in the 17th
century was the growth of a new form of visual art called Attain or
Kathakali, which brought into being a new genre of poetry called
Attakatha consisting of the libretto used for a Kathakali
performance. Gitagovinda a work in Sanskrit by the Oriya poet of
12th century, Jayadeva, provided inspiration to Manaveda Raja of
Calicut to set up a troupe to perform a dance drama depicting the
life of Krishna in eight parts. This Krishnanattam was the model
before the prince of Kottarakkara who invented Ramanattom to put on
stage the story of Ramayana also in eight parts. Koodiyattom was
classical Sanskrit drama patronized by the elite class; Padayani, or
Kolamthullal was popular among the lower classes. The evolution of
Kathakali must have been a slow process, and did not reach a final
stage in the time of of Kottarakkara Thampuran. The literature of
Kathakali, also came to develop its special features over the
centuries.
The Ramayana plays Kottarakkara Thampuran are not distinguished by
literary excellence. However, his farsightedness is clearly revealed
in the structure he set up for this new genre.The native frame work
of an attakatha consists of quatrains in Sanskrit metres where the
diction also is heavily Sanskritised; the dialogue part, however, is
made up of padas which can be set to raga and tola and have to be
rendered by means of gestures and body movements by the actor while
being sung by the musicians from behind. The two-part structure is
perhaps modelled on the Champus. To judge an Attakkatha solely on
the basis of literary criteria would be unjust.
The success of performance depends on the degree of synchronization
achieved by the actors, vocalists, instrumentalists and other
helpers. The style of production has a definite bearing on the
literature of Kathakali. Kottarakara's attakathas are better on the
stage than in the library: a silent reading may even irritate the
reader. However, there are passages in some of these plays, which
could be appreciated as literature if one could simultaneously
visualize the gestural rendering also.
Kottayam Thampuran
The greatest fillip to the growth of attakatha as a literary form
and Kathakali as performing art came from Kottayam Thampuran, a
prince in the royal family of Northern Kottayam who is believed to
have lived in the late 17th century. Kottayam was a more gifted poet
and scholar than Kot-tarakara, and in his hands attakatha attained a
position of respectibility. His quartrains are invariably in
Sanskrit, but the padas are in Malayalam.
Unnayi Warrier
The end of the 17th century and the early quarter of the 18th
century saw the enrichment of Kathakali literature by the production
of Unnayi Warrier's Nalacharitham in four parts, the greatest
attakkatha of all time. Unnayi Warrier was a poet of exceptional
skill. His sense of drama, corn-Mr mand over language, knowledge of
dance and music, and insight into human psychology enabled him to
present the story of Nala and Damay-anti in a compact form,
observing unravelling of the ups and downs in the career of a noble
king and his be loved consort is magnificently achieved by Warrier.
Unnayi Warrier seems to have been influenced by the pattern of
classical drama in Sanskrit. This has helped him to tighten the
structure, instead of leaving it loosely held together as in most
attakkathas. His poetic gift has encouraged him to take freedom in
the use language. With the same boldness he has kept out as far as
possible the merely conventional passages, often found in
attakkathas but irrelevant to plot and character. He was also more
serious-minded than the other since there is a basically moral
outlook controlling and underscoring the destinies of the characters
presented by him. He must have meditated deeply on the presence of
evil in the world and has tried to account for it in the course of
this work.
PRINCES AND POETS
The Golden Age of Kathakali saw two poets in the royal family.
Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma Maharaja (1724-98) was a scholar in
many languages and a great patron of learning and the fine arts. His
Sanskrit work, Balar-amabharatam is a unique work in that it tries
to codify his own ideas of dance, music and drama. His main
contributions to literature are seven attakkathas: Rajasooyam,
Subhadrahar-anam, Bhakavadham, Gandharva Vijaym, Panchali
Swayambaram, Kalyana Saugandhikam and Narakasuravadham Part-I. An
expert in Natya Sastra and a patron of Kathkali, Karthika Thirunal
is perhaps the greatest of our ruler-authors.
Karthika Thirunal's nephew Aswathi Thirunal Ilaya Thampuram
(1956-1794) is chiefly remembered for his five attakkathas:
Narakasuravadham Part II, Rugmini Swayamvaram, Poothana Misham,
Ambarisha Charitham and Poundraka Vadham. Aswathi Thirunal was
gifted with a genuine poetic talent. Some of the padas in Poothana
Moksham like "not even the king of serpents can describe the glory
of Ambady" have a delicate workmanship about them. It is a pity that
this poet died at the early age of thirty-eight.
Ramapurathu Warrier (1703-53)
In the court of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the maker of the
former state of Travancore and his successor Karthika Thirunal Rama
Varma there flourised a number of poets distinguished in
several ways, Ramapurathuy Warrier, the author of Kuchela Vrittam
Vanchipattu was one of them. The Vanchipattu or Boat song is a
poetic form of folk origin. The realistic touch shown by the poet in
presenting this Puranic story with a personal edge to it has gained
for the work immense popularity. In the poem the poet specifically
refers to king Marthanda Varma and describes the circumstances under
which he came to write the poem. Warrier has also translated
Gitagovinda into Malay alam.
Kunchan Nambiar (1705-70)
Before he came to the court at Tri-vandrum, Kunchan Nambian. had
spent his early childhood at Killikur-issimangalam, his boyhood at
Kudamaloor and his early manhood at Ambalapuzha. In 1748 he moved to
Trivandrum first at the court of Marthanda Varma and later at the
court of Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. He had already written
several of his works before leaving Ambalapuzha. The chief
contribution of Namibar is the invention and popularization of a new
performing art known as Thullal. The word literally means "dance".
He was to use pure Malayalam as opposed to the stylized and
Sanskri-tized language of Koothu. The language also is predominantly
Malayalam with a large admixture of colloquial and dialectal forms.
Humour is invariably the dominant mood: other bhavas are brought in
for variety and to suit the situation.
Kunchan Nambiar is believed to have written over forty Thullal
compositions.
Nambiar's poetry lacks the high seriousness such as we find in
Ezhuthachan. The difference here is significant. The two are
complementary. Just as Kilipattu seems to express the total
personality of a writer like Ezhuthachan, the Thullal brings out the
characteristic featurs of the personality of Nambiar. Between them
they cover the entire spectrum of humanity, the entire gamut of
human emotions. No other Kilippattu has come anywhere near
Ezhuthachan's Ramayanam and Mahabharatham, to Thullal composition is
ever likely to equal the best of Nambiar's composition.
There has been a great lull in the field of literary creation in
Malayalam for nearly a century after the death of Kunchan Nambiar.
No great work of literature was produced during this long and uneasy
interregnum, There was a consistent and steady development of prose
at this time. Several regional versions of Keralolpathi, tracing the
beginnings of Kerala history, began to appear. Father Clement's
Stnkshepa Vedantham came out in 1771. Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar
(1737-1799) wrote the travelogue in Malay-aiam, Vartliamanapusthakam
(Book of Mews). It is perhaps the most sustained piece of prose
writing written till that date. The works of Christian missionaries
like Amos Patiri (John Ernestus Hanksalden, 1969-1732) and Paulonose
Patiri (John Philip Wesdin, 1748-1806) also led to a widening of the
range of topics and themes in Ma-layam literature.
The transition from the 18th century to the 19th century did not
immediately lead to any great spurt of literary activity. The
instrusion of European influence was beginning too be felt in
national life at large. The starting of schools on the British model
and the introduction of English as a subject of study were to have a
tremendous impact in the years to come. Maharaja Swathi Thirunal
(1813-1847) is a symbol of the process of modernisation that was
beginning to be set in motion at the time. Like Karthika Thirunal
Rama Varma who was not only a patron of literature and the arts but
also a distinguished writer of at-takkathas, Swathi Thirunal was
both a patron and a poet-musician. He is perhaps the most
distinguished music composer of Kerala.
The Venmani School
The third quarter of the nineteenth century bore witness to the rise
of a new school of poets devoted to (1) the observation of life
around them and (2) the use of pure Malayalam. They aimed at a
certain simplicity and directness, preferring words of Drav-idian
origin and Sanskrit words that would not sound strange or harsh.
They thus achieved a balanced middle style with a slight bias
towards the Dravidian elements (although "ma-han", pseudo-Sanskrit
for Malayalam 'makan' does not bear this out). Euphony was their
watchword. An easy-flowing diction that creates no problem for loud
and relaxed recitation, a smooth and even rhythmic cadence, maximum
clarity of meaning, and a pervasive sense of humour and
light-heartedness: these qualities were inherited from the champus
via the writers of the muktakas (single independent quatrains making
up complete poetic crystals) like Chelapparampu Nambudiri of a
generation earlier.
The major poets of the Venmani school were Venmani'Achan Nambudiri
(1817-91), Venmani Mahan Nambudiri (1844-93), Poonthottam Acchan
Nambudiri (1821-65), Poonthottam Mahan Nambudiri (1857-96) and the
members of the Kodungallur Kov-ilakam).
The Kodungallur school was an offshoot of the Venmani School but
some of the poets like Kunjikuttan Tham-puran had a great
seriousness in their vocation. The best evidence for his commitment
to his vocation is his magnificent translation of the whole of
Vyasa's Mahabharatha completed in the course of a few months. But
most of the Kodungallur poets took poetry for a pastime and indulged
in versification for want of any other form of entertainment. The
neo-classical games of instant poetic composition verse-making
competition, recitation competition, joint composition of poems,
samsya or riddle completion, writing to prescriptions and various
other kinds of formulaic exercises were their main concern.
