Thunjathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan (Malayalam: തുഞ്ചത്തു
രാമാനുജന് എഴുത്തച്ഛന്, Tuñchattŭ Rāmānujan Eḻuttacchan; also known as
തുഞ്ചത്തെഴുത്തച്ഛന്, Tuñcatt-Eḻuttacchan) was an Indian poet from
around the 16th century, known as the father of the Malayalam language —
the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36
million people in the world. In his era, Vattezhuttu, an old script
originally used to write Tamil, was generally used in Kerala to write
this language. However, he wrote his Malayalam poems in Arya-ezhuttu, a
Grantha-based script originally used to write Sanskrit, so that he could
accurately transliterate Sanskrit words into Malayalam. His works
became unprecedentedly popular, which popularized the writing system
adopted by him, and it is the current Malayalam alphabet.
He
was born in Trikkantiyur (തൃക്കണ്ടിയൂര്, Tr̥kkaṇṭiyūr), in the town of
Tirur, in Kerala. At that time, it was a part of Vettattnad. His
personal name is Ramanujan. Thunchaththu is his “family name”, and
Ezhuthachan (schoolmaster) is an honorific title or the last name
indicating his caste. His name is transliterated in several ways,
including Thunchath Ezhuthachan, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan, and Thunjath
Ezhuthachan.
Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan lived in the 19th
century, He was born at Trikkantiyur (Trkkantiyur) in the Tirur
municipality, Malappuram, Kerala, India. His birthplace is now known as
Thunjan Parambu.
According to Arthur Coke Burnell, he was “a
low-caste man who goes under the name Tunjatta Eḻuttacchan, a native of
Trikkaṇḍiyûr in the present [1874] district of Malabar. He lived in the
seventeenth century, but his real name is forgotten; Tunjatta being his
‘house’ or family-name, and Eḻuttacchan (=schoolmaster) indicating his
caste”. In 1865, Burnell saw the manuscript of the Bhagavata translated
and adapted by Thunchaththu, allegedly copied by his sister, preserved
at Puzhakkal in the Chittur taluk, and wrote in his book published in
1874: “The author’s stool, clogs, and staff are preserved in the same
place; it thus looks as if Tunjatta Eḻuttaččhan was a sannyâsi of some
order.” Some sources[who?] state that he was born into a Chakkala Nair
family, held low among Savarna Hindu caste system of Kerala and among
the Nair caste. Some apocryphal legends have that Ezhuthachan's father
was a Namboodiri. That version is unhistoric. A few sources claim that
he was of the Ezhuthachan caste. A. C. Burnell, a noted Indologist,
categorically stated that Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan belongs to the
Ezhuthachan caste only. He had stated this when he edited an article
written by another important scholar, F. W. Ellis, when he published an
article in Indian Antiquery in 1878 after the death of linguist Ellis.
In that path-breaking article Ellis articulated the evolution of
Malayalam ("Malayanma") and other south Indian languages.
Ellis stated:
"A
Brahman without a father must be born of an unmarried female of that
tribe, whose celibacy ought to have been inviolate: he is considered,
therefore, illegitimate, and has scarcely an assignable place in
society. Elutt' Achan, or the 'Father of Letters', was a Brahman without
a father, and on that account has no patronymic ... The Brahmans envied
his genius and are said to have seduced him by the arts of sorcery into
the habit of ebriety ... he enriched the Malayalam with the
translations, all of which, it is said, he composed under the immediate
influence of intoxication."
To which Brunell added the footnote:
"Eluttachchan
lived in the 17th century; there is no reason for supposing that he was
a Brahman father's illegitimate son; he was certainly an Eluttachchan
(or schoolmaster) by caste."
Great Malayalam poet and
historian Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer concludes Ezhuthachan as either
Chakkala Nair or Vattekattu Nair. Sri K. Balakrishna kurup in his famous
book Viswathinte Kanappurangal published by Mathrubhumi printing and
publishing company Kozhikode had stated that Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan
belongs to Ezhuthachan caste. Prof. T. B. Vijayakumar, a noted scholar
and historian who wrote many articles in prestigious journals, like
Mathrubhumi Weekly, also stated that Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan belongs to
the Ezhuthachan caste.
In nutshell, Ezhuthachan was a Kaniyan
by caste and had the title Ezhuthu Asan in relation to his teaching
service in Ezhuthupalli. In the pre- and early-British ruling era of
Kerala, the Kaniyans (traditional astrologers) were the only class who
had undertaken the role of teaching letters, grammar, Sanskrit and
literature to non-Brahmin communities. So they were known Ezhuthu Asan
(Ezhuthachan in the vernacular) but, later, this professional name was
adopted by the descendants of families of non-Brahmin disciples of
Thunchat Ezhutahchan as a special caste or class. Most of these people
were from the Chakkala Nair and Kadupattan castes.
Census reports from 1870 onwards show the Ezhuthachan caste as low Sudra caste.
Mahakavi
Kodungallore Kunhikuttan Thampuran, a titan among poets who
singlehandedly translated entire Mahabharatham into Malayalam vernacular
within short span, stated in an article in a literary journal,
Rasikaranjini (edited by himself) that Thunchath Ezhuthachan belonged to
Ezhuthachan Caste only.
Father of Malayalam language
According
to Dr. K. N. Ezhuthachan, noted scholar, writer, essayist, poet, only
Ramayanam and Bharatham belong to him. Others, usually attributed to
him, were not really his. According to Dr Ezhuthachan even Uththara
ramayanam is not his. Its composition lacks Ezhuthachan's stamp and
genius. There may have been many popular keerthanas, namam or japam by
other poets, but it was impossible to find a single house in Kerala
without Ezhuthachan's Adhyathmaramayanam during those dark times of war,
disease and famine.
There is no doubt about his contribution
to the literary level of the common man. Ezhuthachan taught the people
to respect and worship the language and the alphabet, a level of culture
which is difficult to find even in the modern era. He refined the
Malayalam language style and wrote his works for ordinary people,
incorporating whatever is good with a strong sense of righteousness and
worship. His contribution to the Malayalam language through the
Adhyatmaramayanam (a translation of the Ramayana and Mahabharatham (a
translation of the Mahabharata) is unparalleled, and his contribution in
the cultural level is immense. His chief original works are said to
include the:
Keralolpathi
Hari Nama Keerthanam (the song of the holy vame "Hari")
Ganapatistavam
Kilippatu Prasthanam
Devi Mahathmayam
Kerala Natakam
Harihara Sudham
"...[T]he
phrase ‘father of language’ is a symbolic reference. Language
represents culture. So Ezhuthachan is in fact denoting culture. He shone
as a brilliant star above our culture. He renovated the alphabets of
heart. We see the light of conscience and moderation in Ezhuthachan. We
call him ‘the father of Malayalam language’ because he led the language
to a new dimension." — Chattanath Achuthanunni, chair, Thunjan Festival
meeting (1998)
It
was in the Thunjan Parambu that Ezhuthachan modified the Malayalam
alphabet and wrote the Hari Nama Keerthanam to popularize the 51-letter
alphabet. Even centuries after these events, people from around the
state come to take sand from the Thunjan Parambu to use in the
initiation of their children to the alphabet. Every year, hundreds of
people bring their children to Thunjan Parambu to write their first
letters during the Vijayadasami festival which falls in
October–November. Children are initiated to the world of letters by
masters, teachers or parents by holding their fingers and writing the
letters in a plate filled with rice. The letters will also be written in
their tongues with a golden ring. They write:
"Anpathoraksharavum oronnithenmozhiyil
Anpodu cherkka Hari Narayanaya Nama" — Hari Nama Keerthanam 14th stanza
No comments:
Post a Comment