Saturday marked the beginning of Ramayana Month in Kerala with all Hindu homes reverberating with recitation of the lyrics from Adhyatma Ramayanam, authored by Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, considered as the father of Malayalam language.
For the next 30 days, the early mornings and late evenings see elders in the family reciting the Ramayana slokas as the younger ones sit listening to the lyrics coated with philosophical aspects of life. “After the recitation, the listeners are sure to get a choice of sweets including ‘payasam’ and this could be one of the reasons behind the rapt attention,” said Poojappura Krishnan Nair, an authority on Ramayana.
Observation of Ramayana Month ( Malayalam month of Karkkidaka which synchs with Aashada and Sravana) has been in vogue for centuries though it took a systematic form during the last four decades. “People in Kerala are not familiar with Valmiki Ramayana because Adhyatma Ramayana was more popular among the Malayalam speaking population. The puritans of the epic prefer Valmiki Ramayana,” said Prof Nair.
Ezhuthachan was born in Tirur of Malappuram district sometime in 16th century. There are no details about his date of birth but the place he was born is known as Thunachan Parambu, where thousands gather every Vijaya Dasami day for initiating their children into the world of letters. Ezhuthachan Prize is the highest literary award in Kerala and carries with it a cash prize of `5,00,000/- and is rated as the zenith of one’s literary career.
Sadly enough, the authorities and representatives of people in Tirur do not allow the installation of a statue of the Father of Malayalam language anywhere in the district. “Statues of a non-Muslim is against Islamic laws and there is no possibility of Ezhuthachan statue being installed here. The district has a massive Muslim population and people do not like the idea of the Statue,” said Ali Akbar, noted movie maker.
The long standing demand for installing the statue of the Father of Malayalam language is likely to remain on paper as religion has taken the driver’s seat in the district.
