Monday, August 27, 2018

Revised Version



ANANTHAPADMANABHAN











By


SABARIMUTHU. V











Dedication
Kumari Kavingar K.P. Varatharajan










All rights reserved

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It shall not be reproduced by any others in any form.
Sabarimuthu.V
Author
Vellicode
21-8-2018















Contents



Preface
Introduction
1.Birth
2. Early years
3. Marital life
4. A turning point
5.The death of Thanumalaya Perumal
6.The resolution
7.The battle of Mankode
8. Refusal of Prince Marthanda Varma.
9.  A great escape
10. Demands of Prince Marthanda Varma
11. The battle of Panchavankadu
12. The end of Mundan
13. The destruction of the enemies.
14. The Mundaswamy Temple
15.The Annexation of Aattingal, Kilimanoor and Kollam
16. The refusal of Ananthan.
17. The Battle of Colachel.
18.The Celebrity of the Nation
19. Dalava Rama Iyen and the death of Ananthapadmanabhan
20. Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram – Modern History of Travancore.
21. Ananthapadmanabhan after the times of Marthanda Varma.
Bibliography
Curriculum Vitae of the Author
Acknowkedgements







Preface


This book deals with the heroic deeds of Ananthapadmanabhan. It shows how he became the master, bodyguard, companion, trusted friend, adviser, principal commander, celebrity and finally the deity of King Marthanda Varma.  
          It must be stated that there are no clear records to prove anything that happened 300 years ago in the Venad Kingdom.
          This book is based on the existing evidences, folk songs and oral statements of the descendants of Ananthapadmanabhan ,




Introduction


One day, in March 2013, I happened to meet Mr.K.P. Varatharajan, the 10th descendant of Ananthapadmanabhan. He told me the story of Ananthapadmanabhan. As his native village ( Thachan vilai) is quite near to my village (Vellicode), I called on him at his house in Thachan vilai just to know more about Ananthapadmanabhan. He showed a sword, a copper edict and some other materials belonging to Ananthapadmanabhan. Besides, he handed over some books containing –among other things- the folk songs- in Tamil- of King Marthanda Varma era.
Having read Travancore Manual by Nagam Iyya,  Marthanda Varma by C.V. Raman Pillai and some other books, the folk songs inspired me to write the story of Ananthapadmanabhan for the benefit of the posterity.

Sabarimuthu.V
Author
Vellicode
21-8-2018




1


Birth


           Ananthapadmanabhan was born at his mother’s house in the Charode Palace. in the Kollam year Chingam 24, 873 (1698 A.D.) to Thanumalaya Perumal Asan1 and Lekshmi Devi. Charode is a place – 700 metre away from the present Padmanabhapuram Palace.
He was brought up in his father’s house of 64 rooms in Thachan vilai iKannannoor in the Venad nation. Thachan vilai is located in the present day Veyyannoor Village in Kalkulam Taluk in Kanyakumari District in the Tamil Nadu state in India.
His father named him Ananthan Perumal, after the name of his grandfather. He had two brothers- Ponnam Perumal and Mayakonda Perumal –and two sisters – Thankapazham and Saraswathi Devi.
 His maternal uncle called him Padmanabhan. It was his pet name.
 Some of his relatives called him Babu Arasan and some others called him Ela Veera Rajan7.
Later, King Marthanda Varma clubbed Ananthan and Padmanabhan and called him Ananthapadmanabhan.
 Thanumalaya Perumal, was a descendant of the Thiruppapur2 Royal Family. This family traces its origin to a kingdom called Ay kingdom and later Chera kingdom3. A copper edict that exists today also indicates that he belonged to a royal family and was a blood relation of King Marthanda Varma.
Thanumalaya Perumal had over one hundred slaves4.
 Thanumalaya Perumal5 had been the Principal Commander of King Rama Varma. He had been overseeing weapon making. Moreover, he oversaw the armoury of Venad. Besides, he was the head of 108 martial arts - called kalari - training centres.

Note: 
1. Asan is an erudite person in medicine or a skilled person in martial arts. He is usually named after his native village. The word "Asan" is suffixed to his village. Thus, in the name Mekkode Asan, Mekkode stands for the name of his village. In the name Punnaikkattu Asan, the first word stands for the village.
However, if his name is known, the word Asan is suffixed to his proper name. Thus, in the name Narayanaswamy Asan, Narayanaswamy stands for his proper name and Asan stands for his surname.
 Evidently, it is difficult to distinguish between the proper name, and the village.
Further, the art known as the Royal Art of Warfare and Medicine, especially for fracture and war wounds, was very famous in in the Venad Kingdom, particularly in the Vilavancode region. Athankottu Asan refers to this art as Santor Marai – the science of Santors.  

2. According to the temple chronicles, Sri Vira Ravi Varma, the senior Tiruvadi of Thiruppapur ruled Venad from 1479 to 1512 (Travancore Manual by Nagam Iyya, Page.278). The importance of Thiruppapur could be discerned.


3. It was customary for the Madura kings to address the kings of Venad as Nanchi-nattu Rajah, Nanjanad Rajah or Thiruvithankottu Raja.

4. Slavery was abolished only in 1859 AD

5. Thirparpur is a place between the present Thiruvithankode6 and Keralapuram.

6. St Thomas had built a church at Thiruvithancode. This indicates that Thiruvithankode had been the capital of Venad. A Maha Vishu statue chiselled out of a single stone was found in Tiruvithankode. It is now kept in the Padmanabhapuram Palace museum.

7. It is customary for the people of this area to have multiple names even now (2018).



Ref: 1. Thiruvadi Desam Thiruparpur Paramparai Maaveeran Ananthapadmanabhan Varalaru by Kumari Kavinger K.P.Varatha Rajan.
2.Anotomy of a folklore “Ottan Kathai by Dr. M. Immanual.
2. History of Travancore by Nagam Iiya.
3. Wikipedia



Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)
Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)


The path to Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)



A tree in Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)

The path to Thachan vilai (Photo taken on 1-4-2013)



Path to Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)

Sri Bootha Sastha temple at Thachan vilai (1-4-2013).


At Thachan vilai (1-4-2013)


Iron ore that remains at Thachan vilai (2013). Iron for making weapons was extracted from this kind of ore

2


The early years


The teacher of Ananthan Perumal was his father, Thanumalaya Perumal.  He gave him intense training in Kalari (martial arts) in his Kalari fight practicing centre at Thachan Vilai.
 Ananthan Perumal mastered all the 64 skills of martial arts that included – in Tamil- vaal (sword), vil (bow = a weapon for shooting arrows), adivelai (a type of soad fighting), chilambam, kurunthadi and nedumthadi.
Besides, a horseman from an Arab country gave him training in horse riding. Prince Rama Varma made necessary arrangements for this along with his two sons - Pappu Tambi and Raman Tambi.  The training was imparted at Kuthiraipantivilai.
 Courage, speed, ruthlessness and wisdom were the inherited qualities of Ananthan Perumal.
The debut of Ananthan Perumal was before Prince Rama Varma1 at Suchindram temple in the year1713 during the Margali Thiruvzha (Margali festival). He was 15 at that time.
Prince Rama Varma commended him and gave him the title – in Tamil- Paranthakan meaning a brave man.
Later Prince Rama Varma ruled Venad  for a short period of time from 1724 to 1728. 



The real sword of Ananthapadmanabhan (Photo taken on 1-4-2013). It is present in the house of Kumari Kavinger K.P. Varatharajan.


A sward present in the Padmanabhapuram Palace Museum. It resembles the sward of Ananthapadmanabhan.

3


Marital life


      At the age of 21, Ananthan Perumal married the daughter of his maternal uncle, Parvathi Ammai from the then famous Nadalwar family.
 Parvathi Ammai gave birth to a son, Ayyam Perumal. But she died when the child was just two and a half years.
 Ananthan Perumal decided not to marry again. He considered this as his marriage vow.




4


A turning point


       One day, Prince Marthanda Varma called on Thanumalaya Perumal –father of Ananthan Perumal - at his house in Thachan vilai and sought asylum.
Thanumalaya Perumal had been the Principal Commander of King Rama Varma. He had been making weapons for Venad. Further, he had been imparting martial arts to hundreds of disciples.
Above all, he had been the head of 108 martial arts schools (training centres) in Venad.
In those situations, it was a bold decision on the part of Prince Marthanda Varma to enter his house. In fact, it was the turning point in the history Venad.
 Thanumalaya Perumal knew that Marthanda Varma was the legitimate heir to the throne. Therefore, he decided to support him.
 Firstly, he asked his son, Ananthan Perumal, to give martial arts training to the Prince as quickly as possible. 
Ananthan Perumal taught all the 64 skills of martial arts -day and night - to him within a span of six months.
The Prince stayed in the house of Thnumalaya Perumal during this period. His whereabouts were not revealed to anyone. Whatever happened, none dared to attack the house of Thanumalaya Perumal or the Prince during this period.
As a disciple of Ananthan Perumal (Refer Chapter 20), the Prince learnt all the skills and became a skilful swordsman and horseman. Even one hundred soldiers would fail to hurt him in a straight fight.
Then Ananthan Perumal became his body-guard, trusted friend, companion, adviser, Principal Commander of Venad, celebrity and finally his deity.
 The circumstances that forced Prince Marthanda Varma to seek asylum must be noted.
The rulers of Venad followed a strange system of inheritance known as "Marumakkathayam" since 1304 A.D.
As per the above system, when a king dies, his sister's son will succeed him. His inheritance does not belong to his sons, or his brother, or any of his other relations. The reason attributed was that the king would keep contact with many women outside the royal family and as such his children may not carry the royal blood.
If the king has no sister, a girl from a royal family would be adopted. well-guarded and kept in great esteem. She would not be exposed to the common people and no man can approach her. It was the custom and there were many rigid rules of convention to perpetrate it. No one -it is said- reaches the throne by means of the strong hand. It is a unique system not seen in any other place. This system still exists in the Travancore Royal family.
The loyal subjects accepted it and worshipped the ruler on the throne.
However, a section of the people in every community gradually became very powerful and plotted to change the system of succession.  They argued that the matriarchal system of succession that had been followed thereto was fundamentally wrong, as it violated the basic principles of birth right, ignoring the prerogatives of the male. Therefore, they said that the system must be changed forthwith.
Some conspired to extirpate the royal family for this. Their aim was to establish a republic.    As it had a public interest political overtone, the people were vertically divided. Naturally, a section in every caste and religion opposed the system of succession.
Earlier, the opponents of the system had murdered King Aditya Varma.
Besides, they had drowned five out of six sons of his niece Umayamma Rani at Kalippan Kulam in the Kalkulam Palace.
Prince Rama Varma had been taking a neutral stand in the question of succession till he became the King in 1724. 
After ascending the throne, King Rama Varma apportioned the southern portion of Venad (Northern portion was under Aattingal) into three parts. The areas surrounding Kalkulam and Nagercoil palaces were given to his two sons - Pappu Tambi and Raman Tambi (Papu Tambi and Raman Tambi were called Tambi brothers)- and Neyyattinkara area was given to Prince Marthanda Varma.
At the instance of Prince Marthanda Varma, King Rama Varma in 1726 signed a treaty with Madurai Nayak. As per that treaty Madurai Nayak would supply his force to check the rebels. This strengthened the hands of Prince Marthanda Varma. 
 However, when King Rama Varma became sick, rebels closed ranks with the Tambi brothers. They said that Pappu Tambi -the elder son- would succeed his father on the throne. They took this political stand only to bring a cleavage in the royal house.
They openly stated in the streets that the matriarchal dynasty would end in the Venad Kingdom with the death of the King Rama Varma.
 As soon as King Rama Varma died, Tambi brothers accepted this new revolutionary school of thought and decided to assassinate Prince Marthanda Varma.
 The Tambi brothers issued orders to prevent the Prince from escaping to any place north of Neyyattinkara or to the Pandian Kingdom in the South. 
Many chieftains too wanted the destruction of the royal family. To check the rebels, Prince Marthanda Varma requested Aattingal ( or Attungal) Rani to pay tribute to Azakappa Muthaliar. But she refused. The Prince was disappointed. At the same time, the King of Kollam, Jaya Singh, mobilized a force to claim Venad. He said that he was the legitimate ruler of Venad.
Despite the above situation, majority of the people in Venad were very loyal to Prince Marthanda Varma.  However, the Prince felt that he was hemmed on all sides by enemies. He had two options: to escape or be killed. He opted for the former. Therefore, he left Neyyantinkara and ran for his life. Thus, he chose not to jump into the hand of the murdering crowd.


Reference:
1. Thiruvadi Desam Thirupparpur Parambarai Maaveeran Ananthapadmababhan Varalaru by K.P. Varatharajan.
2. Travancore State Manual by V. Nagam Iiya.
3.."Times of Marthanda Varma"by Ibrahim Kunchu.
4. "Naattu Varalaru" by T.K. Velu Pillai
5. Wikipedia

Note:
1.  The rich people in Marthandom, Ramanamatam, Kulattur, Kazhakuttam, Venganur, Chempazhanti, Koduman and Pallichal were entrusted with the collection of the Devaswam (Temple) revenues. Some of them had been mere tillers.  They did not belong to the same  caste or religion. Many present day - (2013AD)- castes were not there about 250 years ago.
2. The East India Company, in the year 1728, obtained permission from Prince Marthanda Varma of Neyyattinkara to construct a go-down at Colachel in the year 1728.  This indicates that the East India Company considered Prince Marthanda Varma as the legitimate heir to the throne.
3. Kalippan Kulam still exists. It is in the Padmanabhapuram Fort in the Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu state. The name indicates that children were enticed to play in that pond.

4. According to some historians, Marthanda Varma was the son of the sister of King Rama Varma. The room in which she lived exists today in the Padmanabhapuram Palace.
According to some other historians Marthanda Varma was born at Kilimanoor in 1706 to the Queen of Venad, who was adopted in 1688 from Kolathini family of Malabar as Queen of Aattingal. 
    The name of his father was Raghava Varma and his grandfather was Ittammar Raja. It is said that they hailed from the Kingdom of Thirupparpur, one of the branches of the Venad Royal Family.
5. It is said that a king of Venad had no heir. His sister’s son became the King of Venad. After that, “Marumakkathayam was perpetrated. This happened around the year 1300 A.D.  There are no records to prove this.
         




5


The death of Thanumalaya Perumal


As Thanumalaya Perumal, father of Ananthan Perumal, could not be defeated in a straight fight, one Kunchu Neelan poisoned him to death. Ananthan suspected that the enemies of Prince Marthanda Varma had a hand in it.
After the passing away of Thanumalaya Perumal, Ananthan Perumal felt that his house was no longer safe for the Prince.
Therefore, he secretly took the Prince to Mankode Asan and left him under his care.\
The Prince acquainted a slave called Mundan at Mankode Asan’s house.
Mundan had been a slave of Thanumali of Pottayadi. He was a very intelligent man. The Prince used him as a messenger called –in Tamil- Oottan.  Besides, he was being asked to roam in different places disguised as Prince Marthanda Varma. This was to divert the attention of his enemies.





A copper edict (document) given to Anantha Padmanabhan by King Marthanda Varma.




Ananthapadmanabhan was laid to rest in this place. An old vessel is seen.


Mr. K.P. Varatharajan holding the document- copper plate




6


The resolution


The rebels started searching for Prince Marthanda Varma. They tortured the people suspected of harbouring him. They cut off the fingers, nose and the ears of some people. Some others were put in prison. The atrocities disturbed Ananthan.
He convened a meeting of the Asans. Separate letters - written on palmyra leaf - called ola - were sent to 108 Asans asking them to assemble at the Kalari centre in Purakkattur in the Thiruvattar path.
The meeting resolved to stand by Prince Marthanda Varma and put him on the throne. Besides, they resolved to sacrifice their lives - if necessary- for this. As it was a political problem, a few joined the rank of the rebels.

Reference: In Tamil - Oottan Kathai Nattupura Varalattu Kathai Padal, Page 14.
A rough translation of the relevant part of the Tamil poem of Marthanda Varma era is given below.


Invitation leaves flew to108 Kalaries
Separate invitations for the wise and the venerable
Congregated on Friday in the Purakkattoor Square
Asans in hundreds; their children in thousands
Gathered together for the growth of their clan
The brave and the wise; the public and the household
A crowd, a big crowd –a crowd of the learned
With a heart-breaking mind, calmly they listened
In the shadow of 16 umbrellas came the venerable
One among them welcomed with folded hands
And started to talk;
 “What if some are fighting- what if there is coronation
Lord is now running after the venerable
Ear, nose and fingers of the people are being cut
 For whom we live in this world”---
Suddenly Ananthan rose like a tiger
And roared;
“We will extirpate the Madan crowd
And dance round and round the country
We will put the lord on the throne
Put a garland round his neck
And carry him round and round the country
He will marry a girl from the Thiruppapur area
And we will take care of his child”.
When they talked like this
There came messenger Chathan saying
“Asans and the venerables, the house of Mankode Asan is burning
Those Tambi kids torture one and all
Thinking that the lord was in the house
They destroy everything”.




7


The battle of Mankode


While Prince Marthanda Varma was hiding in the house of Mankode Asan, the Tambis got wind of it and sent a large number of lancers to eliminate him. Suspecting that the Prince was hiding in one corner or other of the house of 64 rooms, they surrounded it and torched it.
    The Prince was not in the house but watched everything from a long distance.
When Ananthan Perumal reached Mankode, the house of Mankode Asan was still on fire. He slaughtered the lancers with lightning speed. A few lancers escaped the sword of Ananthan, returned to the Kalkulam Palace and reported the matter to Pappu Tambi.
 B.K. Menon had translated into English the Malayalam Novel, Marthanda Varma, by C.V. Raman Pillai. He has described the mode of fighting of Ananthan Perumal at Mankode as follows. 
      "Holding a heavy sword in either hand, executing intricate steps to the tune of his own music, using both hands and feet with incredible ease and deadly precision, the slow witted Ananthan was advancing steadily towards them, displaying a new mode of fighting. Trained to the hair and skilled warriors as they were, the Ananthan's style and mode of advance was new and perplexing to them. While not a single cut or thrust seemed so much as to touch him, his very breath seemed to spell death among their own crowd. His progress through their midst was marked all around by the number of dead or dying. To look upon his weapon was to look the last upon the world! ******* But he had gone as he had come, and no one was in a position to say more about him."

Note:1. Whenever Prince Marthanda Varma was in danger, he used to think of Ananthan. The latter used to appear in the danger spot to save him. He could not tell whether it was due to his divine power or due to the supernatural or magical power of Ananthan. This happened on many occasions. C.V. Raman Pillai’s narration does indicate that Ananthan possessed some supernatural or magical powers.
2.. Being a novel, C.V. Raman Pillai had not used the word Ananthan but used another name. 
3. Mankode is a place near to Thikkanamkode in the Kalkulam Taluk of Kanyakumari District.






Note: For more:
The paperback edition of this book, Ananthapadmanabhan, can be purchased from the Amazon.com





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