ANANTHAPADMANABHAN
By
SABARIMUTHU. V
Dedication
Kumari Kavingar K.P. Varatharajan
All rights reserved
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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 in Kannannoor 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 |
