‘EDAVANKADAN ACHARIMAR’ OF MAVAELIKKARA
Cheriyanad, a village in Kerala state belongs to Central Travancore Region and specifically comes under Chengannur Thaluk in Alleppey District. It is placed almost midway between Chengannur and Mavelikkara towns. Cheriyanad is a special grade panchayat. Cheriyanad Sri Balasubrahmanya Swami Temple is a famous spot in Cheriyanad.
Cheriyanad was once located on the boundary of the kingdom of the Kayamkulam Rajah and in 1746 along with the rest of the kingdom it was annexed to Travancore. Cheriyanad possesses a Padanilam or a battlefield, which is now occupied by a school. Some prominent families owned Kalari i.e. martial arts gymnasiums and private temples. Traditionally Cheriyanad consisted of nine original Karas or villages, which are Athimanchery, Edavankadu, Mandapariyaram, Thuruthimal, Moolikode, Edamuri, Mampara, Ariunnisery, and Alakode. For administrative purposes, the region was subdivided into fourteen Karas. Cheriyanad is home to an important temple, dedicated Subramanyan, located west of Padanilam junction, in the Mavelikara-Kozhenchery road. This temple is under the jurisdiction of the high priests of the Sabarimala temple, the Thazhamon Madhom Nampoothiri family of Chengannur.
‘Edavankadan Achari’ is the hereditary title given to the head craftsmen of Edavankadu; they were the moothasaris of the kings of Travancore. Their ancestral tharavad is located in Alappuzha District, in a small village named Cheriyanad in Chengannur Thaluk. No details are known about the origin of the family, but it may have some connection with the construction of Subramanya temple of Cheriyanad. The family has two branches, Thundiyil Veedu, the main branch and Edavankadu Valiya Veedu, which now houses the ‘Ara’ or thekkath of the family with all their family deities including Lord Vishwakarma. Even now yearly festivals are conducted for 41 days. Thundiyil Veedu has now fallen with time, the last moothachari of the family Edavankadu Padmanabhan Achari hailed from Thundiyil Veedu.
Edavankadan Achari was the moothachari’s of many palaces built by the kings of Travancore. They were specialized in woodcarving. The members of the family had good knowledge of the Shilpa Shastra and Vedas and were given the titles like ‘Randam Brahma’. The members of the family were the head craftsmen of Subramanya temple of Harippad.
 |
| Edavankadan T.N. Padmanabhan Achari and his wife Karthyayini Ammal - Photograph from the private collection of Joseph (Babu). |
A story is that long ago an Achari of the family presented the king of Travancore with a lotus, made of wood, so delicate that its petals fluttered with the wind. The Achari was given a horse as a reward (late nineteenth century).
The moothacharis of the family used to accompany the ‘Naduvazhi Nampoothiri’ of Cheriyanad on special occasions. It is said that the people of the village, on seeing the Achari wearing ‘Poonol’ mistook him for the Nampoothiri and bowed before him. On seeing this naduvazhi ordered the Achari to carry a ‘muzhankol’ in his hand. It is said that the moothachari made a silver muzhankol for the purpose and on seeing the silver staff the locals mistook him for the naduvazhi and showed greater respect.
Unlike ordinary Achari families, the members of the family enjoyed privileges and can be considered as ‘nobles’ among Acharis. The title of ‘Edavankadan Achari’ title was usually given to the eldest male members of the family; they usually stayed in Travancore, the capital city and had to attend in all the major functions in the family. The family was given large areas of farming land as ‘Uurhiyam’ by the king’s of Travancore; they had their own ‘Pulayan’ family to do the farming. The last patriarch of the family who was given the hereditary title was Kochu Kunju Achari, son of Neelakandan Achari of Thundiyil Veedu (Kochu Kunju had an elder brother, but due to some eye ailments he was not qualified for the title). Kochu Kunju Achari and his younger brother Padmanabhan Achari came to live in the capital city.
The fame of the brothers crossed the seas with the life-size and miniature wooden statues of Kathakali figures made by them. The royal family of Travancore who were the major patrons of the family owned many of the masterpieces made by the brothers. The life-sized Kathakali figures made by the brothers are now exhibited in Kuthira Malika and Napier museum; some of the most intricately carved statues are still in the collection of the royal family. For their services, they were given ‘Veerasringala’ by the Amma Maharani Sethu Parvathy Bai.
 |
| Edavankadan T.N. Padmanabhan Achari with the Kathakali figures - Photograph from the private collection of Joseph (Babu). |
 |
| Receiving the first National Award for woodcarving from President Dr. Radhakrishnan,1966 Picture reproduced from Vishwakarman (magazine, 1969 edition). |
Sharat Sunder Rajeev
11-04-2009.
15 comments:
i have heard the lotus story many times from my grandmom. Infact i am also told that the house my great great grandad built had its foundation stone and sthanam laid by the edavankadan asari, the same man who was awarded the horse by the king. This was a very interesting read. Also since i hail from cheriyanad, i have never heard of any naduvazhi nampoothiri. There are no namboodiris in cheriyanad, only pottis. The feudal lord of the village was the Ariunni Panicker but I have heard that during the time of the Kayamkulam Rajah, the Nallur madhom potti, from whom i am descended, was the chief person in the temple. maybe the brahmin in question was him.
i was just thinking. The Namboodiri in question might have been the Oovampallil Thampuran (or Ompally Thampuran). Till independence and the organization of the devaswon board, the Cheriyanad temple was the private property of the Oovampallil Thampuran who was a Namboodiri from Cochin. He came very rarely to Cheriyanad and the last time, in 1930, he took away most of the gold and ornaments of the temple owing to problems. But i am almost certain that this namboodiri was the thampuran indeed.
well manu, your guess may be right, i got these informations from my grand uncle neelakandan, son of edavankadan padmanabhan.they all were born in T.V.M, so neelakandan is also not sure about the thampurans identity. it is unfortunate that they do not know names of their ancestors.
Hey sharat, i have started a new blog and just finished a post on the story u told me of abhirami. i have ofcourse acknowledged you in it. :) do comment and let me know.
what manu said is rht..there were no "naduvazhi namputhiri" in cheriyandu.some "unnithan,panikkar" feudal lords with great power and wealth controled most of the areas.other intresting thing is the great actor "Jagathy sreekumar's mother comes from this village probably related to the "edavanakdu asharis"
my unlce was the barber of cheianadu near the bus stop. I am a barber in a saoon in california. Schwarezhenger is my client.
my aunty was the local prostitutue near the temple. the temple priest and some landlords slep with my auntie. Now iam sleeping with the priest's wife.
hai Anonymous (the last 2 comments), glad to hear about your VIP client and your aunt, if you want to sleep with the 'priest's wife', just go and sleep....i am not interested to hear about that.
- Sharat Sunder Rajeev
Hi
Potti families in Cheriyanad were pure Malayali Brahmins. Hence, they are using the surname Namboodiri now (though, not all). However, they were not Naduvazhis. They were 'Ooralars' (Trustees) of Cheriyanad Balasubrahmaniyaswamy temple in earlier days.
kettukazcha of "mattom south" Bheemasenan sitting n a chariot was also built by edavankadan's. Der is a branch of dis family in chettikulangara
Jagathy is a member of dis family. He done his UP studies in DBHSS Cheriyanad now d moothassery of chériyanad branch is Pethambaran achary. He is d moothassary f 9 pallivilakk out f 13 of chrd temple. In the whole world dis kind of wonder ful festival is only conducted n dis temple. Unfortunately it has no publicity . As a son f dis village pls do necessary steps u can.pls cnt me i wil tel u more stories.
7293144946
Der s a branch of edavankadans in cherynad. One is "thiruvampady" in "ATHIMUNCHEARY KARA. At the time of construction(mining) of their well,they got the idol of krishna nw placed in cheriyanad temple named as "thiruampadi krishna". So d family members got d right f "bhalashruthy" telling 1year future f villagers by cut coconut, at d time of "kodiyeattu" f chrd temple
mainly cheriyanad is divided into two, "padinjattum muri"& "kizhakkum muri". padinjattum muri is divided into 5 main villages. "Atimuncheary, Mandapariyaram, Edavankadu, Edamury (north& south, kadayickadu), Moolikode (moolikode & moolikode east)
kizhakkum mury divided into 4 villages. "Ariyannurssery, Mampra, Thuruthimel, and Alackode (cheruvalloor, njanjoockadu, kollakadavu but kara nw known as cheruvallur kara). The kizhakkum muri villagést were under the "Pandalam Raja" and the padinjattum muri villages were under "kayamkulam Raja" later in the 18 th centuries the 2 muries (9 villages) were annexed 2 Thiruvithamkoor
The mid portion of padinjattum muri & kizhakkum muri is known as "Padanilam" , means battle field, where 90% of cerimonies of chrd temple conducted
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for the information. I have heard about the Thiruambadi Krishnan in the temple which was donated by the family members. I have relatives there in the family. According to the daughter of Edavankadan T.N. Padmanabhan Achari, the familys original name is 'Chathamethu Thiruambadi'.....I have managed to collect many interesting stories about the ancestors of this family of master craftsmen and I have included some of them in my upcoming work, about the traditional craftsmen....I would be happy to hear more stories from you...Will certainly call you.
Thanking you once again,
Sharat Sunder Rajeev.
Post a Comment