The Myth of Grand Feast (Introduction)

History and myth are always controversial to each other and have deep rooted in human development and culture. According to Aristotle, “History is an account of the unchangeable past.” Hence, History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social condition of the human race.^[1] Myths are fabricated collections of general tales which explain the past. It can be define as a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.^[2]. They are mostly based on a widely alleged but fake believes or ideas or in other words it is a misinterpretation of the truth. Sometimes myths overrule the history and make difficulties to identify the truth. Indian history is always under this superseding of such myths. Consequently, myths always reflected a colourful imaginary world rather than the historical realm. During the emergence of indological studies, many historians have unveiled the myth and history that were rooted in Indian minds. Sanskrit treatises also possess such kinds of myth and history together, especially the Sanskrit dramas.

The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are deeply influenced the culture of Indian society. Not only in literary way but its impact extended in religious and cultural aspects also. Various myths, legends, art, festivals, rituals, regions etc. adapted the elements of these epics with some vernacular variations.

Jawaharlal Lal Nehru points out this factor in his book Discovery of India:

Everywhere I found a cultural background which had exerted a powerful influence on their lives. This backgroundwas a mixture of popular philosophy, tradition, history, myth, and legend, and it was not possible todraw a line between any of these. Even the entirely uneducated and illiterate shared this background. The old epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and other books, in popular translations and paraphrases, were widely known among the masses, and every incident and story and moral in them was engraved on the popular mind and gave a richness and content to it. Illiterate villagers would know hundreds of verses by heart and their conversation would be full of references to them or to some story with a moral, enshrined in some old classic.^[3]

Festivals like “Ramlila”, “Dasara”, “Divali”; places like Kurukshetra, Ayodhya, Mathura; Dwaraka etc. are some popular examples of this type of epic relations. Even though these epics are mainly focused on its north Indian background, south Indian cultures are also assumed its essence. In the Epic Mahabharata, Keralas, Colas, Pandyas and Dravidas were frequently cited. The translation of Mahabharata into Tamil (“Maparatam Tamil”)^[4] was encouraged by a famous ancient Pandya king “Netum Cezhiyan^[5]”. Moreover, there are many mythsareconnecting epic Mahabharatawith south India. The myth of grand feast by Utiyan Ceralatan was also a result of the influence of Mahabharatain south Indian culture. In this myth, king Utiyan Ceralatan served food for the entire army in the Kurukshetra war without any favouritism.

The myths are addressing almost all aspects of common people such as name of a place, folk art, rituals and so on.Among these varied types,the myths about Annadana (donation of food) are needs special mention. Because, giving food for those who deserves is consider as a great work all over in the world. The donation of food or Annadana is considered as the best donation that anyone can perform.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

A.M. John. J. Anderson, A Manual of General History, New York: Clark & Maynard Publishers, 1870), 1.

[2]:

Oxford Living Dictionaries

[3]:

Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994,6^th impression) , 67.

[4]:

Kaviyur Murali. Purananuru Oru Paddanam, (Kottayam: DC Books, 1999), 27.

[5]:

“Netum Cezhiyan”was frequently praised in the Sangam Literature. He was well known for the war of “Talaiyalankanam” against the combined army of Colas and Ceras. This war occurred 150 years after the establishment of Cera Dynasty. After the victory of this battle he conducted a ritual of “Kalavelvi” (sacrifice to the goddess with the cooked flesh and blood of enemies prepared in a burner made with the heads of three victims).