1.1. The Kerala-Mahatmyam (Introduction)

Ancient history of Kerala was written and accepted on the basis of traditional sources made up of legends and fables. These legends and fables are conveniently prepared as a part of the higher sections of the society. It is a common phenomenon through out the world to connect the origin of the countries with some super human characters. The legends related to with the origin of Kerala is no exceptions. There are traditional accounts about the origin of Kerala, in the Sanskrit works are Mahatmyas and works written in puranic (Legendary) style. But those works are highly legendary and the historians give no historical value of them because of historical in accuracies and improbabilities. Eventhen, such works give us a glimpse into the ancient Kerala, and throw some light on the Brahmin dominance with political history. It embody some geographical and geological details pertaining to the ancient Kerala. These works are also shed some light on temple history, social history and cultural history.

Mahatmyas and works written in Puranic Style There are several poems written by Kerala authors in the puranic style. Many of them are Mahatmyas glorifying the various temple and holy places of Kerala, and are anonymous, and some of them are supposed to be taken from one or the other of the Puranas.

Kerala Mahatmyam^[1] is a work written in puranic style, dealing with the legends of ancient Kerala history containing more than 2,000 verses in six cantos. It is said to be the part of the Sahyadrikhanda of the Brahmandapurana. It is composed on the model of Sthala-mahatmya and Ksetra-mahatmya produced in Kerala at a later date. The Kerala Mahatmyam composed in the form of a conversation between Garga and Yudhistira purports to be a part of the Brahmandapurana. It deals with many legends beginning with the penance of Bhargava (Parasurama), his creation of Kerala from the sea, the settlement of Brahmins by begining them from various places including the Chola country, their naturalisation as Kerala Brahmin, introductions of customs and manners and available other accounts available in works like Keralolpati. This work portraits important Kshethras, their Mahatmyas and their legends^[2]. The Ksetras like Vathalaya, Swetharanya, Suchindra, Anandasayana, Neeleswara, Mookambika, Durgapuri etc.

As in the case of many other literary works it is of anonymus authorship. No one has yet taken pains to find out the real authorship and date of this work. As the work itself is not reliable as a document of history, historians have not tried seriously to analyse it. The main reason is that it often contains false and unreliable laws about Nairs and other communities laid down by the Namboothiris inorder to satisfy their cast. Naturally scholars and historians have not devoted their attention to finding out the real author and date of the book from a critical point of view.

There is no way to determine the identity of the author of this work. Further it is impossible to determine the exact date of the author of the legendary treatise. But on the basis of the several scattered legendary accounts in the work, we may guess that the author might have been Namboothiri Brahmin of North Kerala who flourished between the 18th & 19th Century AD. With regard to the date of the author there are no clear authentic records.

Historicity of the Kerala Mahatmyam:

Kerala Mahatmyam is filled with legends which deal with the early period of Kerala history. It contains some historical facts also. It gives some incidental informations about Kerala. Legends often are not so reliable as other sources of information. It is often said that though legend is not history, the historians can never afford altogether to neglect the memory of races^[3]. The legends contained in Kerala Mahatmya can be regarded as throwing some light on the early history of Kerala. Historians of Kerala relied, till recently on Kerala Mahatmya and Keralolpatti, in reconstructing the early phase of the history of Kerala. Most historians are of opinion that this work contain not only many Brahmanical legends but also some historical facts.

It is surprising to note that while almost all branches of study are represents in Sanskrit, history as a separate subjects is not treated. None of the scholars of ancient Kerala took pains to compile genuine historical narratives in Sanskrit recording the events and developments of each epoch of history in regular chronological order. However there were several works containing historical accounts. The authors of the works were poets who were under the patronage of various things and therefore they could include in their works only such materials as would be to their patrons. William Logan says that works like Kerala Mahatmya and Keralolpatti are a tarrago of legendary nonsense, having for definite aim the securing to the Brahmin caste unbounded power and influence in the country^[4].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Pub: Palakkad Sekharipuram Sesusastri, Trissur, 1912

[2]:

kṛte kerala bhūbhāge yāni tīrthāni santi hi |
kṣetrāṇi vividhānyadya tāni no veda vistarān ||

[3]:

K.A. Neelakantha Sastri -History of South India, 1958, Madras, P 22

[4]:

William Logan -Malabar manual -1951, Madras Vol. 1 P 283