1.2. The origin of Kerala

The 8th chapter^[1] of Kerala Mahatmyam describes the origin of Kerala is as follows:—

vāridhe śṛṇu vakṣyāmi saṅkaṭaṃ samupāgataṃ
  dānena rājyahīno'haṃ tvatsakāśamihāgataḥ |
tasmāt kutrāpi me sthanaṃ dātavyamaparāṃbudhau
  bhārgavasya vacaḥśrutvā varuṇo hṛṣṭamānasaḥ |
girāmadhurayā rāmamuvāca vinayānvitaṃ
  tvamevāsi jagatpūjyaścāgato'si śivājñayā |
tasmāttavanivāsārthaṃ bhūmiṃ dāsyāmi bhārgava
  paścime payasārāṃśāvasmin bhṛgukulotbhava |
vāmetareṇa hastena paraśuḥ preṣyatāṃ mayi
  sapate ca kiyadda?[Ý]raṃ tāvattvaṃ pālayakṣamāṃ |
evamuktvā mahāteja varuṇena mahātmanā
  gṛhītvā paraśuṃ haste cikṣepākṣatavikramaḥ |
papāta paraśusso'yaṃ gokarṇe paścimāṃbudhau
  daśayojana vistīrṇā śatayojanamāyatā |
āvirāsīttadā bhūmirvāridherudarasthitā
  tasyāścottarasīmānte paraśuṃ kṣetrapālakaṃ |
pratiṣṭhāpya mahātejā āsītpūrṇamanorathaḥ
  jāmadagnesya śirasi nipetuḥ puṣpavṛṣṭayaḥ || (Kerala Mahatmyam 8, Slokas 1-9)

This is an unreliable and obscure document. The legends states that Parasurama was instructed by sages to make amends for the sin of having slain his mother and annihilating the Kshatriyas. As the suggestion of Vishwamitra, Parasurama gave away the land to Brahmins. The Brahmins it is said, in course of time turned him out of the land he then gifted. But with the assistance of God Subrahmanya he obtained some new land by penance from the God of the sea (Varuna). He threw his battle axe from Gokarnam to Kanyakumari to determine the extend of the land. Atonce the sea receded and formed a long stretch of land of hundred yojana length and ten yojana breadth from Gokarnam upto Kanyakumari. He gave the name Kerala to the position of the land newly created. It is called Parasurama Kshethram or Bhargava Ksethram. Siva condescended to be worshiped in Gokarnam; the metropolis of the country thus newly reclaimed from the sea.

Anyway one may hold that Kerala was once under water the land might have been formed from the sea as a result of the operation of volcanic or seismological factors. Reverse might have brought down in their course large quantities of sand on the shore and vast stretch of land might have thus come into existence by the steady accumulation of silt and land. Hence the Parasurama legend throws some light on the Geological and Geographical factors in the formation of Kerala.

The Origin of the name ‘Kerala’

The 9th chapter of Kerala Mahatmya deals with the origin of the name of the Kerala. The name according to the work signifies the receding of water in the sea. ‘Ke’ or ‘Jale’ means in the water ralanāt’ means receding.—jale ralanāt hetoḥ keralam^[2].

This is the first version mentioned in the work another version is that there was a good king named Keralan (the son of Jayantha) and the land was named after him.

ke jale ralanāddhetoḥ keralākhyocitā mune
jayantatanayoyastuḥ keralo nāma vīryavān
teneyaṃ pālitā bhūmirmunīśvaraciraṃ purā
tasmādasyāḥ keralābhyāṃ karomyacyutasannidhau
ityevaṃ nāmakaraṇaṃ vidhāya parameśvaraḥ
  (Kerala Mahatmyam 9, Slokas 8-9)

There are several views regarding the origin of the name. A view is that the word ‘Cheral’ in Tamil meaning the declinity of a hill or a mountain slope gave rise to the name. Another view holds that the words ‘Cheir’ = ‘Sand’ and ‘Alam’ = ‘Region’ formed the compound word ‘Cheralam’ from which ‘Keralam’ was originated. From very early times the name Kerala is met with in Sanskrit literature. According to one view the name has some connection with ‘Kera’ the coconut tree found in plenty in this region. A second view is that the word derived from the Tamil from ‘Cheram’ again meaning the coconut tree. Thus there are different opinions about the origin of the name of the country.

The view propounded by the author of Kerala Mahatmyam supports the leagend of Parasurama’s reclaiming the land from the sea. This explanation is fanciful even if not the correct one. But thus nobody could say a final opinion about the origin of the name.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kerala Mahatmya -P. 22

[2]:

Kerala Mahatmya -P -23