4. The Sivavilasa of Damodara Chakyar

The Sivavilasa^[1] of Damodara Chakyar is a semi historical poem containing 505 verses. Although, the poem is called Sivavilasa, the glory of Siva. Its main theme is the story of Unniyati, the daughter of Keralavarma of Odanad or Kayamkulam.

Damodara Chakyar (Cakyar) is a great scholar and learned poet. He belonged to the community of Chakyars, the professional actors of Sanskrit dramas in Kerala. This Chakyar flourished under the patronage of king Kerala varma of Kayamkulam or Odanad. The authorship of a Manipravala Campu Unniyati Carita is also attributed to Damodara. Siva vilasa is a Mahakavya in eight cantos and is one of the best Mahakavya produced in Kerala, composed towards to close of the 14th C. AD.

The heroine Unniyati belongs to the family of actresses and her family name was Carukara (Vatsatira) her mother was Kuttatti. They belonged to the city of Kantiyur. The hero is prince Ramavarman, son of Laksmi and the nephew of king Ramavarma of Perumpatuppu (Cochin). The king of Kayamkulam is described as a Samanta perhaps he might have been a feudatory of the king of Perumpatuppu who is described as the overlord of Kerala.

It gives glimpses of the history of Odanad an ancient prosperous principality and the Perumpatappu Svarupam. The first mention of Kantiyur is seen in a rock inscription at Tirunellur temple at South Arcot^[2]. A new era was started in commemoration of the installation of the God. The Kantiyur Era became out of vague by the rise of the Kollam era^[3]. The kingdom of king Kerala Varman known as Odanad became of the abundance of Odal—a plant there^[4]. In the Mayurasandesa composed by Udaya mention this country as the—iṅgudībhuvibhyāṃ^[5]. Kantiyur, the capital of Odanad is also described in the poem. It is also known as Onattukara and was formerly the part of the early Kulasekhara empire. The capital was then shifted to Eruva in Kayamkulam and then to Krsnapuram and this gradually to status of Kantiyur declined.

The available history of Odanad is closely related to the Kantiyur temple. Unniyati, the heroine of the poem. Sivavilasa described as the daughter of the king Kerala Varma of Odanad who was the nephew of Iravivarma. He is described as the crest-Jewel of the kings of Kerala at that period. Krsnavira, a Brahmin possessing great administrative skill was his minister.

The relation between the kingdom of Odanad and perumpatappu svarupam is also dealt within the poem. The seventh canto of the poem describes the dynasty of Prince Ramavarma as Bahuvyapti the Sanskritisation of Perumpatappu. The Cochin royal family is even now known as Perumpatappu Svarupam. Ramavarma was the ruler of Mahodayapuram during the composition of the poem.

Certain interesting historical details are brought out in the description of the king and the prince of Perumpatappu. Ramavarma ruled over the kingdom of Mahodayapuram the prominent country in the land of Parasurama K. Ramapisharati states that in the first place perumpatappu Muppil was the holding court of Mahodayapuram, modern crangannore and he was them having some sort of all Kerala. Supremacy though the extent of it is not known^[6]. Ullur also holds the same view^[7]. The former wrongly states there “the name of the reigning monarch was Ravivarman, the son of Laksmi and that he had a nephew called Ramavarma who was the Yuvaraja^[8]. But the name of the reigning emperor was Ramavarma and the hero of the poem Ramavarma, the son of Queen Lakshmi was then only the Yuvaraja according to the poem. These two Ramavarman the king and the prince of Perumpatappu family were the contemporaries of the king Vira Kerala Varma of Odanad. He again argues that they are the two Ramavarma mentions as being the first kings of Cochin in the Tenkailanadhodaya of Nilakantan who are together responsible for the shifting of the capital from Mahodayapuram to Kochin^[9]. Sivavilasa give information about the king of Perumpatappu svaroopam staying at Mahodayapuram Prof. Elamkulam is of the opinion that the ruler of eight kingdom that the north of Odanad atleast nominally recognised the paramountacy of Perumpatappu family^[10].

The work written before the shifting of the capital of Kochin from Mahodayapuram. C. Kunhan Raja states that if the poet had given some more information in the poem by describing the assembled kings, that would have been of a great historical value^[11]. Thousands of land lords who came to the city of Kanliyur is mentioned without referring to their names. The perumpatappu Muppil had already been granted by the year 1336 large power in the temple chronicles.

The king of Kayamkulam is referred to as a Samanta in the poem on several occasions. These references are taken to suggest that he was a feudatory of the Perumpatappu kings. Thus the information is of some historical value. But the word Samanta can be derived in a different sense also. The samantas are said to have sprung from the union of Ksatriya males with Nair females^[12].

Though the history of Kerala especially of the Perumpatappu Svaroopam before the advent of the Portuguese is still in obscurity. Sivavilasa gives some important information on it and the king of Odanadu. The poem deserves our attention for the historical value, although no corroborative historical details are given.

As a piece of literature, being on the history of Kayamkulam this poem is of immense value. It gives us a glimpses of the history of Odanad. It reflects the life and manners of the Kerala of the 14th C. AD. The ruling law of inheritance was Marumakkattayam. Sivavilasam is written in a graceful style^[13].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Travancore Sanskrit Series -177, 1956

[2]:

Visvavijnana kosam Vol. III -P 567

[3]:

Ibid

[4]:

Odalanadu -Odanadu Ibid -Vol. III -P. 379

[5]:

Mayurasandesa (Udaya) I -Slokas-57, 58

[6]:

Indian Historical Quarterly -Vol. 14 -P. 506

[7]:

Vinjanadeepika -Vol. 4 -P -38

[8]:

Indian Historical Quarterly -Vol. 14 -P. 606

[9]:

Ibid -P 503

[10]:

Studies in Kerala History -P 159

[11]:

Indian Historical Quarterly -Vol. 14 -P -51

[12]:

Cochin state manual -P 200

[13]:

For more details see—
(a) See Kunhan Raja -Sivavilasa -a semi historical poem -Indian Historical Quarterly 20 -1944, 42 -53
(b) K. Ramapisharati glimpses into the ancient history of Cochin -Indian Historical Quarterly 14, 503 -510
(c) Sivavilasa a study -K. Ramadevi -Uty of Kerala, 1977 (M Phil -Thesis)
(d) Vinjanadeepika -Part IV -Sahityaparishat Traimasikam -III -2 -PP 23 ff; KSLB -P 439; Kerala Sanskrit Literature 198 -200; Kerala Sahitya Caritram, Ullur I -311 -12; Keraleya Samskrita Sahitya Caritram I -305 -7