1.2. The Samanvaya by Krishnachandra

The Samanvaya [Samanvayam] a play in six acts. This play is the ‘dramatisation of the story entitled ‘Kulameri’ which means the family prosperity. The alliance between the Namputiris and Nayars of Kerala brought about by the inter-caste marriage was a progressive feature of the Kerala Society. The drama contains some details which are only hinted at in the original story. For instance the role of the Astrologer is drawn more vividly in the Sanskrit version. In all other respects there is no change from the original. The characters in the drama and their counterparts in the story are as follows.

Brahmadatta — Madhurappalli Acchan Nampi
Bhavadasa — Manakkulam
Sivadatta — Sivadattan Nampi
Panakara — Natuvazhi Panicker
Nalini — Unnikkutti
Daksi — Kunjamma
Srikumara — Vatakkan Valattu Nampi

Manava the father of Nalini and the commander of the Raksapurusas is mentioned in the original story ‘Srikaryapurayoga means the assembly conducted at the Trkkariyoor temple in Kerala which in ancient times had a glorious tradition as the centre of cultural activities.

Assemblies of Temples

In ancient times the Brahmins of Kerala used to assemble in the precincts of temples to discuss social and cultural aspects of their life. The first act of this play mention such an assembly help at Srikaryapura (Trkkariyoor) in Kerala. The assembly in question gave permission to Brahmins to marry, Nayar ladies if they so desire.

Snataka Brahmins

The Namputiri Brahmins brought to Kerala by sage Parasurama had evolved several customs to restrict their population and to preserve their wealth. Accordingly they decided that only the senior son of a family shall marry from his own caste. Others should observe celibacy and engage themselves in the propagation of vedic lore by imparting instructions to youngsters. They were also authorised to perform temple rituals. Such Brahmins were called Snataka Brahmins. Snatakas gradually began to indulge in illicit relationship with local girls and this posed a big social problem. Hence it was decided in later times that they may marry Nayar ladies without looking their status. The story of this play is centred round this important social change that brought two powerful communities into close relationship.

Matuladayadavyavastha

The second act of this play contains a reference to this, system. According to this, the niece of the family inherits the property and wealth. This is called the matrilineal mode of inheritance^[1]. Till very recently the Nayar community of Kerala observed this system. Komala, the niece of Karmala and Kalyani the niece of Srikantha in the play represent the system.

Khaluri / Kalari

In this play there are reference to Khaluris or Kalaris of Kerala. They stand for the fencing schools having 42 feet in length. In some schools there is a presiding deity also. Traditionally there were 108 such schools in ancient Kerala spread over the 18 prominent regions. These schools belonged to six traditional groups, one of them being Dronampalli tracing their origin from the great Dronacarya of Mahabharata. Even women were sometimes given training in these institution.

Astamangalya-prasna

In the third and fourth acts of this play an astrologer is asked to perform this astrological calculation. For this eight auspicious thing have to be provided. The astrologer draws the diagrams and calculates the signs in the presence of these auspicious materials^[2]. This astrological calculation is made to find out the reasons for the difficulties faced by a family.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

In the Musakavamsa of Atula is said that the custom began to from the 10th century

[2]:

kuravaṃ darpaṇaṃ dīpaṃ kalaśaṃ vastramakṣatam |
aṅganāhemasaṃyuktamaṣṭamāṅgalyalakṣaṇam ||