Thunchan Memorial: A place to know the Father of Malayalam language

 

The beautiful language of Malayalam that one speaks today has been present for centuries but the usage of proper words & letters that one finds quite simple today is the work of Thunjathu Ramanajun Ezhuthachan who is said to be the Father of Malayalam language. The place that helps one remember this revered poet & simple human being is at the Thunjan Memorial at Tirur.

Established in the year 1964 it is a place close to where the man himself is said to have lived. For centuries after the death of Ezhuthachan this place was in neglect & it was only in the year 1901 upon the insistence of Zamorin crown prince who first had the idea to have a memorial for the Malayalam poet that discussions were made. This idea to become a reality took many more years as the land had to be acquired from donations which were hard to come. Finally the foundation stone was laid in the year 1961. The government also formed a committee to look after the development of the memorial & eminent literary personalities like SK Pottekkatt & MT Vasudevan have graced the memorial administration with their intellect in making this place an important place for art, literature, history & language research.  The Thirukadaiyur temple close to the memorial is a place for all to visit. Here at the memorial one can find the Malayalam language museum, children’s library, the Saraswati mandapam, the Thunchan mandapam, the parrot statue, the palm leaf library which also includes the personal library of Mahakavi Ulloor. The memorial is also a research centre of the University of Calicut to study Malayalam.

Not much is known of Thunchan Ezhuthachan's early life, his birth, parents or childhood as these were not documented. It is also quite surprising that an exact picture of the poet is unavailable & only vague sketches or portraits are available to understand the man himself. It is quite possible that he lived in the 16th century as per an old decree & stories associated with other eminent writers. The caste of Ezhuthachan is also not certain; some consider him to be from the Shudra community while some consider him from the Nair family. The name is also a topic of debate as Thunchan is taken from the place where he was born & Ezhuthachan as per Malayalam is a person who writes letters so it could be a title given to him, so one does not what his parents would have named him. What one knows though is that as a child he was a boy with uncommon intelligence & travelled to different parts of south India where he is said to have learnt Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit & other Dravidian languages. He was not from a Brahmin family and learning these languages in erstwhile Kerala society would be difficult with the strict caste barriers so his travel to other parts of the land helped in gaining the knowledge in other languages.

Though he is considered to be the Father of Malayalam language his main contributions are the mainstreaming of the alphabets from the traditional vattezhuthu & using words free of Sanskrit versus. His way of literature was to make the Vedas, Upanishads, epics easy to understand for all by making it simple. The most unique composition is the Ramayana from his vision where he depicts Rama as not just an ideal God but also an ideal man. His Sri Mahabharata is also a way of making one understand the literal story of the Pandavas & omits all the stories that are irrelevant to the Pandavas which makes the epic much concise for all to read. Apart from the literary prowess of Ezhuthachan one also associates him with the Bhakti Movement which was happening in the late 15th century where a collective opposition to Brahminical excesses over the lower caste was creating a rift in society. He advocated the importance of learning for all & not just a certain class. Historians’ also consider Ezhuthachan as the author of the famed Keralolpathi which describes the origin of the land of Kerala based on stories related to Parasurama & the departure of Cheraman Perumal to Mecca handing over the rule of the land to his descendants. It is also believed that Ezhuthachan was asked for advice by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri to start his famed work – Narayaneeyam. Ezhuthacchan adopted a genre of poetry called Kilippattu (parrots narration) which is a beautiful way to sing the Vedas & stories. The Parrot statue one sees at the Thunchan memorial is a symbolic representation of the genre liked by Ezhuthachan. 

During his early years in Tamil Nadu, Ezhuthachan was attracted to the small village Chittoor in Palakkad where he is said to have settled later in his life. The place now is called Chittur Gurumadom & he built his hermitage by the name Ramananda Ashram here. The place is adorned by temples of Lord Shiva & Sri Rama, the place is also housed by all sects including Brahmins & Shudras. His disciples & followers settled in the agraharas near the Gurumadom & it is said that Ezhuthachan attained Samadhi in Chittur Gurumadom.

It is said that Ezhuthachan presided over an open air school under the Kanjiramaram which still stands at the place & is well preserved. The leaves are said to have a sweet taste & they go back centuries to the time of the revered poet himself. Today the sands under the tree invite all to write the first letters of Malayalam. Apart from the Kanjiramaran, another treasured exhibit is the Ezhuthani (iron stylus) which was used by Ezhuthachan to write on the palm leaves. This place also became the place for all to come & start their language journey during Vidyarambham festival. The Thunchan Memorial in many ways is the place where every person who loves Kerala should start his or her journey as this is the place which tells one how the culture of Kerala came about. The beautiful language used by people has a person to thank, to make it accessible for all & his contributions should never be forgotten, and Ezhuthachan still lives on here.