Thirunizhalmala

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Thirunizhalmala
Aranmula Temple, Pathanamthitta
Writtenc. 13th century
CountryAranmula
LanguageMalayalam
Genre"Pattu" genre

Thirunizhalmala ("Garland of the Sacred Shade" or "Grace"[1]) is a c. 13th century "pattu" genre poem in the Malayalam language.[2][3] Along with "Ramacharitham", it is one of the earliest extant poems in Malayalam.[2] It is generally considered to be a work associated with the Vaishnavite bhakti movement in south India.[4] It is sometimes referred to as "the first religious work in the Malayalam".[1] "Thirunizhalmala" was discovered by the scholar M. M. Purushothaman Nair in 1980.[5][1]

The poem was most probably composed by a high-caste poet (from a certain "Kurumur Palli"), using local meters and Dravidian orthography.[6][7] It is assumed that the work predates the famous "Ramacharitham" by around a century.[8] The manuscript of the poem was discovered in northern Kerala.[4] The central theme of the poem is the description of the ritual life of the Aranmula Temple in Pathanamthitta.[9] The main rites described are the ancient rituals of the Malayar or Malayan community, performed to remove the various impurities of the gods.[8][4] It also describes the temple and its surroundings, the families of the temple-villages' owners, and the protecting soldiery.[4]

"Thirunizhalmala" is linked to the north Kerala art form Theyyam and the community of its performers.[10] The poem contains the earliest instance in Malayalam of the legend of Parasurama "founding" Kerala and establishing the sixty-four Brahmin settlements.[6] It also mentions the medieval Tamil poet Kamban.[6]

Modern editions of "Thirunizhalmala" have been published by M. M. Purushothaman Nair (1981 and 2016) and R. C. Karippath (2006)[10]

References

  1. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literature of Hinduism in Malayalam". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 0-631-21535-2.
  2. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 444 and 449.
  3. Nair, Purushothaman, ed. (1981). Thirunizhal Mala: Prachina Bhashakavyam. Kottayam: Current Books. pp. 35–36.
  4. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 460–62.
  5. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. p. 458.
  6. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 458–59.
  7. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. p. 460.
  8. Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 458–60.
  9. Leelavathy, M. (1996). Malyalakavithasahithya Charithram. Trichur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi. pp. 26–30.
  10. Galewicz, Cezary (2021). "Editorship and History Making: On Historicizing Modern Editions of Tiruniḻalmāla". Cracow Indological Studies. 23 (1): 9–10. doi:10.12797/cis.23.2021.01.01. ISSN 2449-8696.