Ghoshayatra – Kunchan Nambiar

 

Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770) was a great satirist, performer and the inventor of Thullal, an indigenous performance art form of Kerala. Nambiar is believed to have devised the ‘Thullal’ form overnight to avenge a ‘Chakkiar’ who ridiculed him for falling asleep at the ‘Mizhava’ (a percussion instrument)during the performance of ‘Koothu’. Nambiar designed ‘Thullal’ borrowing elements from Padayni, Kolam Thullal and other folk arts. ‘Thullal’ songs are sung in the accompaniment to the performance. The stories adapted from the puranas and other classics are retold in rhythmic verse in ‘dravida’ meters. Nambiar composed songs for all three kinds of Thullal named Ottan Thullal, Sithankan Thullal and Parayan Thullal. The simple Malayalam he used, gave elegance and appeal. As his hilarious poems are filled with wisdom and rare insights, they are used as proverbs. He used to ridicule the follies and foibles of the then contemporary society, through his songs.

In ‘Ghoshayatra’, Nambiar takes an event from ‘Mahabharatha’. Padavas are sent into an exile of thirteen years and an additional year to be spent in disguise as per a bet in a gamble that they lost to Kauravas. Kaurava king Duryodhana sends a person to gather information about Pandavas, who are in Dwaithavanam. In the first part of the poem the messenger who has come back, says that as Pandavas are adorned with the blessings of the Gurus, they live peacefully with the sages in the Dwaithavanam. As they are at the feet of the God, the enemy of the Hell, Duryodana’s betrayal hasn’t touched them. This makes Duryodhana angry and in the second part he says that the messenger eats his food with Duryodhana and sides with his enemies, Pandavas. So, he should go and join Pandavas and eats the berries and fruits of the forest. According to Duryodhana enimies are better than friends who are kind to and support the enimies.

‘Gosha’ of the title refers to pastures where cattle and cattle herders live together. Dwaithavanam has many Goshas where Pandavas live in exile. The poem doesn’t simply narrate an event from the epic. It superimposes the cultural and social scenario of the 18th century Kerala and satirises both. Duryodhana is cast as a local king in Kerala with ‘Nair Pattalam’. He satirises ‘Nair Pattalam’ of the Kerala rulers as they eat a lot, spend time with their wives and generally laze around. Thus through this incident Nambiar ridicules both the soldiers who are not loyal to the king and the king who feed these soldiers who support his enemies.

----Thulasidharan V