QUES ANSW DIVINE 02-2022-13 Dear friends,
These are information compiledas QA by me in 1998’s-2004’s and stored in my computer from Nampoothiri.com. BEING COMPILATION THERE MAY BE ERRORS. Sincerely, R. Gopalakrishnan, 78, dated 14-02-2022 Q1 What is the leaneage ofPakkanar? A1 Families of Paakkanaar lineage live in this colonyin 18 houses in Pakkanar colony near Tirthala. The storygoes that it was Paakkanar who actually made a "Thampraakkal" out of"Aazhvaancheri Thampraakkal", who is considered as the head of theNamboothiris of the region. Q2 What is the Rajakan story-Vararuchi’s son? A2 Rajakan: It was awasherman living along the river Nila whofound and raised another child abandoned along the river bank by Vararuchi. Sincehis five children were girls, the washerman was happy to raise the boy as theirown, and was named Rajakan. Rajakaninstituted a religious learning centre (Vydikavidyaalayam) at Kadavalloor whichlater became the prime venue of the Vedic testing process Q3 What is the Naranathu Branthanstory- Vararuchi’s son? A3 NarayanamangalathuMana. This is the illam to which the crazy boy, one ofthe new-borns left behind by Vararuchi, was taken and raised, and who laterbecame the famous "Naaraanathu Bhraanthan" (The mad man of Naaraanath). NaaraanathBhraanthan's craziness was well told through stories of his living in cremationground, and rolling of rocks up and down the hill. Naaraanath Bhraanthanwas so intelligent and courageous thathe performed the Upanayanam of a mad boy of a mad member of Kalpuzha Mana,during midnight the most auspicious time he found during that year for thatboy. Themad boy later became a perfect gentleman and did many wonders.One can see the temple built and deified byNaaraanath Bhraanthan on the top of the hill at Raayiranellur near Koppam, inthe western border of Palakkad district. Though raised as aBrahmanan, Naaraanath Bhraanthan did not follow the rites andrituals of Namboothiris, which is perhaps why he was considered as "Elayathu" (A semi-Brahmanan caste). Q4 What is the Karaikkalmatha story- Vararuchi’s only daughter? Q4 Kaarakkal Maatha: It is said that Kavalappara Swaroopam, who observes"pula" with Mezhathol Agnihothri, owes ancestry to Kaarakkal Maatha, the only girl in the Pantheerukulam. Q5 What is the Akavoor chathan story- Vararuchi’s son? A5 Akavoor Chaathan: Chaathan was the manager of Akavoor Mana, locatedat Vellarappilly, near Aluva, on the bank of the river Periyar. He is the"Vysyan" in the Pantheerukulam. Vararuchi,during the pilgrimage along the Periyar had abandoned the boy there. The"Cheruman" (a low caste) who found the child named it Chaathan(typical of that caste) but entrusted it with an "Ambalavaasi" (one who servesin temples), but Chaathan family ended up in Akavoor Mana - so goes the story. Q6 What is the Vaduthala nairstory- Vararuchi’s son? A6 . Vaduthala Nair: Vaduthala Nair, the "Soodra" ofPantheerukulam belongs to the present Kundooly Nair family of Mezhathur, nearThrithala. It wasthis family who took and raised the infant left behind by the Vararuchi couplewhile on the pilgrimage along the river Nila banks. Vaduthala Nair was an expert in martial arts. Q7 What is the Vallon story-Vararuchi’s son? A7 Vallon: It is saidthat the Vallon of Pantheerukulam is actually the very renowned "Thiruvalluvar" who composed the Dravida Vedam. Vallonbelongs to the higher sect among Paraya caste (a low caste) in Tamil Nadu. Q8 What is the Uppukottan story- Vararuchi’s son? A8 . Uppukottan: Uppukottan, who was raised as a Muslim, was born inPonnani at the mouth of the Nila river. He was a crazy trader, mainly in saltand cotton, who used to bringsalt, which is so common in Ponnani, from Palakkad, and take cotton toPalakkad, which is common there. Q9 What is the Pananar story-Vararuchi’s son? A9 . Paananaar: Paananaar belonged to Thiruvarangu. It isbelieved that the Paanar of Kerala owe ancestry to this Paananaar . Paananaaris referred to in the famous Tamil grammar text (Vyakarana Grantham)"Tholkkaappiyam", the Sankara period treatises"Akanaanooru", "Pathittupathu", etc., and in the northernballads (Vatakkan Paattukal). Q10 What is the Perunthachanstory- Vararuchi’s son? A10. Perumthachan: The head carpenter of Uliyannoor found and raisedone boy and made him "Perumthachan". Temples designed andbuilt by this genius of a carpenter can be seen all over Kerala. The Viswakarma (builder) of these wonderful edictsis claimed to be the ancestor of the Perumthachan carpenter family ofUliyannoor. Q11 What is the vayillakunnnilappan story- Vararuchi’s son? A11Vaayillaakkunnilappan: This is the only oneamong the Pantheerukulam without progeny. Vararuchiconsecrated (deified) alive one of his sons on the top of a hill inKadampazhipuram, in today's Palakkad district. It is believed that this deity ofsilence is actually the lord of sound and ability to talk. Q12 Do Mezhathol Agnihothri was asocial revolutionary? A12 The place ofMezhathol Agnihothri as a social revolutionary is quite unmatched. Thisgreat rejuvenator of the Yagna (Yaagam) culture was also instrumental in eliminatingchild-marriage, and in the amicable integrationof the Saiva (Sankaran) and Vaishnava (Narayanan) schools, a uniqueventure among Braahmanans in India. Kerala has many Sankaranarayana temples. Q13 Do Bhattathiries areNampoothiries or any other community?What is pattathanam? A13 Bhattathiries are nampoothiries only. Some families among the Namboothiri communitybecame Bhattathiris in one of the following three ways: Saasthra Bhattathiris(Meemaamsa Bhattathiris): The primary mission inlife of Namboothiris used to be the acquisition of knowledge and its wiseapplication. Saasthra Bhattathiris pursued this mission as well as teaching andspecialising in Sanskrit, Vedam, Linguistics, Astronomy, Astrology,Architecture, Meemaamsa, Tharkam (logic) and so on. The Tali temple in Calicut was thevenue of these debates History saysthat Saamoothiris started organising Pattathaanams to expiate certain sins theycommitted in the past. Pattathaanam helped topromote the image of Samoothiris by encouraging the scholars and poets. Saamoothiris wanted to see the spread of knowledge in theirprincipalities. Pattathaanams were held regurlary till Tippu Sulthan's invasionof Malabar. But the last Pattathaanamwas held in 1110 ME (1934 AD). ChennasNamboodiripad, Kakkassery Bhattathiri, six Payyur Bhattathiris and UddandaSaastrikal were prominent among them. The factthat even Melpathoor Bhattathiri, an exponent in Grammer, Poetry and Philosophy(Vedaantham) failed six times on this stage and thereby missed the purse andposition, shows how high the standard of this assembly was. Holdingof Pattathaanams and selecting the scholars were the responsibility of membersof Kudalloor Mana. Kudalloor Mana got this status due to the excellentperformance of its members in Pattathaanam These families got"Bhatta" titles from the Samoothiris of Kozhikode after passing various examinations conducted duringthe famous "Pattathaanam they continue to use Nambudiripad as surname. Smaartha Bhattathiris:In olden days, certain families specialised in conducting trials and bringingout the evidences from the mouth of the culprit, if a Namboothiri(man or woman) committed sins in social life. The job was almost like that of theprersent-day judge. Theking or an equally responsible person pronounced the judgement, based on theevidences collected and presented by these experts. Smaartha Vichaaram",and the expert conducting it was called Smaarthan or Smaartha Bhattathiri Someof these families are now known as Bhattathiripad due to respect 3. BhaagavathaBhattathiri:Pecialisation in oratory and recitation of"Puraanams" (epics) like Bhaagavatham was also considered a greatachievement among Namboothiris.Thus, ordinary people gave them"Bhattathiri" title. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/86832752.839421.1644798800861%40mail.yahoo.com.
