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A seven -year
study on the ‘Cultural geography and habitat of Nil a river valley’, assisted
by the University Grants Commission (UGC), has found that “Kcrala culture heavily
depended on the Nila river valley culture or the ‘Legacy of Nila””. The just
concluded study, with the main theme, ‘Man and Earth of Kerala’, also calls for
rewriting the existing studies on the ‘Political History of Kerala’. The study
team head, N.M. Namboodiri, told The Hindu that “this
method and approach of study to the discipline ‘history’ had totally changed
the ‘methodology’ of study of Kerala culture basically, and a new
‘methodology’ had been put forward, and tested”. The study points
out that the Nila (Bharathapuzha) valley, a unique river system, was the cradle
of civilisation in Kerala. , For the people
of its basin, this was the very basis of their cultural and historical
heritage. A curious mix of rituals, myth and history once alive on the banks of
this river give one a peep into its hoary past .. , The study said that there
were some pre-historic settle- , ments on its banks and excavations had proved
it. This formed the first layer of tribal settlement. The second layer was the
, Aryan settlement. That was the period of Yaga rituals, with social harmony,
when people of different castes co-existed peacefully. Then came the Brahmin
migration. The people who had uprooted themselves and trekked to Kerala across
the Palakkad Gap settled allover the State. Four such early settlements were
on the banks of the Bharathapuzha.Historians say that there was an interlinking
of the Nila valley and the Kaveri basin and at one end was the Pumpuhar and on
the far end the Ponnani Port. Certain historic studies had proved that there
was clear interlinking of myths of the once culturally alive Cauvery basin and
the rich NUa valley system. The contribution
of this river to the socio-religious, cultural and literary life of Kerala
cannot be under-estimated. On both banks, there are famous temples like
Thirunavaya, Mal1adev at Thiruvilwamala and Mezhathur. It nurtured
Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam literature so profusely that an immense crop of
great literary souls lived on the banks of this river and drew from it their
creative inspiration. The beginning was from Thunchath Acharya, father of
Malayalam language who wrote the’ Adhyatma Ramayanam’ living on the banks of
the NUa at Chittur. Then come Kunchan Nambiar and Poonthanam. After that it
was a glorious line up of distinguished literary souls who stretch up to our
time. Like the economic side of the river, this literary and cultural side also
is a notable feature of Bharathapuzha. The study took
up the rigorous fieldwork methodology as suggested by Herman Gundert in 1850 AD. The area
under study was put to micro enquiries, as it comprised more than 200 revenue
villages. Hence geography, settlement patterns, resources of the villages,
village structure, trade and commerce situations, emergence of exchange
systems, urbanization, etc., were analyzed deeply. Rural, semi-urban, urban
and port areas were identified. It opened the way to understand the village
system of Kerala and the urbanization took place in interior villages, through
ages. Degeneration of
river system The study found
that regional, political and social history had played their parts in the degeneration
process. It happened due to the main physical conditions of the central part of
the river system—the mainland area. That the changes and damages occurred due
to disproportionate activities of the human habitation was a fact. But the
human activities of all embracing nature had brought out a society of
progressive nature. He said that
this major work brought into the limelight the need for more rigorous and exhaustive
study of historical, political and other aspects of Kerala villages to
understand Kerala culture in a more scientific way. The previous works on Port
Geography and Capital city had its thrust area on the river banks of Nila,
because the Zamorins of Calicut ruled over the land spread on both banks of
the river. They depended on the river system and its valley to promote maritime
trade, mainland trade, agricultural profits, etc. Of 32 divisions of ruling
land (chericalsl. more than 20 divisions existed on the Nila river banks
extending from the Ponnani port to Palakkad Gap. (the present districts of
Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur). The study also
revealed tha the degeneration of the rive system was not a current phenomenon.
It had deep roots in the geographical peculiarities of the river valley and the
feudal system, which existed in the area. The degeneration of the river system
had worsened during the last century. The degeneration was visible not only in
the ‘river system’. The ‘unique sys tern of Kerala village and its cultural
forces were being damaged due to the degeneration of the river system. By Our Staff
Reporter PALAKKAD,
APRIL 21.
APRIL 2002 The Hindu Palakkad Regional Page.
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