The Stuff Of Legends

Owing to various unanticipated 'hecticities', I have not been blogging much of late. Nevertheless, the last few weeks have been interesting enough with a copy of 'Aitihyamala' having fallen into my hands. This collection (in Malayalam) of legends, myths and life-histories from Kerala has, to my knowledge, not been translated into any other Indian language. Here is a sample.

(Note: This is from the article on 'Chembra Ezhuthassanmar'; the passage below is on a 'padippura' (a usually small building constructed over the gateway to a compound) that 'Makku Ezhuthassan', a once-upon-a-time patriarch of the Chembra family had built).

- "During Makku Ezhuthassan's time, several friends of his and other local luminaries used to frequent the padippura and they would pass time in musical sessions, games of chess and occasionally, displays of magic. Ezhuthassan had also set up a picture of Krishna in one of the rooms; and he would read the scriptures before it everyday - this practice of scripture reading is still being followed there. Over generations of devotion, the picture came to acquire the Lord's 'presence'. Indeed, it is believed that at nights, celestial beings come to pay obeisance to the divine picture. No one stays there overnight and it has been observed that whoever dares to do so gets physically thrown out of the padippura by an unseen hand. To this day, in the quiet of the night, one sometimes hears the sound of music and singing from within the padippura; and this phenomenon occurs more frequently on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays."