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There were a series of printing presses and contemporary publications in Muvattupuzha from quite a long time ago and thus Muvattupuzha can be proud of its literary legacy. The first generation of the printers includes CMS Press, Vijayodayam Press, Guruvilasam Press, Imperial Press, Santha Press and Vijaya Press. The Santha Book Depot launched under the proprietorship of Santha Press management
grew as a
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publishing house recognized even at the country level. It was a transit camp for the famous Malayalam writer, P.Keshavadev, on his way from Alwaye to Kottayam. The first periodical published from Muvattupuzha was ‘VinodaKahalam’ printed and published by Velayudhan Pillai of Vijayodayam Press. Its founder editor was Thazhathoothu Parameswaran Pillai who was known as Pathradhipar Parameswaran Pillai(Editor) in his close circles. ‘Vijayatharam’ was another periodical started by ASM Rawther to fight against the injustice and malpractices prevalent in the society. The second generation weeklies and magazines like Karyadarshi, Neethiman, Kalika and Nethanji were short lived. |
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Muvattupuzha was once the center of literary activity of the renowned Malayalam writer and novelist Perumpadavom Sreedharan who published an outstanding literary magazine of that time from Muvattupuzha by name ‘Kalavedi’ in which his famous novel, ‘Abhayam’ appeared. This is indeed a landmark in the literary history of Muvattupuzha. ‘Ammavan’, a comedy magazine published by AKS had good circulation and it lived for long. In spite of all these it is a tragic story that Muvattupuzha which was fertile in literature and publication years past has turned to be barren in the living present.
The people of this area are enlightened. They adore letters. A Taluk Library started functioning here in 1945, the very same year of the formation of Kerala Grandha Sala Sangham (Library Council). That is the central Public Library of our times. The TCM Municipal Library was established in 1962 to commemorate the centenary of Mahakavi Ravindranatha Tagore.
Arts and cultural societies were born here in plenty. Majority of them had to meet with natural death. The Splendour of a renaissance started with the ‘Mela’ Fine Arts Society. Soccer (Football) is a
fascination for the Muvattupuzha people. Santhosh Trophy ‘League contests’ were held here. Now the Municipal council is under sincere efforts to construct a full-fledged stadium.
In the Appreciation and encouragement of art and culture muvattupuzha was second to none. It is the birthplace of ‘Mudiyettu’ , an ancient temple art form. There were Braveli Pandarangal who used to travel house to house singing the songs of god. Pullor Couples used to visit houses praising ‘Nagaraja’. The musical instruments they used were indigenous type of veena and Pullorkudam. ‘Vairavis’ who belonged to Muslim community and who were found only in Muvattupuzha and suburbs used to go even to Hindu houses singing their songs, especially during Onam days. The percussion instrument they use is called ‘Arabana’. Parichamuttu’ and Kalamezhuthu were the traditional forms of arts which the people of muvattupuzha zealously encouraged. The performance of ‘Panar’ or ‘Kuravan, sometimes with ‘Kurathi’ who used to visit the houses during Onam festival days praising Lord Siva in their own style of songs with the help of the instrument ‘Udukku’, most favorite to Lord Ayyappa, was really enchanting especially to the children. They all have disappeared or at least confined to limited areas. Mappilappattu, Margam Kali, Thiruvathira Kali, etc can be seen only in the Youth Festival contests or occasionally in the television screen. Yet the contributions made by muvattupuzha to these traditional and godly art performances cannot be undermined.
Contributions to the temple of literature from Muvattupuzha are substantial. There is a Great Nair Family at North Marady called ‘Valanikkattu’. Many men of letters in the fields of art, culture, politics, administration, medicine, Philosophy etc had come from this traditional family in bygone days. However the most outstanding contribution of Valanikkattu family is Swamy Neelakanta Theerthapadar who was born in the year AD 1872. He was a scholar, Philosopher and ‘VedanthaKesari’, who knows many languages and wrote more than fifty books and numerous articles. He was a scholar of Sanskrit. His books are taught in many foreign Universities, especially in Germany where Sanskrit is a recognized language.
‘Swamy’s style of writing is scholarly and authoritative that even scholars can understand and appreciate it even with the lease hardship and illustrations’, (Remember, scholars are always skeptical) Mahakavi Ulloor wrote in his ‘Sahityacharithram’ (History of Literature). Swamy’s biography prepared jointly by Pannisseri Nanu Pillai and Vardhanathu Krishna Pillai in two volumes containing 1400 pages is an invaluable addition to the biography branch of Malayalam literature. Odattil Kesavamenon who was a lawyer in Muvattupuzha Judicial court was a multi-linguistic scholar. In addition to a number of essays and poems he has presented to ‘Kairali’, three proud books, which are always assets to Malayalam literature – ‘Tippuvum Malayala Rajyavum’, Sthavaratnamala, and Kapodasandesam. Kapodasandesam published about 70 years ago marked the beginning of a new era in the Malayalam poem movement. Drawn by the Charisma of PK Parameswaran Nair, ‘Sahitya panchanan’ Mahakavi G.Sankarakurup and Malayattoor Ramakrishnan reached Muvattupuzha as students and knit stories and poems sitting on the sands of Muvattupuzha River. The well-known educationalist, actor, writer, Kathaprasanga artist, social worker and cultural leader of Kerala,
M.P Manmadhan was a native of Muvattupuzha. He was a film actor too. He who won the literacy award for the biography of Kelappaji still lives through his autobiography ‘Smrithi Darpanam’. A great orator Manmathan was a veteran in the field of Kathaprasanga. Through this art he brought the characters of classical literature, especially the women characters, to the streets, to the layman and workers. D.Sreeman Namboodiri, Vaisakhan, Onakkur George, Payipra Radhakrishnan and a number of literary personalities are there connected with this land. In this bird’s eye
view it is hardly possible to give more details of these. |
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