SUMMARY OF THE BOOK KALARIYAVIRAI

NOTE ON A NEW BOOK ABOUT KALARIYAVIRAI The recently published Malayalam book is a compilation of information on the lost Tamil Sangham-era text Kalariyavirai. Kalariyavirai - A Collection of Fragments, Or the Antiquity and Diversity of Kalarividya (A Compendium of information: Part One) Compiled by: P K Sasidharan ............. Malayalam title: Kalariyavirai Palasakalangal Adhava Kalarividyayude Palamayum Payamayum (Vivarakosham - Onnam Bhagam) ............... Kalariyavirai is one of the first Tamil Sangham texts, which is considered to have been lost. The present book on Kalariyavirai, which is a compilation of information gathered from various sources, suggests the continued existence of the perceived lost book. ‘Kalariyavirai’ is an archaic Tamil word, which literally corresponds to ‘kalarividya’ that still prevails in the present Malayalam. When we talk about the survival or recovery of Kalariyavirai, we do not mean to suggest that its contents are available somewhere in physical form, partially or otherwise. Instead, it points to the plausibility of identifying the existence of Kalariyavirai as a complex of various forms of knowledge practices that are signified by the existence of a wider category of 'kalari' or 'kalarividya', in the regions of present Kerala, Tamilnadu, and Karnataka. On the basis of the linguistic affinity between the words 'kalariyavirai' and 'kalarividya', along with evidences drawn from the corresponding socio-cultural and health care practices that prevail in Kerala and South India, this compilation (of which only the first part has been published now) tries to advance the argument that the Sangham work Kalariyavirai could be taken as having survived into present times in the non-textualised codified form of knowledge practices known as 'murai'. There are instances in the Tamil literary tradition where the notions such as science, knowledge, technique, skill, wisdom, etc., are signified by such terms as 'murai', 'virai', ‘vithai’, 'nool', and ‘kol’; apart from their other connotations. And some of their variant usages are seen to have continued to exist in Malayalam too. The name Kalariyavirai has been mentioned (along with other three books belonging to the first Sangham) in Tamil literary history writings, particularly in Nakeeran’s commentary on Irayanar Akapporul (9th CE), a pazhampattu or an ancient Tamil song narrating the legend of Muchangam, or the Three Sanghams, the three legendary scholarly confluences of ancient Tamil culture. Later historians referred to these four texts as being irrecoverably lost, and consequently, no serious explorations have been undertaken to ascertain the nature or content of Kalariyavirai. However, Melangathu Narayanan Kutty, the author of Sangha Sahitya Charitram (2003), an acclaimed history of Tamil Sanghams written in Malayalam, has made some brief observations on the contents of this lost work. Citing some traditional scholars’ writings, he has observed that the subject matter of Kalariyavirai is Dravidian Medical Science. One of the considerations was the linguistic fact that the word ‘kalariyavirai’ is a synonym for a medicinal herb called 'Chennamakki'. Similarly, a Siddhavaidya practitioner of Kanyakumari district in Tamilnadu has also testified that the word kalariyavirai still signifies another medicinal seed called 'kalanchikkottai vithai'. The Sangham poems like Akananuru, Purananuru also contain the word kalariyavirai, signifying shrubs, trees, forest, wasteland, etc. Besides these, both Malayalam and Tamil languages contain innumerable expressions related to the word Kalari. And the kalarividya tradition represents numerous kinds of health care and self-defence practices, which continues to thrive to this day. Dwelling heavily on the above matters and factors, the present compendium of information on kalariyavirai has attempted to draw its correlations with wide ranging sociocultural conditions, besides the technical aspects related to health care, self-defence and other physical culture practices. It has also tried to transcend the limitations of the prevailing historiographical methodology, which undermines such socio-cultural aspects, often limiting themselves to royal edicts and inscriptions. Consequently, a reductive historical awareness, according to which the kalari tradition is exclusively about warfare, has been perpetuated over time. Of late, the tradition has been promoted mainly as a folk-art performance to glorify the heroism of the bygone past. Based on comprehensive research work on community knowledge practices related to the traditional health care and healing practices in Kerala and Tamilnadu, the present compendium has gathered information from varied sources that could serve as direct and indirect testimonials for the wide-ranging knowledge basis of the kalariyavirai tradition. pksasidharan4@gmail.com 9447262817