The
important thing to remember is that this story is based on a strong
oral tradition that persists in the area to this day. This epic is
something like what Homer might have sung, a tale driven by images of
past heroes and heroines whose
exploits and skill sets are bigger than life. The epic is also
imbued with references to gods and goddesses, as well as being
decorated with “magical” details. Nonetheless, The
Legend of Ponnivala
is not a fairytale. This story is a kind of cultural declaration by
the Tamil-speaking people of the Kongu region of their unique
cultural (and historical) identity. It provides a foundation stone
that underlies current practices at many local temples dedicated to
its heroes. Their well-known names are everywhere: celebrated on
tea stall banners and proudly borrowed for use as lorry-truck logos.
This epic’s heroes and heroines are also given new life each year
in annual local festivals of many kinds.
Because
this is an oral tradition it is culturally “fresh.” Though not
at odds with India’s broad and deep literary heritage, the Legend
of Ponnivala does
look at these wider traditions from a different angle. It is a view
from the margins, from the hills, from an upland area that provides a
significantly new perspective on many, many matters. I have
continued to write about and to promote this story for some fifty
years.... because I believe its’ uniqueness matters. Many South
Indians, both living in India and living abroad, are far too quick to
brush off oral tradition as something secondary. Publishers tend to
respond in the same way. If a story has written roots then it must
be honoured and remembered. If not it must be inferior, minor and
insignificant when one is trying to understand or to teach an
“overview.” Some people argue that it is not relevant to one’s
grasp of the “big” picture. I beg to differ. This story, I
feel, can be likened to a Dead Sea Scroll. It is a view from the
margins that truly heightens our core understanding of the broader
cultural tradition it was designed to comment on. As such, I contend
that The Legend of
Ponnivala deserves
much more attention that it has received to date.
There
is one more issue I would like to speak about up front before
proceeding with this Ponnivala blog post series. Many, many people
believe that The
Legend of Ponnivala
is a caste-based story, and that it is designed to heighten the glory
of one group at the expense of several others. I agree that there
are many people in Tamilnadu today who express personal pride because
of their presumed “family” connection to this story. There are
also those who oppose its telling because they feel the same tale
puts their own family ancestors down, insulting them in some way or
other. I believe the people on both sides of this controversy need
to re-examine the tale they think they ”know” so well by looking
deeply at the oral version I recount here. In my view this legend is
not, at its’ core, about caste at all. Rather, it describes very
broad differences in life styles and in various means of production.
Two of those life styles, that of the artisan-trader, and that of the
hunter, are both very, very ancient. The other life style is that of
the ploughing and tank-irrigating farmer who needs to maintain large,
treeless spaces in order to plant and harvest effectively.
That
new plough-and-irrigate way-of-life was imposed on the Kongu area
gradually, by powerful kingdoms lying outside its geographic area.
That social and economic transformation took place gradually but
relentlessly in the Kongu area between the tenth and the twelfth
centuries AD has continued to expand, in spurts, ever since. The
Legend of Ponnivala, in my view, is about that economic
transformation and the local social upheaval it caused. The artisans
have many skills: stonework, metal and iron work, building
construction knowledge, and in addition, they are carpenters and
potters. Nowhere are any of this occupational skills referred to as
groupings having separate marriage circles
or separate eating rules. The hunters, a third important group, are
even less differentiated. Indeed, they are all alike and are
distinguished simply by the fact that they live in the deep forest.
They are fierce fighters one and all!
This
same lack of caste, as a theme, is also clearly seen at temple
festivals for the story heroes in the Kongu area today. Wherever I
have observed crowds listening to a bard-singer of the story there is
no predominance of farmer-landowners in the audience, or indeed of
any other social group. And if I was forced to generalize I would
argue that this story is significantly more popular, at present,
among non-landowning laborers. Those who make an annual pilgrimage
to the key temple to the heroes, located in the hamlet of Virappur,
are notably people from the service communities of the area:
non-Brahman priests, barbers, potters, merchants, weavers and
landless labourers. The powerful and the wealthy families of the
Kongu region have, in general, turned away from this story heritage
towards much more “pan-Indian” kinds of festival celebration. It
is (a selection of) people drawn from the largely powerless social
masses who predictably “remember,” and continue to celebrate,
this area’s ancient oral story heritage.
Signing
off for now,
“Blogger”
Brenda Beck
Have you experienced The Legend of Ponnivala on TV or in print? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
To find out more about The Legend of Ponnivala -- the legend, the series, the books, and the fascinating history behind the project, visit www.ponnivala.com.
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