WHAT IS THE GODDESS CREATING?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip shows the goddess Parvati in the act of creation. The question as stated is easily answered. She creates nine adult men and tells them they have been “placed” in an uncultivated area. Then she tells the nine: “I want you to establish strong farmer families that will expand and flourish.” In her command Parvati makes no mention of human activities, other than the farming these men are expected to do. There is no reference to the possibility that there might already be other humans who pre-date these farmers’ arrival. The general mandate Parvati gives the nine men is very clear. They are to start families that will become strong. By implication these nine are to flourish, produce offspring and come to dominate the area where they stand, despite all hardships they may face. Those are the marching orders given to these men by their creatrix. In return the men bow respectfully and accept their instructions. Of course, they have no choice. This is why they were created and why they are who they are.

The creation event, initiated by the great goddess, makes a nice “origin myth” for the farmers. Some story devotees like to use it in this way. They insist that their ancestors were born by the hand of the goddess herself and that their occupation was been given legitimacy by her. In sum, they argue that their plough-based farming practices were once divinely mandated and that their inspiration flows from Her. That is not surprising. What is interesting that the artisans, who we will learn more about presently, are not given a parallel creation myth in the Ponnivala story. It would seem that they have simply existed on the land forever. The same is true of the forest hunters who first appear much later in this epic tale. Both these pre-existent occupational groupings are somehow “natural” components of the area’s make-up. It is very apparent from the start of the story, therefore, that these “original” nine farmers created by the goddess will become the heroes of this epic. The story will be told from their perspective.

How the goddess creates these nine farmers is also of interest. She uses a natural whirlwind, a kind of cyclone. Its vortex comes to rest at the base of an old Ganesh temple. Ganesh is the god (a son of Parvati and Siva) who is responsible for all “beginnings.” It is very appropriate, therefore, that the lives of these nine farmers take form at his feet and (undoubtedly) receive his blessing. But it is also reasonable to ask who built this Ganesh temple? Where did it come from? If there are no other people living in this area who care for it, then why is there? Look carefully and you will see that this statue has a fresh garland placed on it. Furthermore, look at the last forest scene in this clip. It shows up at the end of this excerpt, just after the goddess speaks. Look at the background. Through the trees you will see that there is a small settlement. Again we are given a visual clue (rather than a verbal one) that there are other humans already living on this land. From later events we can presume that this little settlement in the forest belongs to a group of artisans. And finally, note the presence of a river just behind the temple. This is undoubtedly a tributary stream that flows into the great river Kaveri. It is fitting that a group of artisan-traders would live near a river, a natural path along which a trade route likely lies. This is how these families would find customers for their “manufactured goods,” things like knives, spears, stone carvings, jewelled necklaces and cart wheels. It is also appropriate that the farmers so central to this story are “born” right there, on this riverbank. This water course is something that they will likely later need to harness. They will be able to use this stream, and others like it, to properly and reliably irrigate their well-ploughed fields filled with new types of crops like sugarcane and rice, that will likely be water-hungry.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 5 ==>

<== Read Part 3

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.

WHAT DO THESE GODS NOT NOTICE AS THEY LOOK DOWN?

The first two instalments of this blog about the Legend of Ponnivala story were long and somewhat scholarly essays. They were intended to provide a foundation for what lies ahead. They may not interest many readers. From now on I will focus on particular scenes in this story and also try to be briefer and more colloquial in my style. I hope many readers will find my comments interesting

This opening scene of The Legend of Ponnivala story is important for what is NOT seen by the great gods Siva and Parvati as they look down at the earth. Siva starts the conversation by saying “Look at that beautiful forest down there.” Then Parvati responds to his comment. Her words lay out a key concept that will set the entire story in motion. I must quote her in full:

“Yes, but I do not see any ploughed fields. There are no crops being grown. I want to see this beautiful area become bountiful. I want to see the land cleared and filled with lush crops. I want to create nine farmer brothers who know how to use a plough. Let them till the sweet earth so that in every season the fields will be green and lush and the storerooms and warehouses of the area can be refilled with fine produce.”

It is this key Hindu goddess Parvati whose vision initiates a shift in land usage in this area, a transformation I have already mentioned as very important to this story (in my earlier Blog post #2). Parvati speaks from the perspective of a powerful ruler, someone interested in stimulating the production of crops that can fill numerous warehouses and storerooms. The landscape this goddess wants to see is commercial, at least in the sense that it should be able to feed many. Its bounty should be so great (so lush) that the resulting harvest can easily be shared (having an excess that can be skimmed off). That excess will (though not explicitly expressed as such by the goddess) then be ready for tribute payments, tax-style transfers deliverable to powerful overlords. They, in turn, will be able to use this new income to support temple construction, armies, road building and much more. In sum, the amenities available as the result of creating an advanced, plough-and-irrigate economy will, in its’ turn, create an opportunity for an increase in social power and also an expansion of hierarchical relationships. It is not surprising that a divinity whose name stands to benefit from increased temple building activity, would express support for this kind of ecological shift. She is speaking about a landscape-wide change. We will see, in a future post, how she also (subsequently) advises her newly-created farmer-devotees to undertake regular temple-focused activities.

But I have not yet clarified what the goddess Parvati DID NOT SEE when she initially looked down at the earth. Although we do not know exactly which forest Siva and Parvati were gazing at, the area they see from above is obviously local to the story, somewhere along the great Kaveri river. What we do learn, a little later, is that this area is not without proud human residents already. Very near where the goddess wants to create plough-wielding farmers we learn that there are already resident artisans. Furthermore, these men clearly have a number of skills, although using ploughs in a landscape-wide way is likely not one of them. These men know about fine metalworking, stone carving and carpentry, at the very minimum. They are certainly not primitive beings. Parvati is about to do something that will quite naturally instigate rivalries and disputes between any f newly arrived farmers and these better established ancient local residents. Therefofre,in a very real sense Parvati can be seen as the instigator who is responsible for the extended human strife that will soon ensue. Why couldn’t Siva, Parvati’s husband, be the one to come up with the idea of creating human farmers who do their work with ploughs? Likely because it is traditionally the Hindu goddesses, not their brothers or husbands, who express the deepest interest in human families and also in ecological matters. Furthermore, the goddesses are usually the ones to “stir up” village trouble, especially problems like disease, drought and famine. This happens, in particular, when they are not worshipped regularly. Siva, by contrast, is more interested in grand, cosmic-scale matters. As already stated earlier, then, the Ponnivala story does not run counter to much that already been written about Hindu beliefs. However, but it does throw fresh light on many specific traditions and cultural issues that lie underneath the broad umbrella of that larger socio-religious system.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 4 ==>

<== Read Part 2

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.

WHO IS SINGING THIS STORY?

This second instalment of my new blog also features a pretty straight forward question. Who sings the Ponnivala story? But the topic is important for those who do not know the origins of this legend already. This is a traditional oral epic with no written version that is anything like as extensive as is the full epic I tape recorded over 44 hours during a live set of village performances in 1965. There were two bards involved, one a senior singer of sixty plus years and the other an experienced assistant, about forty five years of age, who also knew the story well. The performance lasted for roughly two and a half hours a night for a full eighteen nights!

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

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

Read Part 3 ==>

<== Read Part 1

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.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THIS?

I am about to start a new blog featuring themes and insights I have culled from working with The Legend of Ponnivala Video series. This set of short essays will cover everything about the story I find interesting, starting with its ecology and extending to issues of social justice, shifting technologies, economic rivalries, local politics, power relationships, recorded history, geography and even touching on the roles of various gods and goddesses whose concerns intertwine with this story. I will start by giving blog readers access, one blog post at a time, to a sequence of thirty short video clips. Each will be one minute or less in duration and all have been drawn directly from (just) Episode One of the Legend of Ponnivala animated series. If (and only if) MY BLOG FOLLOWERS express enough interest, I promise to extend this commentary further by referencing additional excepts. I can easily draw on hundreds of these which lie scattered through the story’s remaining twenty five episodes. PLEASE VOLUNTEER YOUR THOUGHTS! The more discussion generated the more likely that I will carry this initiative forward and decide to discuss the later episodes of this great legend, as well!

My plan is to initiate each clip discussion with a simple question. The first question is a rather obvious one: Where does the story take place? Ponnivala’s epic tale comes from an interior area of the state of Tamilnadu, India. The action takes place near the banks of the Kaveri River, an upland area known as the Kongu region which the story’s singers like to call “Ponnivala-nadu.” Ponni is a poetic Tamil term used to describe this great watercourse by referencing one of the words for “gold.” In deference to these local poets I long ago decided to name my animated version of this story “The Legend of Ponnivala.” That name represents my personal effort to capture the many images present in the bards’ songs, refrains they have embedded in this tale’s traditional musical telling. The term Ponnivala is mainly embedded in story poems that use “The Land of The Golden River” as their core theme.

This is a story from medieval times. All the events described occur before the arrival of British Raj. Do not be surprised, therefore, that no foreigners are described in this story, even through it is “epic” in its basic breadth. Furthermore, although this legend features just three generations of one powerful local family the heroic adventures described appear to span about six centuries of actual history. Judging from scattered clues, little details embedded here-and-there within the tale, this story describes the period roughly lying between 1,000 and 1,600 AD.

From the scene shown in the first “still” (which is drawn from a repeated opening sequence seen before each episode starts) the tale’s location appears to be rather “idyllic.” But remember, this legend takes place in an upland area, at a time when this region had not yet been colonized by plough-using farmers. Wild animals were plentiful and pollution was not an issue. The mountains in the background are still there. The Kongu region is ringed on all sides by high hills and is basically a large and fertile “hanging” plain fed by a great river that flows southward out of the mountains of Southern Karnataka. Furthermore, the river Kaveri is still beautiful (in spots), even today. And this river still serves as a source of life for all who live along its moist and fertile banks. As The Legend of Ponnivala unfolds you will discover that (at its core) it is a tale about how this picture of an Indian “Eden” slowly changes. We will soon see large-scale irrigation-tank farming methods taking over and beginning to dominate the area’s earlier, more pastoral life style. Though this transformation happens slowly, it is relentless. Furthermore, that change clearly accompanies a gradual, but steady shift in the political and economic significance of this (once remote) “Kongu” area.

Signing off for now,

“Blogger” Brenda Beck

The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada

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.