Ezhuthachan

November 2, 2008

Dear All,

I found a good blog post on Ezhuthachan at: http://krspalakkad.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!894FC8FB47A0271F!1356.entry It is very informative. Love and regards,Sreenadh===========================EzhuthachanIt

is well known that Ezhuthachan was the name used to denote teachers and

learned people in olden days. (Ezhuthamma - female counterpart.) People

who performed Shaktheya puja were also called by the same name.

Teachers of all castes were not called so. Eg. - Pisharody, Warrier, etc, who were teachers, were not called Ezhuthachans.

Ezhuthachans used to copy important grandhas also, in the thaliyola. We can see their names in the end of the old thaliyolas or grandhas. The castes of many of these teachers may be thus inferred.

A search for Tunjath Ezhuthachan's caste took into account the following:

1) Some Ezhuthachans in Kerala and their castes:

The main disciples of Tunjath Ezhuthachan were 1). Karunakaran Ezhuthachan, (Nair), 2). Suryanarayanan Ezhuthachan, (Tharakan), 3). Devu Ezhuthachan (Tharakan) and 4). Gopalan Ezhuthachan (Menon).

The house of Suryanarayanan Ezhuthachan (Chozhiath kudumbam), is at

Mangalamkunnu near Ottappalam. The land where Chittur Ashram is

situated was bought from the family of Chambathil Chathukkutty

Mannadiar by this Suryanarayanan Ezhuthachan, which is mentioned in the

records pertaining to the sale of the land.

Members of the Chozhiath House are still called Ezhuthachans.

Ezhuvath Gopalamenon became the disciple of Tunjath Ezhuthachan and assumed the name Koppaswamikal.

Tunjath Ezhuthachan himself has mentioned that he was a Sudra.

Edappal House: Tunjath Ezhuthachan is said to have married into a family in Amakkavu in Koottanad, the Edappal House, and he had a daughter. The lineage still lives there. They are of the Nair caste. Those

among the household who established themselves as teachers were called

Ezhuthachans. These teachers used to initiate children to the

alphabets, and the people in the place have regarded them as

descendents of Tunjath Ezhuthachan for generations.

The well known Koppanezhuthachan (Gopalan Ezhuthachan) who lived during the last century and taught the now famous living Astrologer Soolapani Varier, belonged to Edappal House.

When

some of the Nair families vied with each other to have had marital

alliances with high caste Namboothiris, the Edappal House maintained

through generations that they were descendents of Tunjath Ezhuthachan

even when he was supposed to belong to the low caste Chakkala Nair

community.

Aithihyamala Page 263 (Kottarathil Sankunni) - States that Ezhuthachan is not a caste, but is the equivalent term for 'Asan' in the northern parts, in his essays on Chembra Ezhuthachans.

The renowned astrologer Kutti Ezhuthachan, known as Kerala Brihaspathi, was Gupta by caste. His name was Krishnanguptan.

Ramankutty Ezhuthachan (Gupta by caste) is the father of the great Sanskrit scholar Mridanandaswamikal.

The names of

traditional Ezhuthachans who initiate children to the alphabets in

Tunjan parambu in Tirur even today during the Vijayadashami festival

are printed in all leading newspapers like the Malayala Manorama and

Mathrubhumi every year. They belong to the Nair and Menon castes.

The Ezhuthachan status among some of the people was quite traditional and the status hereditary, as in Ezhuthachan families.

The

following facts prove that teachers were called Ezhuthachans

irrespective of their caste, not only in South Malabar but in North

Malabar also. (North Malabar was not under Zamorins of Calicut):

Othenan Ezhuthachan who established an Ezhuthu pallikkoodam for the first time in Narath, in 1800 A.D., belonged to the Nair caste. Berlin Kunjananthan Nair is the great grandson of Othenan Ezhuthachan. (Mathrubhumi Weekly, February 22, 2004)

Pothera Narayanan Nambiar is the nephew of the famous astrologer late Pothera Krishnanezhuthachan, who was the writer of the historically important book Sooryasthuthi. Pothera Ezhuthachan learnt Sanskrit and Astrology from the famous Astrologer Kandabath Sekharanezuthachan. Pothera Narayanan Nambiar has a website at http://www.payyanur.com/pothera

The well known astrologer V. P. K. Poduval is the son of the famous astrologer Karayil Kandambath Kunhambu (Ramanezhuthachan). [Poduval is Nair in North Malabar and Ambalavasi in Kochi and South Malabar]

2) About the Ezhuthachan (Kaduppattan) caste:

Some

of the people belonging to the Kaduppattan caste who settled in Calicut

later became teachers. They were Buddhists. They taught Vattezhuthu.

These teachers were also called Ezhuthachans.

Castes and Tribes of Southern India by Edgar Thurston, page 30 (Published in 1909). - About Kaduppattan caste - 'The

members of this caste are, Mr. H.A. Stuart writes, at present mostly

palanquin bearers and carriers of salt, oil etc. The educated among

them follow the profession of teaching and are called Ezhuthachan, ie

master of learning. Both titles are used in the same family.'

This statement clearly points out that Ezhuthachan was not a caste name, but a title even among the Kaduppattan community.

The Cochin tribes and castes (Vol 2) - By Ananthakrishnaiyer (written in 1912) : Has

recorded the stories given by the people of the Kaduppattan caste

during that time. Page 104 - "The tradition is that the Kaduppattans

were Brahmins of the Kadu village who were banished from the country.

They went to Kerala and sought the protection of the then Zamorin of

Calicut, who allowed them to settle in his territory. Then they met Sri

Sankaracharyar who directed them to teach Sudras and other low caste

men. The date of their arrival in Kerala is commemorated by "Kaduka thyaktha stheya

(1447 A.D.)." However, in a footnote, Ananthakrishnaiyer has also

written - "The account appears to have been cooked up to prove their

Brahmanical pretensions. Sri Sankaracharyar lived more than 1000 years

ago."

Page 105 - "Ezhuthachan (teacher) is a title originally given to the educated members of the caste.... Even now this title is conferred on them (Kaduppattans) by the rulers and chieftains on payment of some thirumulkazhcha (nuzzer). Panikkar

is another title possessed by some. The caste-men below them address

the male members as Pattarappan and their women as Pattathiar or

Pattathiar Amma."

Ananthakrishnaiyer has also recorded the activities of the Kaduppattan caste leaders during this time (1912). They formed an Adhyapaka Samajam,

conducted a number of meetings and passed many resolutions. They

demanded an equivalent status with the high castes among the Nair

community. Some modifications were made to rituals pertaining to

marriage and those after death. Other important decisions were : "The

caste-men and women are prohibited from taking the food of any other

caste-men except that of Brahmins..... The title of Ezhuthachan should be obtained chiefly by merit

and not by the payment of money (thirumulkazhcha) to some chieftain or

Namboothiri landlord." (page 114, Tribes and castes of Cochin, L. K. A.