"Saga of Kalpathy" -- A story of 'Palghat' Iyers

History has many instances of whole communities moving and settling down in distant social milieus different from their traditional moorings.
Most such communities have not only flourished in their new homes by adjusting themselves to the social environs they have come to stay but have zealously guarded their culture and values without giving in to the assault of time.
The story of the migration of the Tamil Brahmin community to Kerala from 'Tamizhakam', the present-day Tamil Nadu, over the centuries, is a classic case of this phenomenon.
This exactly is what "Saga of Kalpathy -- The Story of Palghat Iyers", written by veteran journalist and columnist M K Das with illustrations by noted cartoonist E P Unny, narrates.

Kalpathy is a village in Palakkad district - earlier referred to as Palghat in records in English -- which has a cluster of Tamil Brahmin settlements, called 'agraharams.'
Though there are Tamil Brahmin concentrations in several other places in Kerala, including the capital Thiruvananthapuram, Kalpathy is considered the quintessential home-away-from-home of the community with all the cultural props associated with it.

"....Palghat remained, and still remains, the hub of the Tamil Brahmins. The place gave Tamil Brahmins and itself an unmatched identity", the author notes.
It is obvious the author has carried out painstaking research, drew upon a large body of works on political, social and cultural history of Kerala and the adjoining areas, talked to people familiar with the subject and even gathered anecdotal evidences in writing the book.

Apart from narrating the story of the community, many of whose members have left a deep impression in diverse walks of life like Carnatic music, business, judiciary, media and bureaucracy, it broadly traces the history of Kerala over the centuries.
Though geographical, historical and economic factors have lured many communities to Kerala, the two factors, according to the author, that set Tamil Brahmins apart from other migrants are their "sheer resilience and adaptability."
Co-published by Ahalia Publications, Palakkad, and Darpan, Bengaluru, the book is to be launched at a function in Kerala soon.
Its central theme is Tamil Brahmins of Palakkad, their settlement pattern, integration with local population, challenges and crises they met with and overcame and the eventual transformation into a progressive community.

It also has brief but vivid accounts of how some other communities, including the Jews and Goud Saraswat Brahmins, came and settled in certain pockets of Kerala, either as part of their mercantile pursuits or displaced by the upheavals in their homelands.
Appealing to the scholars and lay readers equally, on the whole it is a journey through a long, often tumultuous, period that saw the rise and fall of royal powers, political churnings and social transformations that Kerala in particular and South India in general had undergone.
What gives a graphic dimension to the work is the drawings by Unny, whose brush strokes have vividly captured the images of not only Kalpathy but also many other landmarks like the Jewish synagogue in Mattanchery near Kochi.

Equally insightful is the foreword to the book by eminent historian M G S Narayanan, which sets the narration in its true context.