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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

parappanangadi


Even in Gods own country very few would have heard of parappanangadi
, a tiny hamlet tucked away on the malabar coast around 30 km from Kozhikode the capital of the Zamorin king who ruled those parts long back when Vasco Da Gama made his famed landing .
the one platform railway station had always been the centre of activity in this dusty village but returns from Dubai the Eldorado of these lands have transformed them as if by a magic wand
.The hard stones on the railway track was a path which rose up and came down seductively , winding like a long snake lying in slumber , a great spot for interaction and introspection. Elegant nair tharavadus or family homes lined the track on both sides
Chudala paraambu gave the jitters specially when twilight struck for that was where the locals were buried or burnt and had its own myths and mystique sticking to it ,while the stark sunlight made fear melt as lungi clad boys played soccer.
gentle breeze would waft in from the west where the arabian sea crashed on the rockface while fishermen returned after their exertions ,
The Ayappankavu temple would be lighted and shining bright resplendent for the evening deeparadhana and aristocratic ladies in white mundus circumbulate in dignity ,.the huge banyan tree letting peeping stars shine through its foliage with chirping birds giving an encore.,come december and the place would reverbrate with saranam ayappos
Parappanangadi has very litle history to speak of but for its fiery Mopiilla rebellion in 1921 when Gurka soldiers of the British packed hundreds of rioters in railway carriages like sardines and sent them on a one way trip.many of the older
Avukarkutty naha a minister in an earlier cabinet of kerala was one of the rememberd local celebrity who saw to it that many express trains which had earlier winked at the village stopped and paid obsequainse.
It would be a long time before the famous astrologer paniker make parapp famous globally
Thee Anjapurra market which once had only anjupurras or five houses is the happening place of Parappanangadi, the other being the railway station but with Gulf sojourns of the natives changing the face of the village Anjaapura transformed itself beyond recognition .
Hotel Malaya just behind the railway station greeted you as you entered into town stood the ravages of time and served the gourmets and gluttons with no favouritism ,the days when we used to frequent the place for hot biriyani Malappuram istyle and the heady concotion of a red coloured chai with our hard earned cashewnut collected booty is fresh in our memories.
Jayakerala talkies was the excuse for a nightlife in parappanangadi where one could watch Premnazir swinging around trees with scarcely clad damsels or sing moony songs on riverbanks.every ten minutes as the reels were changed catcalls would hit the roof making the sweating projector man do it in a jiffy.
The vayanasala or library was the haunt of youngsters and its shady corners were a good hideway for a game of rummy
Chemmadu a little away enroute to Calicut was the duty free market of the area where foreign goods were available at throwaway prices
Green fields lined by swaying coconut trees and cherooty river winding its way into the distant hills were crossed to reach the famous bhagavathy temple Amanjerikavu where once in a year wooden horses were carried on mens heads beating to the rhythm of drums in a ritual called kuthirakettukali.
Our own family diety Sarikkil Bhagavthy had her quite little temple with huge umbrella like banyan trees giving shade and breeze ,the evening drums drifted in the dusk like a clarion call to the faithful.The temple tank where the clear water invited us for frolicking with abandon was cleaned once in a year by the locals ,it was a great event going well into the night with hot kattankappis( coffee without milk) and steaming kappas( tapioca) fortified the mud covered diggers while cries of joy rose when big braals( fish ) were caught by their fins ,the booty taken promptly to the nearby fields to be barbecued.
On Navaratri nights when the annual festival took place sleepy eyes watched ottanthulal,chakiarkuthu and kathakali perfomances by great artistes from Kalamandalam
The rest of the days Night fell early and people went to bed fast to wake up at dawn and to another day in this quaint little place.

14 comments:

moosaindia said...

Harmohan sir,
please write about the Pisharikkal Mookambika ambalam near the Kovilakam and its beautiful ambalakkulam

the origin of name parappanadu etc

Jenson M John said...

hi,
I'm from parappanangadi..I liked ur article...gud one...r u frm pgi or currently shifted to somewhere?

saidas valliyil said...

dear bro. nice flashback I remember My ances. home near right side of ayappan kave (now demolished)Parvathi Bhavan. I used to cometo this house in vacations and i used to run like an engine with unni(my co bro ie madras relation)around the house and used see the lights from top floor and i hear a loud noise one drunkard shouting "aree avide" nambiar our karyasthan use to shout from the kitchen its was a nice time now nothing is there only barren land so sad to see the place My co. brother that is kuttetten who also blogged must remember I have seen him taking a vedeo Dear brother if u have that please give copyto my email ID saidasvalliyil@yahoo.in
Hope all are ok .....saidas

saidas valliyil said...

dear bro. nice flashback I remember My ances. home near right side of ayappan kave (now demolished)Parvathi Bhavan. I used to cometo this house in vacations and i used to run like an engine with unni(my co bro ie madras relation)around the house and used see the lights from top floor and i hear a loud noise one drunkard shouting "aree avide" nambiar our karyasthan use to shout from the kitchen its was a nice time now nothing is there only barren land so sad to see the place My co. brother that is kuttetten who also blogged must remember I have seen him taking a vedeo Dear brother if u have that please give copyto my email ID saidasvalliyil@yahoo.in
Hope all are ok .....saidas

saidas valliyil said...

dear bro. nice flashback I remember My ances. home near right side of ayappan kave (now demolished)Parvathi Bhavan. I used to cometo this house in vacations and i used to run like an engine with unni(my co bro ie madras relation)around the house and used see the lights from top floor and i hear a loud noise one drunkard shouting "aree avide" nambiar our karyasthan use to shout from the kitchen its was a nice time now nothing is there only barren land so sad to see the place My co. brother that is kuttetten who also blogged must remember I have seen him taking a vedeo Dear brother if u have that please give copyto my email ID saidasvalliyil@yahoo.in
Hope all are ok .....saidas

Unknown said...

HI brothers hari and saidas,before i started enjoying the nostalgic feelings of parappanangadi,i was amazed the way hari has put it with his exemplary language and poetic expressions.indeed your are great and am feeling proud to have a writer brother.now there is a small temple or a place of worship *vellichankavu* where the pooja is quiet fearful at my childhood days was somehow missed out.however i am not in a position to explain more about it since i had visited there only twice before i attained my double digit age.i am sure hari or saidas could give more light about that temple.now i would like to share some coloquial song which we used to listen from those intoxicated going along the railway line at night !thellolam palle chennal thallenaem thallan thonum! ie a bit of toddy goes inside the stomach will feel like beating even ones mother.such used to be nightout days when we used to come bak after a late night show at jayakerala movie palace.About 15kms from parappanangadi is nerukaidakotta temple whre the main deity goddes is atop a small hill and down below the hill is the famous ayyappa temple which is one amongst 108 ayyappa temples famously listed in kerala.i beleive that this goddess temple is the kula devatha of valliyil family.from the hill top one could see karippur airport.well about the video which i filmed about 15 years back in parappanangadi is some how missing from my collection.well ex minister avukhaderkutty naha happened to be a class mate of my mother.well more later kuttan

Bala said...

Thanks for such a wonderful article about Parappanangadi. You have transformed the place into a town with lots of character and persona that even the native people who felt no connection to the place would now want to visit. Great job! Keep it up! I would suggest that everyone here who can relate to certain unique things about the town and want to see it written try to enlighten the others with their own personal experiences as well.

harimohan said...

tks moosa ,jenson for ur comments
dear sai ,kutetta and bala
my post did bring us together after a long time didnt it
nostalgia does that to people ,roots caress our souls ,
kutetta wonderful ditty thallelum ....
tks alot

Sai said...

Dear Sir,

I am looking for my grandfather's relatives, he passed away in 1944, he had no contacts with his family, all we know is that, his native is parappanangadi, he was from a nair tharavad named Manaparuthy veedu or malaparuthy veedu, do you know anything about such a tharavad, can u help us.

Regards,

Sai

Sai said...

Sir,

With reference to the above post, we will be happy if you could hep us to trace out my grandfather's relatives.....

Regards,

Sai

Kalyani Kurup said...

Very very happy to read the post. My ancestors are also from Parappanangadi. My grandparents lived in a house exactly opposite the ‘Neduva Yuvajana Vayanasala’ and I have spent many summer holidays in that house as a child. My great grandfather was a doctor and he ran his own small clinic in his family home (must be during the early decades of 20th century). At the location where he had his clinic, there is now a hospital ‘Prashanth Hospital’. I have still got relatives in PGI, and as much as possible, we go to the Pishareekal Mookambika temple during Navaratri. In a novel of mine, ‘The Vanished and Vanquished’, (written in the background of the matrilineal system) I have used some aspects of Parappanangadi though I have avoided using major landmarks or characters. My email id is kurupkalyani@gmail.com and my author page on Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/author/kalyanikurup

Kalyani Kurup said...

Very very happy to read the post. My ancestors are also from Parappanangadi. My grandparents lived in a house exactly opposite the ‘Neduva Yuvajana Vayanasala’ and I have spent many summer holidays in that house as a child. My great grandfather was a doctor and he ran his own small clinic in his family home (must be during the early decades of 20th century). At the location where he had his clinic, there is now a hospital ‘Prashanth Hospital’. I have still got relatives in PGI, and as much as possible, we go to the Pishareekal Mookambika temple during Navaratri. In a novel of mine, ‘The Vanished and Vanquished’, (written in the background of the matrilineal system) I have used some aspects of Parappanangadi though I have avoided using major landmarks or characters. My email id is kurupkalyani@gmail.com and my author page on Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/author/kalyanikurup

Kalyani Kurup said...

To Sai:
I have still got relatives in Parappanangadi and I have sent a mail to someone enquiring whether they have heard about Manaparuthy veedu or malaparuthy veedu. I am likely to go to PGI in the middle of 2014 and can make further enquiries. Meanwhile, it will be helpful if you can give me your email id so that I can directly communicate with you. It is very difficult to communicate through blog sites because of the captcha problem. I had to make three attempts to post the first comment before I got the words correct. My email id is kurupkalyani@gmail.com

harimohan said...

sure will thanks

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