Our family's (father's side) grateful plaque obeisance at our Kula Daivam Koodalmanikyam temple in Irinjalakuda, Kerala; Our family (father's side) hierarchy and history

Last update on 12 Mar. 2023

Given below is the plaque, if I recall correctly, my uncle, Raghu chitappa (V.M. Raghu) put up on behalf of our family ancestor Manickanpattali, in Koodalmanikyam temple, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur district, Kerala, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koodalmanikyam_Temple. This temple is our Kula Daivam (Deva) temple and has nurtured our family (father's side) for generations.

[To open pic in larger resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]

The English text of the plaque is as follows:
STONE INSTALLED BY
SRI V.S. RAGHURAMAN
ON BEHALF OF HIS ANCESTOR
SRI MANICKANPATTALI (ALIAS)
SRI SURYANARAYANA IYER,
WHO SERVED
SRI KOODALMANICKAM
DEVASWOM
(KOLLAM:1010-1083)
IRINJALAKUDA
2nd MARCH 1977
--- end English text from plaque ---

(KOLLAM:1010-1083) refers to birth and death years of Sri Suryanarayana Iyer who served our family deity temple, in Malayalam (Kollam) calendar.

Raghu chitappa (paternal uncle) was known as V.M.Raghu (or Raghuraman). I am not sure who the  V.S.Raghuraman mentioned in the plaque is. Perhaps it is a reference to the same V.M. Raghu. Late V.M. Raghu was a marine engineer who studied partly in Bombay and partly in England, and seems to have travelled across the world quite a bit as a marine engineer. He later took up a shore job in Bombay Port Trust as a senior marine engineer in Bombay. Perhaps he was the first one in the family who travelled abroad.

As per https://kollavarsham.org/calendar and https://www.prokerala.com/general/calendar

1900 CE corresponds to 1075/1076 Kollam [1900 - 1075 = 825]
2019 CE corresponds to 1194/1195 Kollam [2019 - 1194 = 825]

That shows that Kollam year + 825 gives us CE year

So Kollam 1010 - 1083 will be roughly 1835 - 1908 CE.

That is, my family ancestor referred above, Sri Suryanaryana Iyer was born in 1835 and died in 1908 as per Common Era calendar that we follow now with 2019 being the current year in that calendar.

This plaque's reference to Kollam solved a puzzle for me in my family's hierarchy chart perhaps prepared in 1950s. I thought it appropriate to share this pic of the hierarchy chart which is medium resolution and so does not show all details when zoomed in. I think that sharing it here on public social media will increase its longevity. Otherwise in the current age of nuclear families and with our extended family having spread out to various parts of India and the world (as against being mostly in Bombay in the 1950s to 1980s), there is a danger of the chart being lost.

I don't think any major privacy issues crop up as the chart seems to have been done in the late 1950s or early 1960s. However, if family elders ask me to remove it, I will do so.

Please note that the years shown in the family hierarchy chart are Kollam calendar years!

The family hierarchy chart shows:
Topmost ancestor: Suryanarayanan (957) wife Thylambal (Kunji)

Their son Raghuraman (979 - 1018) started Vadakke Madhom branch of family. (Another son Devarajan started Thekke Madhom branch of family).

Raghuraman's eldest son, Suryanarayanan (Manikkam) (1010 - 1083) is the ancestor referred in plaque as Manickanpattali (alias) Sri Suryanarayana Iyer who served Sri Koodalmanickam Devaswom. And his birth-death dates are shown as (Kollam 1010 - 1083).

The bottom part of the family chart states:
Sri Suryanarayanan (957) was a resident of Shudhamalli in Choladesa in Tanjur District. After his death and in circumstances not known, his widow, Thylambal and two sons, Sri Devarajan (Chamu 977) and Sri Raghuraman (979), migrated to Irinjalakuda where they settled down under the protection of the Kudal Manikkam Temple authorities. The Thekke Madhom and Vadakke Madhom sprang up from these two brothers respectively.
=== end bottom part of family chart quote ===

Ravi: Initially when I had read the above, I was confused by the dates. Now I understand the years to be Kollam era references. So 957 Kollam era would translate roughly to 1782 (957 + 825), 977 to 1802 and 979 to 1804.

One can presume that the migration happened around 1805 to 1810 as the widow came with two young sons to Koodalmanikkam temple, and the second son was born in 1804.

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The Shuddhamalli in Choladesa in Tanjur district reference above may be
Suthamalli, a village in the Udayarpalayam taluk of Ariyalur district, Tamil Nadu, India, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suthamalli.

The Ariyalur district, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariyalur_district, borders modern day Thanjavur district, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_district. So it seems quite feasible that family knowledge about Shuddhamalli in Tanjur district of the early 1800s is the above Suthamalli village as Tanjur district/area may then have included relevant part of Ariyalur district.

Note that current list of villages in Thanjavur district does not list Shuddhamalli or Suthamalli [See https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Villages_in_Thanjavur_district&pagefrom=Someswarapuram%2C+Thanjavur#mw-pages]

There is another Suthamalli village in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suthamalli,_Tirunelveli. But Tirunelveli district is quite distant from Thanjavur district and so this may not be the village the family history chart refers to.
======================

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanjavur_Maratha_kingdom states that Thanjavur was a Maratha kingdom from 1674 to 1855. However from 1799, the king of Thanjavur came under the domination of the British East India Company military forces.

An extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanjore_District_(Madras_Presidency) is given below:

Tanjore District was one of the districts in the eastwhile (erstwhile) Madras Presidency of British India. It covered the area of the present-day districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam and the Aranthangi taluk of Pudukkottai District in Tamil Nadu. Apart from being a bedrock of Hindu orthodoxy, Tanjore was a centre of Chola cultural heritage and one of the richest and most prosperous districts in Madras Presidency.

Tanjore district was constituted in 1799 when the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji II ceded most of his kingdom to the British East India Company in return for his restitution on the throne. Tanjore district, which is situated on the Cauvery Delta, is one of the richest rice-growing regions in South India. It was scarcely affected by famines such as the Great Famine of 1876–78.
--- end extracts ---

Ravi: Hmm. So Tanjore (Thanjavur) district coming under the military power of British East India Company from 1799 onwards, could have been one of the reasons prompting the migration of widow Thylambal and her two sons from Tanjore (Thanjavur) district to Koodalmanikkam temple in Irinjalakuda, Kerala. If that presumption is true then my ancestor, Sri Raghuraman (born 1804) and his brother and mother Thylambal, may have been escaping from European (non Hindu) rule to seek shelter in a temple in a Hindu kingdom where they could hold onto their religious beliefs & practices!

Note that Travancore too had signed a treaty of protection with British East India company in 1795. However, it seems to me that Travancore functioned as a Hindu kingdom without the British interfering as much in administration as in Tamil Nadu where British direct administration started in perhaps a very small way as Madras Presidency right from 1552 when it administered Fort St. George (small area). In 1785 Madras became one of the three provinces ruled by the British in India with a Governor for the province. So by 1785 Madras province (presidency) had become sizeable and which had ***direct*** British administration. Thanjavur was annexed (and incorporated into Madras province ruled by the British) in 1855. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Presidency.] Even if Thanjavur was annexed formally by the British only in 1855, it seems to me that there is a clear possibility that as the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur got weakened militarily from end 1700s (end of 18th century), British may have played administrative role in Thanjavur then itself and perhaps interfered with support provided by Maratha king to Hindu temples and associated villages/towns in Thanjavur. That may have impacted the lives of Suryanaryanan (born in 1782 CE) and Thylambal living in "Shuddhamalli in Choladesa in Tanjur district" resulting in widow Thylambal migrating to Irinjalakuda in Travancore kingdom (part of modern day Kerala) along with two young sons of hers, Devarajan (born in 1802 CE) and Raghuraman (born in 1804 CE).

It is Raghuraman's son Suryanarayana(n) (born in 1835 CE) who served KoodalManikkam temple (don't know in what capacity; note that the top priests in the temple would have been Kerala Namboodiris and that it was one of these Namboodiri priests who decided to give shelter to the widow Thylambal and her two sons in the temple complex/area).
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About Vadakke Madhom or Vadakke Madam:

My father's full name was Vadakke Madam Suryanarayanan. My uncles also had V.M. as initials in their names which I think stood for the same Vadakke Madam. As mentioned earlier, the family chart states that the Thekke Madhom and Vadakke Madhom sprang up from the two sons of the widow who, along with the two sons who were young boys then, were given refuge in Kudal Manikkam (Koodalmanikyam) temple by the temple authorities (probably around 1805 to 1810 CE). These two sons being Sri Devarajan and Sri Raghuraman.

Sri Raghuraman's branch of the family was the Vadakke Madhom branch and he was my family's ancestor. Quite surely, the Vadakke Madam initials of my father (which also seems to be the initials of my uncles) is from this Vadakke Madhom branch.

What does this Vadakke Madhom/Vadakke Madam really stand for? In Malayalam, I think it means North 'math' or North institute/college/educational institution. It could also mean North monastery.

A March 2018 post, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/03/on-being-asked-about-osho-rajneesh.html , has some speculations of mine (originally put up as Facebook comment, I think) where I had speculated that it could be related to the ancient Vadakke Madhom Advaita monastic and educational institution in Thrissur city in Kerala, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadakke_Madhom . Note that Thrissur is close to Irinjalakuda where Koodalmanikyam temple is located (around 25 kms by road as per Google Map). Later I had my doubts about it and even today I am not sure about this connection/relation.

Recently an elder passed me this article (as a pdf): "Local Advaita Vedānta Monastic Tradition in

Kerala: Locating, mapping, networking" by Olga Nowicka in The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series 9 (1/2019): 27–51 [article] DOI: 10.4467/24506249PJ.19.002.11134, https://www.ejournals.eu/PJACNS/2019/1(2019)/art/15161/ (abstract with link for pdf download).

Note: While I was born in a Tamil Brahmin family whose roots are in Kerala (Kerala Iyer family), I very deeply believe in my beloved and revered Gurudev, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's teaching that there is only one caste which is the caste of humanity.

The paper states that it discusses the "regional Advaita Vedānta monasticism of Nampūtiri brahmins in Kerala (South India)". The author writes that as per local accounts from Kerala, (Adi) Sankara founded four monasteries (mathas) in Thrissur city, including "Northern Monastery (mal. Vaṭakke Maṭham)" and Southern Monastery (mal. Tekkē Maṭham)" both of which "have survived in Thrissur until today".

The paper states, "Vaṭakke Maṭham was transformed into a school around the time of the 17th century, where Vedas are taught in a traditional system (skr. vedapāṭhaśālā), ..."  There is a mention of 'Iriññālakkuṭa grāma (“village”)' in the context of accepting persons who want to take sannyasa (renunciation) in the Vaṭakke Maṭham monastery. 

The Iriññālakkuṭa "village" mentioned above must be Irinjalakuda town where Koodalmanikyam temple is located. So the above sentences make a connection between Irinjalakuda and Vaṭakke Maṭham. 

Was the Vadakke Madam part of my father's name (and, in all probability, of my uncles' names) related to above mentioned ancient Vaṭakke Maṭham monastery and Vedic school (vedapāṭhaśālā) of Thrissur city? I think it is a possibility but we cannot be sure unless we have more data.

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Family hierarchy (father's side) till my siblings and me (the years are sometimes difficult to clearly identify as the pic resolution is medium and so there may be some errors) (KE is Kollam Era, CE is our Common Era):

1) Suryanarayanan (born: 957 KE, 1782 CE) wife Thylambal (Kunji)

2) Raghuraman (979 - 1018 KE, 1804 - 1843 CE) wife Kamakshi

3) Suryanarayanan (Manikkam) (1010 - 1083 KE, 1835 - 1908 CE) wife Parvathi. Suryanarayanan is the ancestor referred in plaque as Manickanpattali (alias) Sri Suryanarayana Iyer who served Sri Koodalmanickam Devaswom.

4) Subramanian (1044 - 1111 KE, 1869 - 1936 CE) wife Alamelu

5) Suryanarayanan (Manikkam) (1061 - 1122 KE, 1886 - 1947) wife Lakshmi

6) Suryanarayanan (1092? - 1153 KE, 1917? - 1978 CE) wife Rasammal

7) My siblings and me with me being born in 1962. My eldest sister was born in 1952 and there was an issue earlier which passed away in childhood.

[If I recall correctly, for my father's thevasam annual function (after death annual function for one's parent(s)), my elder brother & I would say our father's name as Suryanarayanan, his father's name as Suryanarayanan (again) and father's grandfather's name as Subramanian, as part of the offering oblations to ancestors ceremony. That fits in with entries 4 to 6.]

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Hmm. That's really satisfying to document. So from 1782 onwards I now have a clear picture of my family ancestry (father's side). That is a period of over 230 years!

And then I also know the probable cause (not for certain though) of the migration of my ancestor widow Thylambal and her two sons from Thanjavur district ruled for centuries by Hindu kings, the last dynasty being the Hindu Maratha dynasty, to Kerala Hindu kingdom (Irinjalakuda was ruled by Travancore Hindu kings dynasty). That cause may have been to retain our Hindu beliefs and worship traditions without British/European military powers interfering in it!

No wonder our family always was very protective of our Hindu beliefs and worship traditions! I bow my head in reverance and gratitude to my family ancestors including the widow Thylambal who migrated with her two sons in early 1800s (CE) from Tanjore district which had come under British East India military power domination, to Irinjalakuda temple protected by Hindu king of Travancore. I bow my head in reverence and gratitude to Sri Koodalmanickyam Swami (deity) of Koodalmanickyam temple in Irinjalakuda. the temple administrators then and the Hindu King of Travancore then who provided protection and sustenance to Koodalmanickyam temple, as all of these together gave shelter and livelihood to widow Thylambal and her two sons, enabling our family line to survive and to continue with our Hindu beliefs and worship traditions, with Koodalmanickyam Daivam (god/deity) having nurtured our family over generations.

[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]