Mappila Ramayanam

                       

Mappila Ramayanam is a famous local art form in Vadagara from Calicut district of Kerala. This is presented by a group of Hindus. It is an example of how the epic has crossed cultural boundaries.

 
Scenes from Ramayana are enacted in Mapolla Pattu style in this Mapilla Ramayana.

No one knows the person who created this art form or how it is originated in this style, but what is known is that it originated in the Malabar region. In today’s times, it is a form of Malabar Muslim Art. It’s not easy to pin down the origins of the Mappila Ramayanam. Like with most oral compositions,the actual story of its creation is lost to us.

 

This form of art existent among the Malabar areas and is sung using Muslim Malayalam slang and style, which is the attraction. Till recently it was only in the form of songs orally and its written down recently.

 

T.H Kuniraman Nambiar promoted this art form through regular stage performances. Perambara is a place far away from Vadagara and it is believed that traders carrying vegetables and other items on their head, between these areas they sang Ramayana in this Mapilla style as a form of entertainment.

How the mapillla muslim style came into Ramayana or how Hindus took is unknown.

 

It’s not easy to pin down the origins of the Mappila Ramayanam. Like with most oral compositions, the actual story of its creation is lost to us. Perhaps it began with a labourer who wandered around doing odd jobs in Kerala’s Malabar region over a 100 years ago. Nicknamed Piranthan Hassankutty (Crazy Hassan), he set his version of the Ramayana in the form and metre of the Mappilapattu (Mappila folk songs). It could even have been composed earlier, with Hassankutty being the last of its transmitters.

 

On the other hand, writer and academic Dr MN Karassery, who first recorded the text of the Mappila Ramayanam, believes that Hassankutty didn’t actually exist. “We don’t have any evidence for it,” he says. “It could be that Hassankutty was a real wandering bard or a poet or that he was simply a character used in this version as a narrator. I personally believe the latter.” Only parts of the Mappila Ramayanam are available to us, having been collected by Karassery.

 

the Mappila Ramayanam assumes greater importance. “It’s not a work of devotion, and despite its humorous tone, it is not meant to offend anyone. It is meant only for vinodam, for enjoyment,” says Karassery.

 

The tone is comic, with scenes such as the one where Ravana is shown struggling to shave because he has 10 heads, or the one where Surpanakha uses charcoal and honey to blacken her hair before she sets out to seduce Ram. The ballad is flavoured by the Muslim milieu of its origin — besides the reference to the Shariat, Ravan is called Sultan and Surpanakha’s friend is called Fatima. The song is marked by the phonetic features of Arabi-Malayalam dialect, a version of Malayalam written using a modified Arabic script specific to the Mappila community. For example, the initial ‘r’ is replaced by ‘l’, so it’s Lama, Lamayanam and Lavanan. Also, the ‘h’ is dropped from ‘Hanuman’, who is then referred to as ‘Anuman’.

 
Story Presented:

1.      Ramas Birth

2.      Sitas Swayamvaram

3.      Pattabhishekam and Other stories

 
Swayamvaram is described as Nikkah and kaikeyi is decried as Ellomma ( Meaning younger mother in Muslim style)

Through the medium of poetry and song the Ramayana is described.

The scenes of feeling of attraction and love that Shoorpanaka feels towards Lord Rama and that of Ravana towards Sita are described and enacted here with minimum costume and jewellary.

Scene 1:

Shoorapanaka Aninjorukam :

Shoorpanaka dressing for Rama, dying her hair, putting an make up and introducing her brother Ravana. there is a passage called ‘Surpanakha’s Overtures of Love’. An interesting exchange between Ram and Surpanakha occurs here, where he says to her, “For a man, there is a woman, and for a woman there is a man: this is the law in the Shariat!” To this, her reply is: “If a man keeps four or five women, there is no problem. But that’s not allowed for the woman; that’s the law in the Shariat.”

Scene 2:

Ravana seeing Sita and expressing hislove for her in Ashoka Vali

Scene 3:

Hanmans Entry into Lanka and what he sees there is described.

This Mapilla Ramayana is the Signifys the Hindu, Muslim unity and Harmony of earlier times.