MASTERS IN MASTER BEDROOMS

TEMPORAL LOBE SYNDROME AND SWATI THIRUNAL

 All of you will be familiar with the film Perunthachan.I am talking here about a Perunthachan whom I followed.

This was in 1995,when I was with Malayala Manorama in Thiruvananthapuram.One fine morning,my friend,MG Sasibhushan,son of S Guptan Nair,called and told me he will take me to an ammaveedu where Sundaralakshmi, Swatithirunal's consort lived.Ammaveedu is an institution created by Dharmaraja for Travancore princes to procreate.When he shifted the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram,he had four tamil wives from four villages:Vadasseri,Nagercoil,Thiruvattar and Arumana.He built four palaces for them bearing these names.It became a practice for the princes only to select women from these families.You can still see Arumana Ammaveedu in westfort as Arumana hospital.

Dharmaraja

If you thought  he had only these four,you got it wrong.The political arena was in turmoil.There was an exodus from Malabar to Travancore,during the siege of Malabar by Tipu Sultan.Among them was Manorama, a beauty from the Samoothiri royal family.She was erudite,played veena and became a strong influence on him.He was happy with her at the Krishnapuram Palace in Kayamkulam.

Krishnapuram Palace

Krishnapuram palace was built by his uncle,Marthanda Varma,after demolishing the existing palace of
Kayamkulam Raja,after annexation of Kayamkulam in 1746.Demolishing old palaces was fun for him.He demolished three palaces in my native place,Tripunithura:Thekkumbagam,Udayamperoor and Kandanad.After this,Maharaja of Cochin had a pact with him in Poornathrayeesa temple.
There is some connection between Dharmaraja and Thiruvathirakali.He enjoyed watching it.He composed carnatic kritis and Kathakali aattakadhas.He is said to be the first violinist from the royal family,a claim withou t any proof.He never wanted to lose Manorama,who  played veena. He insisted that he should be able to see the well in the compound from his master bedroom. He was afraid that someone will mix poison in the well.The largest single piece of mural in the world,Gajendramoksham is on the way to the palace from the pond.

Gajendramoksham mural

It seems,building palaces has something to do with cementing relationships.Dharmaraja died in 1798.Swati Thirunal,another scholar genius,built a  palace for his consort,Sundaralakshmi,46  years later,in 1845.You may have known a consort called Sugandavalli of Swati Thirunal.It is a fiction that has been embedded in the malayali psyche by the script written by Sreevaraham Balakrishnan,for the movie,Swati Thirunal.

Here you have the real picture of Swati Thirunal from a mural on the wall of Puthan Malika or Kuthiramalika which he built towards the end of his life:I had the fortune to view the murals;a couple of them have sexual overtones,but the character in them is another Raja.

Swati Thirunal, it seems,began constructing Kuthiramalika for himself and a palace for Sundaralakshmi at the same time.5000  workers worked for four years to construct kuthira malika which has 122 horses carved into the wooden wall brackets that support the southern roof.
Swati Thirunal lived in with  the Mudaliar danseuse Sundaralakshmi,brought by Thanjavur dancer Vadivelu, for few years and married her in 1843.She was adopted to the Vadasseri amma veedu.The palace for her was built in 1845.
We,myself and Sasibhushan went to the palace after it was visited and examined by a master builder,Payyannur Kesavanachari.He had written a commentary to Manushyalaya Chandrika,the foremost architectural work in malayalam.
Achari could not take measurements of the master bedroom with the Kerala Muzhakol.Then a Nagercoil muzhakol was brought in.After examination,Achari exclaimed: whoever built the palace would have died soon after.The master bedrom was not Vasthu compliant.
Achari was right:Swati Thirunal had died within a year,in 1846.
He died in Kuthiramalika.Noone occupied it after his death.

But then,his death was a suicide-some accounts say he committed prayopavesam.It is death by fasting.Maharaja Parikshit was observing prayopavesa when Suka  narrated Bhagavatham to him.Vinayak Damodar Savarkar committed prayopavesam.In november 2001,Sadguru Sivaya Subrahmuniya Swami(1927-2001) did it in Hawai when he was diagnosed with intestinal cancer.It took 32 days for him to reach death.Two Indian political activists had died of hunger strike.Jatin Das died in Lahore jail after 63 days.Potti Sreeramulu,who demanded separate Andhra state,died after 58 days.Swami,a native of California adopted Saivism and in 1985 inventedPanchaganapati as an alternative to December holidays like Christmas.Swati Thirunal was found to be sinking on the Christmas night.

Sivaya Subrahmuniya

Ancient texts allow prayopavesam when you are terminally ill or  if you have no desire or ambition left.Savarkar felt his responsibilities are over.Swati Thirunal was terminally ill.
Dr K Rajasekaran Nair ,famous neurologist,who did a pathography of Swati Thirunal thinks Swati Thirunal had a natural death.From symptoms available,Rajasekaran Nair found  Swati Thirunal had temporal lobe syndrome of brain,or temporal lobe epilepsy.People afflicted with this, walk like drunkards.

C J Thomas

The genius among malayalam writers,C J Thomas had the same syndrome.

Jatin Das

The Times of London, on december 8,1846 carried a classified advertisement:Holloway's ointment has been sent to Swati Thirunal.It was considered a panacea.Thomas Holloway who developed it,made millions.Modern findings say the ointment wont cure anything.Swati Thirunal died on december 27.So, let us assume two things.One,the ointment reached him.Second,he refused to take it because he was in prayopavesam.

Potti Sreeramulu

Sooranad Kunjan Pillai,Dr Rajasekharan Nair's father,has written a biography of Swati Thirunal.In it,he says Swati Thirunal drank milk brought by the servants on the night before his death.So,was it Prayopavesam after all?

Thus,my first blog,is a story of two master bedrooms,two deaths and three masters.Dharmaraja feared death in his master bedroom.Swati Thirunal had death in two master bedrooms.A male death and a female death.You cant blame me with gender bias!

See my blogs,A BRAIN IN CHAOS,VIOLIN COMES TO CHENNAI