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Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Template:Transliteration) (fl. 16th century) was a Malayalam devotional poet, translator and linguist.<ref name=":10">Template:Cite book</ref> He was one of the prāchīna kavithrayam (old triad) of Malayalam literature, the other two being Kunchan Nambiar and Cherusseri. He has been called the "Father of Modern Malayalam Literature", and the "Primal Poet in Malayalam".<ref name=":5" /> He was one of the pioneers of a major shift in Kerala's literary culture (the domesticated religious textuality associated with the Bhakti movement).<ref name=":Pollock479">Template:Cite book</ref> His work is published and read far more than that of any of his contemporaries or predecessors in Kerala.<ref name=":Pollock481">Template:Cite book</ref>

He was born in a place called Thunchaththu in present-day Tirur in the Malappuram district of northern Kerala, in a traditional Hindu family.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref> Little is known with certainty about his life.<ref name=":10" /> He was not from a brahmin community and for long, brahmins of kerala were reluctant to accept him. His success even in his own lifetime seems to have been great.<ref name=":8" /> Later he and his followers shifted to a village near Palakkad, further east into the Kerala, and established a hermitage (the "Ramananda ashrama") and a Brahmin village there.<ref name=":Pollock481" /> This institution probably housed both Brahmin and Sudra literary students.<ref name=":10" /> The school eventually pioneered the "Ezhuthachan movement", associated with the concept of popular Bhakti, in Kerala.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> Ezhuthachan's ideas have been variously linked by scholars either with philosopher Ramananda, who found the Ramanandi sect, or Ramanuja, the single most influential thinker of devotional Hinduism.<ref name=":Pollock482" />

For centuries before Ezhuthachan, Kerala people had been producing literary texts in Malayalam and in the Grantha script.<ref name=":5" /> However, he is celebrated as the "Primal Poet" or the "Father of Malayalam Proper" for his Malayalam recomposition of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":10" /> This work rapidly circulated around Kerala middle-caste homes as a popular devotional text.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> It can be said that Ezhuthachan brought the then unknown Sanskrit-Puranic literature to the level of common understanding (domesticated religious textuality).<ref name=":8" /> His other major contribution has been in mainstreaming the current Malayalam alphabet.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":5" />

SourcesEdit

The first Western scholar to take an interest in Ezhuthachan was Arthur C. Burnell (1871).<ref name=":112">Template:Cite book</ref>

The following two texts are the standard sources on Ezhuthachan.

  • "Eluttaccan and His Age" (1940) by C. Achyuta Menon (Madras: University of Madras).<ref name=":10" />
  • "Adhyatma Ramayanam" (1969) edited by A. D. Harisharma (Kottayam: Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative).

Historical EzhuthachanEdit

There is no completely firm historical evidence for Ezhuthachan the author.<ref name=":PollockHistorical">Template:Cite book</ref>

Main historical sources of Ezhuthachan and his life are

  • Quasi-historical verses referring to Ezhuthachan (from Chittur Madhom).<ref name=":PollockHistorical" />
  • An institutional line of masters or gurus, beginning with one Thunchaththu Sri Guru, is mentioned in one oral verse from Chittur Madhom.<ref name=":PollockHistorical" /> This lineage can be historically verified.<ref name=":PollockHistorical" />
  • An inscription giving the details of the founding of the residence (agraharam), hermitage (mathom), and temples in Chittur. This was under the direction of Suryanarayanan Ezhuthachan (with support of the local chieftain).<ref name=":PollockHistorical" /> This locale can be historically verified.<ref name=":PollockHistorical" />

PeriodEdit

File:Arthur Coke Burnell.jpg
Arthur C. Burnell was the first Western scholar to take an interest in Ezhuthachan.

Ezhuthachan is generally believed to have lived around the sixteenth or seventeenth century.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":5" />

  • Arthur C. Burnell (1871) dates Ezhuthachan to seventeenth century.<ref name=":6" /> He discovered the date from a title deed (found in a manuscript collection preserved in Chittur).<ref name=":11" /> The deed relates to the date of the founding of the Gurumadhom of Chittur.<ref name=":11" />
  • William Logan (1887) dates Ezuthachan to the seventeenth century (he supports the dates given by Burnell).<ref name=":9">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Hermann Gundert dates Ezuthachan to the seventeenth century.<ref name=":11D">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Kovunni Nedungadi dates Ezuthachan to the fifteenth century.<ref name=":11D" />
  • Govinda Pillai dates Ezuthachan to the fifteenth or sixteenth century.<ref name=":11D" /> He cites the Kali chronogram 'ayurarogyaa saukhyam' that appears at end of the Narayaneeyam of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri (a possible senior contemporary of Ezhuthachan).<ref name=":11D" />
  • A. R. Kattayattu Govindra Menon cites the Kali chronogram 'pavitramparam saukhyam' as a reference to the date of Ezuthachan 's samadhi.<ref name=":11D" />
  • Chittur Gurumadhom authorities also cites the chronogram 'pavitramparam saukhyam' as a reference to the date of Ezuthachan 's samadhi.<ref name=":11D" /> The word 'surya' is sometimes suffixed to the chronogram.<ref name=":11D" />
  • R. Narayana Panikkar supports Govinda Pillai's date (the fifteenth or sixteenth century).<ref name=":11D" /> The date is based on Ezhuthachan's contemporaneity with Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri (whom he dates to c. 1531 – c. 1637 AD).<ref name=":11D" /> He also mentions certain Nilakantan "Nambudiri ", a possible senior contemporary of Ezhuthachan (fl. c. 1565 and c. 1601 AD).<ref name=":11D" />
  • P. K. Narayana Pillai cites a Kali chronogram 'nakasyanyunasaukhyam' or 1555 AD (from a verse relating to the founding of the matham of Chittur) on the date of Ezhuthachan.<ref name=":11D" /> He dates Nilakanthan, the possible master of Ezhuthachan, to c. 1502 AD.<ref name=":11D" />
  • Poet-turned-historian Ulloor S. Parameshwara Iyer has argued that Ezhuthachan was born in 1495 AD and lived up to 1575 AD<ref name="ref003">

Template:Cite news </ref>

  • A time frame similar to Ulloor was proposed by scholar C. Radhakrishnan.<ref name="ref003" />
  • Scholar Sheldon Pollock dates Ezuthachan to the sixteenth century.<ref name=":5" />
  • Rich Freeman dates Ezhuthachan to late sixteenth-early seventeenth century.<ref name=":Pollock480" />

Life and careerEdit

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The Sanskrit literature was, after this [translation by Ezhuthachan] no longer a secret, and there was perhaps no part of South India where it was more studied by people of many castes during the eighteenth century.{{#if:Arthur C. Burnell (1874)Elements of South-Indian Palæography|{{#if:|}}

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BiographyEdit

Little is known with certainty about Ezhuthachan's life.<ref name=":10" />

Ezhuthachan was born at Trikkandiyoor, near the modern-day town of Tirur, in northern Kerala.<ref name=":8" /> It is known that his lineage home was "Thunchaththu".<ref name=":Pollock481" /> His parents' names are not known, and there are disputes about his given name as well.<ref name=":10" /> The name Ezhuthachan, meaning Father of Letters, was a generic title for any village schoolteacher in premodern Kerala.<ref name=":Pollock479" />

As a boy he seems to have exhibited uncommon intelligence.<ref name="AMenonEBio">Template:Cite book</ref> He was probably educated by his elder brother (early in his life).<ref name=":Pollock482">Template:Cite book</ref> After his early education he is believed to have travelled in the other parts of India (outside Kerala) and learned Sanskrit and some other Dravidian languages.<ref name="AMenonEBio" />

It is believed that Ezhuthachan on his way back from Tamil Nadu had a stopover at Chittur (in Palakkad) and in due course settled down at Thekke Gramam near Anikkode with his disciples. A hermitage (the "Ramananda ashrama") and a Brahmin residence (agraharam), at a site now known as the Chittur Gurumadhom, were established by him (on a piece of land bought from the landlord of Chittur).<ref name=":Pollock481" /> The institution was flanked by temples of gods Rama and Siva.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2" /> It probably housed both Brahmin and Sudra students.<ref name=":10" /> The street still has an array of agraharas (where the twelve Brahmin families migrated along with Ezhuthachan live).<ref name=":7">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>

Ezhuthachan was eventually associated with an institutional line of masters (gurus).<ref name=":Pollock481" /> The locale and lineage of these masters can be historically verified.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> He and his disciples seem to have ignited a whole new literary movement in Kerala.<ref name=":10" /> Its style and content nearly overshadowed the earlier Sanskrit poetry.<ref name=":10" /> He is believed to have attained samadhi at the Gurumadhom at Chittur.<ref name=":11">Template:Cite book</ref> A verse chanted by the ascetics of the mathom during their daily prayers makes a reference to the following line of masters.<ref name=":11Line">Template:Cite book</ref>

  • Thunchaththu Sri Guru
  • Sri Karunakaran
  • Sri Suryanarayanan
  • Sri Deva Guru
  • Sri Gopala Guru

Myths and legendsEdit

  • Legends consider Ezhuthachan as a "gandharva" (divine being) who in his previous birth was a witness to the Great War in the Mahabharata.<ref name=":11MenonLegends">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • As a young boy Ezhuthachan corrected the Brahmins at Trikkandiyoor Temple.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" />
  • The Brahmins grew uneasy and gave the boy some plantains to eat, and as a resulting inebriety the boy lost his speech.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" /> To counteract this Ezhuthachan's father gave him palm beverage and the boy had his speech restored.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" /> Ezhuthachan remained addicted to intoxicants.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" />
  • Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning and Arts, is believed to have helped him to complete the Devi Mahatmya.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" />
  • Ezhuthachan is credited with endowing a monkey with the gift of speech.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" />
  • It is believed that the Raja of Ambalappuzha requested him to decipher a Telugu manuscript on Adhyatma Ramayanam.<ref name=":11MenonLegends" />
  • It is also said that Ezhuthachan had a young daughter, who copied his works for the first time.<ref name="AMenonEfamily">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":6BurnellDaughter">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":8LoganDaughter">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Ezhuthachan or his follower Suryanarayanan predicted the downfall of zamorin's family (the then rulers of Kozhikode). And the zamorin sought his help to perform a Sakteya Puja.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • It is said that Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri sought the advice of Ezhuthachan on how to start his Narayaneeyam.<ref name="ref003" />

ContributionsEdit

Template:Hinduism small Ezhuthachan—although he lived around sixteenth century AD—has been called the "father of modern Malayalam", or, alternatively, the "father of Malayalam literature". His success even in his own lifetime seems to have been great.<ref name=":8" /> No original compositions are attributed to Ezhuthachan.<ref name=":8" /> His main works generally are based on Sanskrit compositions.<ref name=":8" /> Linguists are unanimous in assigning Adhyatma Ramayanam and Sri Mahabharatam to Ezhuthachan. The Ramayanam—the most popular work—depicts the hero, Rama, an ideal figure both as man and god.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":Pollock479" /> Sri Mahabharatam omits all episodes not strictly relevant to the story of the Pandavas and is generally considered as a work of greater literary merit than the Ramayanam.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> However, there is no unanimity among the scholars about the authorship of certain other works generally ascribed to him.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":Pollock479" /> These include the Brahmanda Puranam, Uttara Ramayanam, Devi Mahatmyam, and Harinama Kirtanam.<ref name=":112MinorWorks">Template:Cite book</ref>

Ezhuthachan's other major contribution has been in mainstreaming (the current) Malayalam alphabet (derived chiefly from the Sanskrit Grantha, or the Arya Script) as the replacement for the old Vattezhuthu (the then-30-letter script of Malayalam).<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":5" /> The Arya script permitted the free use of Sanskrit in Malayalam writing.<ref name=":8" />

Ezhuthachan movementEdit

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I would not at all rule out a level of critique of the prevailing religious order of [Kerala] society, though only implicit and certainly not overtly pitched in caste or class terms, in Eluttacchan's sectarian teachings. It is quite possible, for instance, for Eluttacchan to have been defending the religious potency of his literary form against those who might be deaf to its message, without thereby singling out Brahmanical Sanskritic and priestly religious forms for attack.{{#if:Rich Freeman (2003)The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala|{{#if:|}}

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Ezhuthachan introduced a movement of domesticated religious textuality in Kerala.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> He was a significant voice of the Bhakti movement in south India.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> The Bhakti movement was a collective opposition to Brahmanical excesses and the moral and political decadence of the then-Kerala society.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> The shift of literary production in Kerala to a largely Sanskritic, puranic religiosity is attributed this movement.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> Ezhuthachan's school promoted popular and non-Brahman (Bhakti) literary production.<ref name=":Pollock481" /><ref name=":Pollock479" /> His works were also a general opposition against the moral decadence of the 16th century Kerala society.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":Pollock479" />

Father of Modern MalayalamEdit

The Middle Malayalam (Madhyakaala Malayalam) was succeeded by Modern Malayalam (Aadhunika Malayalam) by 15th century CE.<ref name="Malabar">Template:Cite book</ref> The poem Krishnagatha written by Cherusseri Namboothiri, who was the court poet of the king Udaya Varman Kolathiri (1446 – 1475) of Kolathunadu, is written in modern Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> The language used in Krishnagatha is the modern spoken form of Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> During the 16th century CE, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan from the Kingdom of Tanur and Poonthanam Nambudiri from the Kingdom of Valluvanad followed the new trend initiated by Cherussery in their poems. The Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu and Mahabharatham Kilippattu written by Ezhuthachan and Jnanappana written by Poonthanam are also included in the earliest form of Modern Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> It is Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan who is also credited with the development of Malayalam script into the current form through the intermixing and modification of the erstwhile scripts of Vatteluttu, Kolezhuthu, and Grantha script, which were used to write the inscriptions and literary works of Old and Middle Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> He further eliminated excess and unnecessary letters from the modified script.<ref name="mlm">Template:Cite book</ref> Hence, Ezhuthachan is also known as The Father of modern Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> The development of modern Malayalam script was also heavily influenced by the Tigalari script, which was used to write the Tulu language, due to the influence of Tuluva Brahmins in Kerala.<ref name="mlm"/> The language used in the Arabi Malayalam works of 16th-17th century CE is a mixture of Modern Malayalam and Arabic.<ref name="mlm"/> They follow the syntax of modern Malayalam, though written in a modified form of Arabic script, which is known as Arabi Malayalam script.<ref name="mlm"/>

P. Shungunny Menon ascribes the authorship of the medieval work Keralolpathi, which describes the Parashurama legend and the departure of the final Cheraman Perumal king to Mecca, to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan.<ref>History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon, page 28</ref>

Adhyatma Ramayanam KilippattuEdit

Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu, written in the parrot-song style, is Ezhuthachan's principle work.<ref name=":10" /> It is not an adaptation from the original Valmiki Ramayana, but a translation of the Adhyatma Ramayana, a Sanskrit text connected with the Ramanandi sect.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> The poem is composed in nearly-modern Malayalam.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> It depicts Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, as an ideal figure (both as man and god-incarnate, the Bhakti interpretation).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":10" />

The text spread with phenomenal popularity throughout Kerala middle-caste homes as a material for domestic devotional recitation.<ref name=":Pollock479" /> Throughout the Malayalam month of Karkkidakam, Adhyatma Ramayanam is still recited—as a devotional practice—in the middle-caste homes of Kerala.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

But it is worth listening when the later tradition assigns a primal role to Eluttacchan. It tells us something about the

place of this multiform narrative, the Ramayana, in constituting the core of a literary tradition; about the enduring historical importance of the moment when a subaltern social formation achieved the literacy that in the South Asian world conditioned the culturally significant type of textuality we may call literature; and about literature as requiring, in the eyes of many readers and listeners, a particular linguistic register, in this case, the highly Sanskritized.{{#if:Sheldon PollockLiterary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia (2003)|{{#if:|}}

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According to critic K. Ayyappa Panicker, those who see Adhyatma Ramayanam merely as a devotional work "belittle" Ezhuthachan.<ref name=":0" />

StyleEdit

Parrot-song styleEdit

  • Known in Malayalam as the Kilippattu genre.<ref name=":Pollock480" />
  • A convention Ezhuthachan adapted from Old Tamil.<ref name=":10" />
  • Recited to a poet by a parrot (the frame of the parrot-narrator).<ref name=":Pollock480">Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Thematic focus: epic or Puranic traditions.<ref name=":Pollock480" />
  • Intended for recitation or singing.<ref name=":Pollock480" />

Lexicon and grammar

  • Heavily Sanskritic lexicon with many Sanskrit nominal terminations (lexical distinctions between Manipravalam and the Pattu styles are not visible).<ref name=":Pollock480" /><ref name=":10" />
  • No Sanskrit verbal forms or long compounds.<ref name=":Pollock480" />
  • Most of the grammatical structures are in Malayalam (the frame of the parrot-narrator and the constituent meters).<ref name=":Pollock480" />
  • Assembled in an array of Dravidian meters (in simple metrical couplets).<ref name=":Pollock480" /><ref name=":10" />
    • "Keka" for Bala Kandha and Aranya Kandha<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ref003" />
    • "Kakali" for Ayodhya, Kishkindha and Yuddha Kandha<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ref003" />
    • "Kalakanchi" for Sundara Kandha<ref name=":0" /><ref name="ref003" />

CasteEdit

Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan's caste is arguable. It is only known that he belonged to a lower caste (Shudra or Shudra-grade).<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":Pollock479" /><ref name=":10" />

The two most popular opinions are Ezhuthachan and Nair, with Kaniyar being less popular.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

EzhuthachanEdit

Ezhuthachan caste is a socio-economic caste of village school teachers.

According to Arthur C. Burnell, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan belonged to the Ezhuthachan or "school master" caste.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Writer K. Balakrishna Kurup also reports the same, in his book Viswasathinte Kanappurangal.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> E. P. Bhaskara Guptan, a writer and independent researcher of local history from Kadampazhipuram; supports Kurup's conclusion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historian Velayudhan Panikkassery expresses the same opinion.<ref name="Ezhuthachan opposed social evils: Vysakhan">Template:Cite news</ref>

NairEdit

The Chakkala Nair caste had the rights to enter brahmanical temples and to participate in worships.

The Malayalam poet and historian Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer agree that Ezhuthachan belonged to this caste and conclude that he could be Vattekattu Nair because he visited brahmanical temples and engaged in worship, which is not allowed for the Ezuthacan caste.

William Logan, officer of the Madras Civil Service under the English India Company Government, expresses a similar opinion in his Malabar Manual and states that Thunchaththu Ezuthachan was "a man of Sudra (Nayar) caste".<ref name=":9" /> Kottarathil Shankunni wrote in his Aithihyamala that the term Ezhuthachan is nothing but a title taken up by school teachers belonging to several castes<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> mainly by Nairs in Northern kerala indicating that Ezhuthachan was a Nair.

KaniyarEdit

Some sources consider him to be Kaniyar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This community of traditional astrologers were well versed in Sanskrit and Malayalam.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During the medieval period, amongst the non-Brahmin castes which traditionally learnt Sanskrit, the Kaniyar community was involved in Sanskrit learning as part of their craft. They were learned people and had knowledge in astrology, mathematics, mythology and Ayurveda.<ref name=":4" /> They were generally assigned as preceptors of martial art and literacy.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="The Hindu">Template:Cite news</ref>

In addition to the common title Panicker, the members of Kaniyar from the South Travancore and Malabar region were known as Aasaan, Ezhuthu Aasans, or Ezhuthachans (Father of Letters),<ref name="The Hindu" /> by virtue of their traditional avocational function as village school masters to non-Brahmin pupils.<ref name=":3" />

LegacyEdit

The parrot-song genre, pioneered by Ezhuthachan, inaugurated the production of many similar works in Malayalam.<ref name=":Pollock480" />

The highest literary honour awarded by the Government of Kerala is known as the "Ezhuthachan Puraskaram".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sooranad Kunjan Pillai was the first recipient of the honour (1993).<ref name="mathrubhumi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Malayalam University, established by Kerala Government in 2012, is named after Ezhuthachan.

Initiation to LettersEdit

The sand from the compound where the house of Ezhuthachan stood once is considered as sacred.<ref name=":11" /> It is a tradition in north Kerala to practise the art of writing in the beginning on the sand with the first finger.<ref name=":11" />

MonumentsEdit

  • Ezhuthachan was born at Trikkandiyoor in northern Kerala.<ref name=":8" /> His birthplace is now known as Thunchan Parambu.<ref name="ref003" />
  • Chittur Gurumadhom is located near present-day Palakkad. The madhom is flanked by temples of gods Rama and Siva. The street has an array of agraharas (where the twelve Brahmin families who migrated along with Ezhuthachan live).<ref name=":7" />
  • Ezhuthachan's samadhi is also situated at Chittur (in Palakkad).<ref name="ref003" />

RelicsEdit

  • Some relics of Ezhuthachan or his age were sacredly preserved at the Chittur madhom.<ref name=":8" /> This included the original manuscripts and the clogs used by him.<ref name=":8" /> These artifacts were destroyed in a fire 30 or 40 years before William Logan. Only the Bhagavatam was saved from the fire.<ref name=":8" />
  • Scholar A. C. Burnell examined this Bhagavatam (and a stool, clogs and a staff) in the late 19th century. These objects probably belongd to one of the first followers of Ezhuthachan.<ref name=":8" />
  • Stool, clog and the staff (seen by Burnell) were destroyed in a second fire. This fire destroyed the original Bhagavatam also.<ref name=":8" />
  • Copies of a sri chakra and the idols worshipped by Ezhuthachan, the stylus, the wooden slippers, and a few old manuscripts are exhibited for visitors at Chittur madhom.<ref name=":2" />

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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