Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS)

 

Venmani Namboorippaadanmaar (വെണ്മണി നമ്പൂതിരിപ്പാടന്മാർ) 

Author’s Note: This article is my personal retelling of the story “Kadamattathu Kathanar” from the legendary collection of Kerala folklore, Aithihyamala, originally compiled by Kottarathil Sankunni.

Venmani was a powerful Brahmin family of ancient Kerala, which was spread across the land with family branches and cadets already. Even today, there are a few places and houses that share the same name. This Aithihyamala story is not about the famous poets Venmani Achhan or Venmani Mahan, but about an ancestor from their Illam (ancestral Namboothiri home).

You know Kerala’s popular Thrissur Pooram at Vadakkunnathan temple, right? These events are set in the area.

This Venmani Namboothiri is notably slow-witted and simple. Knowledge and learning having betrayed him, he chose Brahmacharya (celibacy) and Bhakti (devotion) as his spiritual path (which I’d say is wise!)

Those days, a Yakshi haunted the outskirts of the Vadakkunnathan temple area, defeating, seducing, playing mind games with, and killing several men.

Once Venmani Namboothiri treaded the path to where she was. Yakshi - stunningly beautiful woman and hauntingly powerful - stood before him.

But Namboothiri was too innocent and clueless, surprising the Yakshi. This was the first man she came across who was unafraid of her. Namboothiri was instead drawn to her. 

They share a blissful union, marking Namboothiri's first-ever intimate experience. It was described as supremely blissful ("paramanandakaram") for them both.

Finding it hard to separate from each other, Yakshi is invited to Venmani Illam. She decides to be his secret "Yakshi Patni" (Yakshi Wife). 

The town was now free of the Yakshi. And Venmani Namboothiri suddenly started showing intellectual prowess and power owing to his invisible companion. People believed that he subjugated the Yakshi.

They shared an affection based on their inherent innocence.

Elders asked the now “eligible” Namboothiri to marry and perform his worldly duties by bringing forth heirs. Yakshi too thought it was fitting and that the pure-hearted person deserved heirs. 

Namboothiri performed Veli (Namboothiri wedding ceremony) and brought home his Antharjanam (Namboothiri wife). Yakshi had asked him to spend alternate days with her, dividing half his time between the wives. So he told his human wife that he needed to spend alternate days learning and practicing in secret.

The Antharjanam gave birth to a son. When the child was old enough, Namboothiri arranged for his Upanayanam (the sacred thread ceremony). He announced that they were to expect an important guest a "special Antharjanam" and that no one should, under any circumstances, touch this special guest. Yakshi disguised as a Namboothiri lady graced the ceremony. 

When it was time for the ritual by which the chief/first wife of the father was to perform Bhiksha (giving the first alms to the son), Venmani Namboothiri called forth this guest to do it. 

The child’s mother, who believed she was his first and only wife felt insulted and betrayed. She couldn’t bear another woman taking her rightful place as the mother in her own son's ceremony. She rightfully confronted the “woman”. To get the stranger’s attention, the wife touched the disguised Yakshi without meaning to. The unexpected touch foiled the disguise. Everyone understood that she was a Yakshi.

This sparked protest and outrage. When asked to choose between the Yakshi and human life, Namboothiri, much to Yakshi’s surprise, chose his son. 

Enraged by the insult and the breaking of the promise, the Yakshi cast a curse on the Venmani family and left. By her curse, the lineage would only have either brilliant, short-lived or dimwitted, long-lived male heirs.