Malayalam University to re-release Kerala Natakam

MALAPPURAM: The Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University will release of Kerala Natakam, a rare book believed to be written by 15th-century poet Thunchath Ezhuthachan and recovered from the Gundert Archive of Tubingen University in Germany last year, in Kozhikode on Wednesday. The book reintroduced along with the manuscript of Hermann Gundert comes as part of a publication series named Gundert Rekhalaya Parampara which includes rare and out of print Malayalam works of early centuries kept in the archives of the German university.

The books including Kerala Natakam were found and catalogued by Dr Scaria Zacharia who was the head of the Gundert Chair for Malayalam Studies at the Tubingen University. Some of the works were later recovered and transcribed by Dr M. Sreenathan, head of the department of the linguistics at the Malayalam University, during his visit to the German university for the purpose of republication. The two universities had signed an MoU last year on the project. The Kerala natakam, which sheds light on the early history of the society formation and caste system in Kerala, will be a treasure trove for the historians and academicians, Dr Sreenathan said.

Many of the literary historians including Ulloor had mentioned about this work which was not available in any of the archives in Kerala or the country and written about its historical significance. “There are differences among the historians regarding the author of the work," he says. "Some believe that this was a work by Thunchath Ezhuthachan and transcribed by Gundert as part of his collection of Malayalam books of that age. But, in fact, Ezhuthachan had not written anything rather than poetry.” The book's publication may encourage more researches on its content that would help to assert its original author.