Not much can be googled on Swathi Thirunal Ambadevi Thampuratty, one of the first women poets of Malayalam. The rich body of writing that the blue-blooded, self-made author left behind in her 38 odd years of life is nothing short of a legacy. Yet, she is seldom mentioned in the canon of literary Malayalam’s architects. The book authored by Dr R P Raja, published recently to mark the 120th birth anniversary of Ambadevi, is a fitting, though belated, tribute to the short-lived efflorescence that defied the caged existence forced on women during her times.
The book devotes an entire chapter to map the obscure life that Ambadevi lived in the early years of 20th century at the Chemprol Palace in Harippad. Much as the young princess showed an extra-ordinary fervour for the written word, her indulgence was evidently curtailed by the limited exposure to the outside world. There is practically no access to information about the life that the writer in her had lived in those oppressive times. “The small details we have are gathered from memories of her children and relatives,” says Dr Raja, who is also the grandson of the princess.
The book has reproductions of portions from some of her published works including the poem ‘Sree Bhoothanathodayam’ and the translation of Melpathoor Narayana Bhattathiri’s ‘sanskrit text ‘Ashtami Prabandham’ . “The manuscript of her Sanskrit poem ‘Dasakumara Charitham’ has been partially retrieved. In its present form, the work has 1573 verses, but is evidently much longer,” says Dr Raja. “We have also been able to include her two unpublished works, ‘Ajamila Moksham’ and ‘Kanya Kubjathile Kadha’. While the former is in her own handwriting, the latter is a manuscript copied by her son C K Kerala Varma, who had earlier taken the initiative to compile two of her published verses,” he adds.
The obituary published in her honour in a literary magazine of her times, ‘Vanitha Kusumam’, mourning the death of ‘a patron and friend’ is a highlight. The article says that the princess used to refer to the magazine as ‘a dear companion’ (‘priya thozhi’). There are also extracts from poet Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer’s ‘Kerala Sahithya Charithram’ and Vadakkumkoor Rajaraja Varma’s ‘Keraleeya Samskritha Sahithya Charithram where Ambadevi is mentioned.
Dr Raja has appended the book with an extensively researched anthropology of the six branches of the Parappur family, originally belonging to Beypore. The descendants of the family are distributed over ‘Kovilakams’ in Changanassery, Thiruvalla, Kottayam, Harippad and Kilimanoor. The book chronicles the life and times of some of the stalwarts born in this lineage including Raja Ravi Varma and Professor Kumara Kerala Varma.