THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amazement flickered on the eyes of listeners as Aparna Gopan began narrating the tale of the city. A few of them had assembled in front of Villa Maya Heritage
restaurant.
“This beautiful restaurant was once the ‘Aramana Ammaveedu’ and has an interesting tale to tell. This ammaveedu was the residences of the consort of the Maharajahs of Travancore. Unlike the present day, where the property is inherited from the father, those times, it was inherited from the mother by the daughter revealing the strong matrilineal system that existed,” said Aparna.
Aparna, the storyteller from Storytrails, a Chennai-based business venture on culture tourism, was conducting a story walk in the city aimed at exploring the cultural past of the city.
Wowing the crowd with her story-telling skills, she prompted the small group to think about the past and present of the city.
Everything from the birth of Marthanda Varma to how he became the strongest king of Travancore, she revisited history through her words.
“You may think I am here to talk about the temple and gods, but I have something more to add to your curiosity. I will tell you more about the hidden history and strange truths,” said Aparna, who is also a resident of Thiruvananthapuram.
Her narration unravelled both historical and mythological tales of gods, goddesses and rulers, the differences they made and the customs and culture that prevailed then. In Travancore, the storyteller says, “Between the year 1829-1924, every other king who ruled Travancore carried the name ‘Rama Varma’. It was then that the priests decided to name them after their star.”
Other places covered in the trail were Thanjavur Ammaveedu, Padmanabhaswamy temple and Kovikkal Palace. The interesting stint in the trail was connected with the small temples near the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
She shared the famous story of ‘Ettuveetil Pillamar’ and that of a local community of fishermen who call themselves ‘Vellachi’, descendants of the Queen.”
In the three-hour walk which was untiring and informative, the storyteller unravelled 22 stories. The Storytrails, founded by Vijay Prabhat Kamalakara, has been conducting regular story-walks in the city as per demand. “We conduct these trails only after proper research.
We have a panel of historians who give guidance to the storytellers before they present the stories,” said Aditi Radhakrishnan who runs the city-based branch of Storytrails. They train the local storytellers who carry the event forward. Besides this ‘Kingdom of God’s Trail’, they also plan to conduct ‘Spice Trail’ and ‘Bazaar trail’ in the city soon.
Isabel Noble, a participant, with Aparna Gopan and Aditi Radhakrishnan