REPORT ON THE 6th
INTERNATIONAL VEDIC WORKSHOP
The 6th International Vedic Workshop was held at
Kozhikode (Calicut), in Kerala, India, from January 7-10, 2014. Exactly 117
persons had registered and 57 scholarly papers were delivered during these days
of proceedings, see http://www.ivw2014.org/images/IVW-Program-Format.pdf. Speakers came from India, Europe, Japan and America, with
about equal numbers for each of these four areas. One of the two Harvard
graduate students who participated was sponsored by Harvard’s South Asia
Institute, for which we are grateful.
Dr. Parvathy, only female Ṛgveda reciter in Kerala
As I have
experienced myself, and as I have also heard from many participants, all of us were
extremely pleased by the smooth organization of the conference and of the
cultural performances connected with it. The meetings were held in a
cooperative and extremely friendly atmosphere that did not allow any extraneous
intrusions of matters that were not linked to the four Vedas. As a result, the
Workshop was held in the same scholarly manner as at any of the previous
locations over the years (Harvard University 1989, Kyoto University 1999, Leiden
University 2002, University of Texas Austin 2007, Centre for Eurasiatic and
Afroasiatic Studies, Bucharest 2011).
This scholarly atmosphere was no doubt achieved through the
strict, double blind selection procedure for proposed papers, headed by Prof.
Shrikant Bahulkar (Pune): neither the scholar who had proposed a paper nor its three
anonymous reviewers knew about each other. Which sometimes led to the amusing
situation that a certain reviewer would admonish the author of a proposed paper
to include some recently published details – published by the very author of
the paper… Thus, papers that were not philologically, culturally or
linguistically supported were excluded by the judgment of the reviewers, and we
could enjoy a proper, scholarly conference. During the workshop
meetings papers were delivered smoothly, without any untoward interruption of
any sort; a cooperative, civil atmosphere prevailed; in the same way, questions
and answer were to the point.
It also needs to be
stressed that Hindutva forces did not appear that all, though there had been a little
agitation since last summer, and a few internet notes appeared during and after
the conference. -- However nothing
untoward materialized during the workshop. One “reformed” Hindutva writer, Dr. K.
Elst (Belgium), attended the workshop. So, when I saw him, on the day before
the start of the conference, giving a long TV interview in an annex of the
hotel, I assumed that some surprise might be in store. However he confined
himself to put 2 questions to 2 speakers, somewhat insistently and even a bit aggressively.
They were easily brushed aside by the speakers, one of them Indian, the other
one American. Immediately after the end of the conference he published a blog
describing the workshop, while adding some comments from his point of view, again
discussing the so-called Aryan invasion, which was never brought up during the
4 days of deliberations as by now it is a purely political and not a scholarly
topic.
My only regret is that we had so many vetted papers for
these four days that some had to be presented in a parallel session.
That made me miss a number of presentations I would have liked to listen to.
Perhaps next time around we should limit the number of speakers and simply post, but not read out, some of the
papers. Nevertheless, the papers are to
be published, hopefully already in 2014, so that we will be able to read them, beyond
the published summaries.
It is of
course impossible to give an account of all papers delivered, see: http://www.ivw2014.org/images/IVW-Program-Format.pdf. We
focused on the Vedic texts themselves, their rituals, their scholarly
interpretation, and their traditional performance, especially that of Kerala.
In one word:
the workshop was extremely well prepared and organized by the local committee,
headed by its chief coordinator Dr. Vinod Bhattathiripad (www.namboothiri.com). Other members were: Dr. P. Bhaskaran Nayar, Lincoln
University, UK, Prof. M. G. S. Narayanan, Former Chairman, Indian Council of
Historical Research, Prof. C. M. Neelakantan, Former Professor (Veda), Sree
Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala, India, Prof. C. Rajendran,
Professor (Sanskrit), University of Calicut, Kerala, India.
Dr. Vinod Bhattathiripad
The workshop had been vigorously prepared for many months. The
committee paid close attention to all the minute details, from the selection of
the venue in a comfortable hotel, to the location of the several Veda
performances, to the many technical details such as
computer projection, and the ready assistance
extended by the organizers and their very helpful staff. Indeed, the
location was congenial and the conference facilities were excellent. In depth
discussions were facilitated by a handing around a microphone. Coffee, tea and
lunch were served just next to the conference rooms, providing us with an
additional occasion for discussion and conversation.
As mentioned, we hope to speedily publish the presentations in
the conference volume that is scheduled to appear within a year. This has
unfortunately not been the norm for previous conferences. The Harvard volume,
for a host of reasons, appeared with great delay, the Kyoto one was not
published, the Leiden one was published fairly quickly, the Austin one is still
in press, and the Bucharest one is now nearing completion. (It is to be
published in Harvard Oriental Series, Opera
Minora in two volumes).
There also are plans to put all previous papers, as far as
copyright laws allow, on a website designated for the International Vedic Workshops,
to be maintained in Kerala. This is another laudable initiative of the
coordinator of the 2014 workshop, for which we cannot thank him enough.
****
Cultural Performances
Participants were also very happy about the cultural
features presented on each of the four days: a grand Kūṭiyāṭṭam performance, a
varied program of classical and popular forms of theater and dance at the Craft
village, a Karnatic flute recital by Shri Kudamaaloor Janardhanan, and finally
an Akṣara Śloka demonstration (of Sanskrit and Manipravaala ślokas) concatenating
the Śloka of one text, recited by one participant, to another Śloka recited by
a different person.
Veda demonstrations
The proceedings of the Workshop included, as mentioned, a
visit to the Sargālaya Craft Village
on the second day. Almost all prominent Veda branches (śākhā) of Kerala were brought together.
We could view and listen to the
recitation and performance of Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda and Yajurveda texts: that of the
Śākala Ṛgveda (Kauṣītaki style), that of the Taittirīya Yajurveda (Baudhāyana),
and that of the Jaiminīya Sāmaveda, sung by Nambudiris of central Kerala
(Paññal) and that of an additional sub-school, the Tamil
Jaiminīya Sāmaveda, as preserved at Kodunthirappilly, in the Palakkad area on the border with
Tamil Nadu.
The reciters of these Vedas
demonstrated specimens of their individual traditions, their teaching methods,
and of some of the ‘games’ that are used to ensure correct transmission. For
example, for the Ṛgveda: the Muṭippacca and Paccaratha, and the vāram (Kallu vetchu vaaram). The latter
recitation was performed by Dr. Naaras Ravindran Nambuthiri, Dr. Mannur
Jatavedan and Kothamangalam Vasudevan Nambuthiri. Dr. Parvathy, a Veda student
of Dr. Ravindran, opened the Workshop with her recitation. She is the only
female Ṛgveda reciter in Kerala.
The Yajurveda in its
Taittirīya recension was presented by the prominent Baudhāyanas, while the rare
Vādhūla śākhā was missing. However, to my delight, I could
inquire about them with the Baudhāyana Yajurveda teacher of Iriñjalakuḍa, and
could actually hear and record the
differences in reciting, during rituals, of the Taittirīya texts according to the
Baudhāyana and Vādhūla schools; (the Saṃhitā is said to be recited in the same
way). The Vādhūla recitation indeed differs somewhat from the common
Baudhāyana style. It is actively
preserved and taught only in two Manas in the Iriñjalakuḍa area (see the
forthc. volume of the Bucharest conference). Our colleagues who work on the
rare Vādhūla traditions definitely need to follow up on this particular, so far
neglected aspect.
Another intriguing point that
we noticed was the dominance of the Kauṣītakis, who even recited the Ṛgveda
portions in an Atirātra Agnicayana performed in Āśvalāyana style in 2012, at
Kaimukku. The ritual procedure was based on written Āśvalāyana handbooks
(Pākazhiya) of Kāpra Mana.
However, in spite of the
strong Vedic traditions in Kerala, unfortunately some transmissions of
recitation have died out over the past few decades. (The Atharvaveda has been
absent in South India for at least 500 years but has recently been reintroduced
in some south Indian locations, based on its Gujarat-Maharastra-Benares
tradition).
The recitation by Erkkara Raman Nambudiri
of the Kauṣ. Brāhmaṇa, fortunately recorded by E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma, is continued today by his
disciple Naras Ravindran Nambudiri, but that of the Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad has
died out. We still have to find out more details about the traditions of the Āśvalāyanas of Kerala.
It is also known that
around 1960 the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa was still recited by a Nambudiri Sāmavedin,
but when the late professor K.L. Janert of Cologne finally succeeded to get a
tape recorder through customs, the old man had just lost his voice and died a
year later. It is a great pity that we do not have his recitation, as
recitation always is better than manuscripts, and this large and important
Vedic text still exists only in a rather provisional edition.
Similarly, some of the
texts of the Ṛgveda and Yajurveda are no longer learned by heart and recited.
Thus, we definitely see a certain amount of shrinking of the ancient Veda
tradition of Kerala, though this is now counterbalanced, to some extent, by
tape and video recordings.
Thus, luckily the Nambudiri
Jaiminīya Sāmaveda has been recorded on
tape by some of last prominent reciters, such as Itti Ravi (see above). The Śaṅkara University in Kailady, central
Kerala, has released it in a complete collection of 95 discs; for the history
of this recording, see
There also exists a rare CD collection of the complete Ṛgveda
in Nambudiri style that no longer seems to be available for sale. Luckily, I
managed, through the help of a friend, to get hold of a set (and can make it
available). CD
disks of the Kerala Yajurveda, with 24 extracts, also exist.
CULTURAL TOUR
The workshop was followed by a “cultural tour” (http://www.ivw2014.org/Cultural_tour.html),
efficiently and expertly lead by Dr. C.M. Neelakantan, a Nambudiri Ṛgvedin and
Veda professor emeritus of the Śaṅkara
University at Kailady, Kerala. The tour brought us to various Brahmin villages
in central Kerala, where the traditional way of Veda teaching and the
performance of certain Vedic Śrauta rituals has been continued until today. I
must underline that we were extremely well treated at all locations, with our
Brahmin hosts coming forward without any hesitation to show us their houses,
traditions and demonstrating their Veda learning. All provided us with tasty
lunches, served in the traditional style on banana leaves, and tea as the case
may be. We are very grateful for their unparalleled hospitality and their willingness to recite and sing their texts for us.
Prof. C.M. Neelankantan, at a Workshop meeting
On the first day of the tour we paid a visit to Olappamanna
Mana near Palakkad (Palghat). http://olappamannamana.com/. We could view and walk around, at length, through this traditional
Nambudiri estate and its surrounding spice gardens. A mana is a traditional complex, with several courtyards and a
number of outlying houses. In Kerala tradition only the eldest son of a Brahmin
married a Nambudiri woman, inherited the estate and lived in the compound,
while the younger brothers either became ascetics, or more commonly entered
into a marriage-like relationship (sambandham)
with women from outside their own caste. They usually were interested in and
furthered various traditional arts of Kerala.
At this mana, we
were treated to a (very) loud, one hour performance of a local ensemble,
Thaayambaka, consisting of several drum players. That impressive
onslaught of half a dozen drums, talking to each other, produced some lasting ear
trouble for some members. The drummers must have permanently damaged ears…
However, I escaped by politely putting up my arm, hand to cheek, holding one
ear, but finally could not resist putting an earphone into the other. I escaped without ringing ears.
In the afternoon we witnessed
an elaborate Kālī pūjā in Tantric style, called Kalam Ezhuti Paatu. A colorful
“sand” painting of the deity gradually emerged as it was drawn on the ground by
using many types of colors, in a style resembling Tibetan and Navajo sand
paintings. After the end of the ritual the image was quickly erased, just as in
Tibetan ritual.
(2) The next day we
proceeded to the village Kodunthirappilly, near Palakkad, where Tamil Brahmins
have settled long ago and still preserve their unique style of Jaiminīya
Sāmaveda singing. They demonstrated several examples, with some older members
of the group singing by rote while most others referred to their handwritten
copybooks.
In one house we were shown pictures of their
ancestors: in one of the frames there was a small photo of Sāmaveda specialist
Wayne Howard (Winona, MI) who had visited the village decades ago.
Jaiminīya Sāmaveda singers at Kodunthirappilly
From this village near the borders of Tamil Nadu we retraced
our steps and visited several Nambudiri settlements in central Kerala. The next
place was the Jaiminīya Sāmaveda village of Paññal, near Cheruthuruthi, where
the 2011 Atirātra ritual had been held that some of us, presently or previously
at Harvard, could visit. Unfortunately a member of the family had died a few
days earlier and so there was no Sāmaveda performance.
(3) Thrissur Brahmasva
Madhom and Kaimukku Mana.
The next days we visited
the famous Brahmasva Madhom at Thrissur, took an extended tour of this
old institution and could witness Ṛgveda, Yajurveda teaching and recitation.
The Madhom is one of the three traditional
centers of Ṛgveda teaching. Nowadays the Yajurveda is also taught there. At
present there are some 2-3 dozen students for each Veda.
Brahmasva Madhom and Veda students
In the
afternoon we visited the Kaimukku mana,
where we could see the remnants of an Atirātra Agnicayana that had been
performed in the time of our young local guide’s great-grandfather. The ritual
ground, in a field a little distant from the mana, is now completely overgrown. A tree emerges from the body of
the Agnicayana altar, but its tail could be made out clearly. So does Vedic
archaeology develop. (For an attested case see the nearly two thousand year old
yūpa pole found in the Yamunā near
Mathura: it has been preserved as it was replicated in stone). The same was true for the 1956 one
at Paññal, where several trees have grown from the body of the altar, now
situated in a newly sprung up forest.
However, the fire altar of the 2011 ritual at Paññal has been completely taken down, and the offering ground has reverted to a rice field; only a well belonging to the ritual ground is preserved. By contrast, at Kaimukku, the altar of the 2012 Agnicayana has been laboriously reconstructed in the courtyard of the mana, painted in crimson red. Kaimukku Raman Akkithiripad has performed this Atirātra in March 2012 with the recitation and singing of the Āśvalāyana Ṛgveda, Jaiminīya Sāmaveda and Baudhāyana Yajurveda (while using the Pākazhiya Caṭṭaṅṅu of Kāpra Mana, though the hautra was taught by Ravindran of Naras Mana, a Kauṣītaki), In the evening, at sunset, we could also witness a performance of the Agnihotra. For many participants this was the first time they could witness this hoary fire ritual Agnihotra, and they eagerly filmed the proceedings.
Naras and Kavapra Mana
(4) The next day we moved on to Naras mana (near Edappal, Malappuram district), where we could view
various aspects of Ṛgveda chanting, lead by Dr. Nāras Ravindran Nambudiri. Apart
from demonstrations of Ṛgveda recitation and teaching, a vāram was demonstrated as well.
The Harvard team had visited his estate in 2011, and we were very glad to be back with two of our Graduate students, Finnian Gerety and Caley Smith. (For our 2011 visit see:
Preparing for vāram recitation of Ṛgveda at Naras Mana
The Harvard team had visited his estate in 2011, and we were very glad to be back with two of our Graduate students, Finnian Gerety and Caley Smith. (For our 2011 visit see:
http://southasiainstitute.harvard.edu/2012/08/harvards-wales-professor-of-sanskrit-michael-witzel-and-students-attend-3000-year-old-atiratra-agnicayana-ritual-in-kerala/).
Dr. Naras Ravindran and Prof. T.P. Mahadevan
Finally we
moved to Kaa(va)pra Mana and visited Kaavapra Sankara Narayanan Akkathiripad,
who had performed an Atirātra in 2012, employing Kauṣītaki Ṛgvedins, Baudhāyana
Yajurvedins and the Jaiminīya Sāmavedins.
In sum, we had a very good
experience. All the organizers in Kerala deserve our warm, deep gratitude. Many
of us look forward to another visit to Kerala and its friendly Nambudiri
Brahmins…
Some workshop members at Naras Mana
Now we eagerly await the
next Workshop, probably to be held in Europe in a few years.
