In the Fifties, two brothers settled in Manacaud near the Fort area. The brothers, T.N. Kochu Kunju Achari (1890-1960) and his younger brother T.N. Padmanabhan Achari (1893-1987), hailed from the famed Edavancaud family of Cheriyanad village in Chengannur taluk. They were not new to the city, as both of them had visited and stayed in the Fort, working in their capacity as the kottaram moothacharis .
As chief craftsmen to the Travancore royal family, members of the Edavancaud Chattoth Thiruvambadi family were truly the nobles among the traditional Vishwakarma clan.
The title of Edavankadu Achari was given to the eldest male members of the family; they attended to all the major construction and religious activities concerning the royal family of erstwhile Travancore. The members of the family were also the head craftsmen of the Subramanya temple of Harippad. The renovation works of the ancient temple were carried out under the order of the then Maharaja of Travancore Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma. The works, which commenced in 1920s, was carried out by T.N. Kochu Kunju Achari, his younger brother T.N. Padmanabhan Achari and their cousin G. Padmanabhan Achari (Padmanabhan Achari was the maternal grandfather of Jagathy Sreekumar).
However, what made the fame of the brothers spread far and wide were the life size and miniature wooden figurines of Kathakali characters they created. According to P. Neelakantan Achari, the youngest son of T.N. Padmanabhan Achari, it was Sethu Parvathy Bai, the Amma Maharani of the royal family of Travancore, who asked his father and his brother to craft the Kathakali figures.
She asked the craftsmen to observe the Kathakali plays that were staged for the royals. Following her order, the brothers went to Fort Palace complex and closely studied the Kathakali artistes.
They made detailed sketches of the characters and their costumes and attire. The sketches formed a base for their carvings in ‘kumbil’ wood.
The royal family of Travancore owned many of the masterpieces made by the brothers. The life-size Kathakali figures made by the brothers are now exhibited in Kowdiar Palace, Pattom Palace, Kuthira Malika and Napier museum, as well as in various museums across the country and around the world. For their services, the brothers were presented veerasringalas.
Soon after they made Thiruvananthapuram their abode, Kochu Kunju Achari passed away. After his death, the hereditary title was passed down to his younger brother T.N. Padmanabhan Achari. The craftsman’s profound knowledge on silpasastra made him the supervisor in charge of the new idol made for Sabarimala temple.
In 1966, he received the first National Award for woodcarving from Dr. Radhakrishnan, the President of India. T.N. Padmanabhan Achari relocated to Pattom where the master craftsman spent the rest of his life.
(The author is a conservation architect and history buff. This is an excerpt from his blog >Tales of Travancore )
