Its once again time for the Malayalam calendar as the new year of the Malayalam era is at the doorstep. For the sixth consecutive year, Moozhikulam Sala will bring out the calendar in ‘Vattezhuthu' or older Malayalam script – but this time with many new features.
As a regular feature, the details of months from Chingam to Karkidakom in Malayalam era year of 1187, which will begin on August 17, will be there. Along with that, there will be ‘Njattuvela' calendar that used to guide farmers in the land, ‘Sankranti' calendar that follows the path of the Sun through the year and ‘Amma Malayalam' calendar that will introduce the Malayalam script with the help of English phonetics.
“The calendar is so planned as to make it informative, mostly for children, as all the 18 leaves feature traditional wisdom and snippets related to a nature-friendly lifestyle,” says T.R. Premkumar of Moozhikulam Sala, who prepared this calendar.
Over the years, the Malayalam calendar has generated much interest, not just among students and those nostalgic about the past. “There is definitely an element of curiosity and nostalgia. But of late, many professionals like document writers and advocates have been asking for a copy of it, as it helps them to track Malayalam era dates and months. So is the case of astrologers,” says Mr. Premkumar.
A main feature of this calendar is that it gives details of the corresponding month in Roman calendar and introduces the ‘njattuvela' or seasonal cycle for agriculture based on native wisdom in detail. “One ‘njattuvela' season is divided into blocks of thirteen-and-a-half days each. Even though these are not strictly followed, it used to be the base of traditional agricultural practice as outlined in the book ‘Krushigeeta' whose author is unknown. People now know only about Thiruvathira njattuvela and not that there are at least 10 important njattuvelas,” he says.
Another highlight of the new edition of the Malayalam calendar is the inclusion of 10 ‘pasuras' or slokas, believed to have been written by a Tamil Bhakti poet. Renowned poet Attoor Ravi Varma had translated these from Tamil and this has been used in the calendar. Mr. Premkumar can be contacted at 94470 21246 or 94959 81246.
