Marayur is a household name in Kerala, famous as it is for its jaggery and sandalwood, but this sleepy village in the foothills of the Western Ghats with the legacy of human settlements dating back to pre-historic times is on a steady slide to ruin even as it seeks to hog the limelight by winning the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for its unique jaggery.
The village, situated on the banks of the Pambar river, one of the three east-flowing rivers in the State, is a favourite destination of filmmakers and tourists. The caves here sport exquisite paintings and the place is literally littered with dolmen that are more than 5,000 years old. Vandalism is rampant in the areas where the dolmens are located and the authorities are yet to wake up to the heavy loss that the State’s historical legacy suffers every time a dolmen is pulled apart by some land shark or an insensitive settler.
Marayur, which could translate either as ‘land under a shadow’ or ‘hideout,’ is one of the five villages in the Anchunadu valley (the others being Kanthallur, Keezhanthur, Karayur and Kottakudy, the last now in Tamil Nadu). It is believed that disciples of a ruler defeated in the Chera-Chola wars migrated to the Anchunadu valley and lived here. Although located in a rain shadow area, Marayur is irrigated by rivulets and streams originating from the Western Ghats.
Sugarcane
The green sugarcane fields extending to a large area is a visual feast for a visitor. As one field is harvested for jaggery production, the nearby one will be ready for the next harvest and the process goes on. The traditional method of jaggery production would keep any first time visitor to Marayur riveted for hours as there is something ritualistic about the whole process involving crushing of the sugarcane, to its transformation into jaggery kept in cauldrons under thatched sheds in the sugarcane fields.
No chemical preservative is used in jaggery-making at Marayur and involves tremendous physical labour, the outcome of which is jaggery that is dark in colour and without the salty sub-taste that one finds in jaggery from elsewhere. Why is jaggery made in Marayur different? “Primarily, it must be some peculiarity of this place. Every plant that grows here has some special values to them; the fruits are tastier and the medicinal plants are said to have more potency than those grown elsewhere and are, naturally, preferred by the Ayurvedic drug manufacturers. This applies to the sugarcane grown here as well,” says C.K. Preman, an indigenous researcher on Marayur jaggery. Mr. Preman, who has travelled all over south India to study jaggery preservation without oxidation, attributes all that to what he calls the unique climatic and soil conditions of Marayur.
Kerala Agricultural University’s IPR Cell coordinator C.R. Elsy, who had done the paper work to secure GI tag for Marayur jaggery, says that Marayur is the only place in Kerala where jaggery is made to traditional specifications. Its quality and purity is being maintained for years in the jaggery-making units attached to each field. The GI tag would ensure that the farmer gains access to a niche market that is also free from price fluctuations. “Once the tag is received, it would prevent the fake products reaching the market as Marayur jaggery,” Ms. Elsy said. The big question, however, is how long sugarcane cultivation would last in the region. Large areas that once used to be under sugarcane cultivation are now filled with areca nut, coconut and pepper, a fallout of ‘high labour costs and low returns’ from sugarcane cultivation. Farmers have opted for areca as it requires less labour and care. Once ready for harvesting, the areca provides a regular income without any additional investment.
Toddy
The fate that befell Marayur toddy is something that local people point to when they speak about the future of Marayur jaggery. “You know, at one point of time, boards howling ‘Marayur toddy available here’ used to be a permanent fixture at many toddy shops in the high ranges to attract customers. People would come asking for Marayur toddy which was pure, tastier and durable,” says Kunjumon Kunnumpurayidathil, a toddy shop contractor based at Panickankudy. He used to run toddy shops at many places in the High Ranges, offering Marayur toddy to his patrons on a regular basis. “Now only the name remains, and there is no large-scale tapping of coconut palms in Marayur. You will still see the signboards, but you won’t get the toddy of old,” he adds.
For long, as important in the value chain as Marayur jaggery was Marayur Silk (also known as Anchunadu Silk). That was when large areas of Marayur had mulberry cultivation. But, with little support from the government, the industry has virtually vanished from Marayur. All that remains of the silky glory of yesteryear is a discarded production unit at Marayur. Though there were individual initiatives to bring back Marayur silk by promoting mulberry cultivation, nothing much could be achieved. According to Kuppusami, a farmer, it would be difficult for them to return to mulberry cultivation as there are no takers for cocoons. “Farmers were desperate and shifted to other crops. Bringing them back to mulberry cultivation would require huge encouragement from the government and a mechanism for regular cocoon collection,” he says.
Sandalwood auction
Such vicissitudes have still not hit Marayur sandalwood, which enjoys top rating in the country for its high oil content and distinct fragrance. The Marayur sandalwood division of the State Forest Department earns quite a tidy sum for the State exchequer through the annual sandalwood auctions. Although auctions are held in Shimoga and Mysuru as well, the perfume and cosmetic industries throughout the country depend on the Marayur sandalwood as its quality is unmatched. Unlike other sandal reserves in the country, poaching and smuggling have not hit Marayur hard as it has always been well protected. The reserve is iron-fenced and there is 24-hour monitoring by forest staff. Several private landholdings also have been blessed with sandalwood trees. The farmers, however, uproot them in the early stages of growth fearing legal issues if the grown-up trees are smuggled out. Under the forest laws, it is the duty of the landowner to protect sandalwood growing his/her land. Only mature and naturally dead wood are taken for auction.
The Marayur sandalwood is much sought after, but the State government has not been able to produce any value-added product from it. Although a sandalwood oil extraction factory was set up at Marayur several years ago in the hope that it would help prevent smuggling and black marketing of sandalwood oil, it did not survive for long.
