A family reunion taking place at Thattanpadi, near Edappal, in the district on Tuesday will attempt not only to restore the lost glory of the Polpakara Namboodiri family but also pay homage to a Nair family for its historic act of honesty.
The legendary Polpakara Namboodiri family, which includes Communist ideologue E.M.S. Namboodiripad, would have fallen into oblivion had the Nair lord of the Mannazhi Valappil family not returned the family property to Polpakara patriarch Narayanan in the late 1780s.
The reunion, which is expected to bring 170-odd families back to Polpakara Mana on Tuesday, will also throw light on a historic tradition which helped the Polpakara family come clean in 1794.
220th year“It will be the commemoration of the 220th year of the Polpakara rebirth,” says a souvenir being brought out to mark the reunion. The Polpakara family today takes pride in the fact that their patriarch Narayanan was the last Namboodiri to walk out unscathed after the historic lie-detection test of the Suchindram temple near Kanyakumari in 1794.
Hand in boiling gheeNone in history had succeeded this test after Narayanan dipped his hand in boiling ghee at Suchindram following allegations of ‘smarthic’ violations slapped against him.
Although he won the test, which was later banned by the British, Polpakara Narayanan lost his properties to the Mannazhi Nair lord.
“We will be repaying the magnanimity and grace displayed by the Mannazhi Nair lord to return the land and fame to Polpakara,” said a family member preparing for the get-together.
The scions of the Mannazhi family will be honoured on Tuesday afternoon.
Apart from the souvenir in Malayalam and English, a directory of the Polpakara family is also being brought out on the occasion.
