This village library safeguards some of the rarest and most diverse Malayalam editions of the ancient epic
There is something unique about the small village of Kurichithanam in Marangattupally panchayat in Kottayam. Words may fail to capture it, but a visit to this quiet settlement is enough to feel the energy it radiates. The source of that energy may well be a two-storied old building at the village’s heart, home to thousands of rare Malayalam books and periodicals.
The 76-year-old Kurichithanam P Sivarama Pillai People’s Library is a treasure house not only of books unseen in other libraries, but also of rare editions of Ramayanam. Located opposite Poothrukkovil Sree Krishna Temple and beside Sree Krishna Higher Secondary School, it offers a perfect setting to leaf through these volumes — especially during Ramayana Masam.
The ancestral home of former President K R Narayanan lies just 500 metres away. ‘Bhasha Ramayanam Chambu’ by Punam Namboothiri (Kerala Sahitya Akademi), ‘Ramacharitham’ by Prof P V Krishnan Nair, ‘Sree Valmikiramayanam’ (Sundarakandam) by Kannampuzha S Krishna Warrier (V M Publishing House, 1946, priced at 12 British rupees), Aranyakandam (Rs 6), Tulasidas Ramayanam translated by Vennikkulam Gopala Kurup (Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham, 1968), ‘Kamba Ramayanam’ in Malayalam by G Ramakrishna Pillai, ‘Sreemadhyatma Ramayanam’ (1959, ESD Printing House, Palakkad), ‘Ramakathapattu’ by Ayyippilla Asan (P K Narayana Pillai), and Adhyatma Ramayanam printed in 1938 by KG Parameswara Pillai at Sreeramavilasam Press, Kollam are some of the rare Ramayana editions.
The fragile pages demand great care; some crumble at a touch. Alongside the Ramayana editions are rare Malayalam periodicals, neatly bound and preserved — titles once central to the state’s literary culture: ‘Malayala Rajyam’, ‘Janayugom’, ‘Kerala Bhooshanam’, ‘Kalanidhi’, ‘Desabandhu’, ‘Jayakeralam’, ‘Naradar’, ‘Sarasan’, ‘Thaniniram’ and more. There are also historic issues of ‘Soviet Land’, ‘Grama Swaraj’, ‘China Pictorial’ and ‘The Navyug’ (Hindi).
“Researchers, students and writers from far-off places come here for these magazines, which aren’t available anywhere else,” says librarian S P Rajmohan, who has managed the library for over three decades. The library was born of writer Kurichithanam P Sivarama Pillai’s efforts. “He gathered local youth and began the library in 1949, first in the Kulappura Malika of the nearby temple,” says Rajmohan.
“Later, a two-storied building was raised on land donated by Puthumana Narayanan Namboothiri.” Rajmohan’s father, Pradyumnan Nair, was also a co-founder. As a child visiting with his father, Rajmohan grew close to Sivarama Pillai; after Pillai’s death in 1989, he gradually took on the daily running of the library, purely out of love for literature and respect for its founders. Today the collection numbers around 28,000 books.
The reference section, on the first floor, holds about 2,000 titles and many periodicals; it was air-conditioned a decade ago. The library has roughly 500 members — 180 life members and 196 ordinary members — and local schoolchildren are also enrolled. It opens from 12.30 pm to 1.30pm and 5pm to 7pm, timed around Rajmohan’s work as a building contractor.
At lunch break, children from the neighbouring school rush in to borrow books. Co-founder SP Namboothiri, now 93, recalls the early struggles. “The first books were from my father’s personal collection and that of Sivarama Pillai. Many people helped us — Vayalar Ramavarma in particular,” he says.
The visitors’ book is itself a historical document, carrying words from Vayalar, M Krishnan Nair, Mannathu Padmanabhan, G Sankara Kurup, K R Gowri, Thakazhi, Karur, Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai, T N Gopinathan Nair, Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri and S K Pottakkad. Former president and current governing body member Thomas Scaria, now principal of St Xavier’s College, Thumba, notes that rare books and magazines are kept here in hardbound covers, including special Onam editions of popular periodicals. Sivarama Pillai, he adds, had worked as an editor for several magazines in Thiruvananthapuram before settling in the village as a schoolteacher, bringing his personal collections with him.
Digitisation is now an urgent priority. Three years ago, the library signed an agreement with the Manuscript Research and Preservation Centre of St Joseph’s College, Irinjalakkuda. The library, graded A-class by the Library Council, receives an annual grant of Rs 35,000 — far short of the Rs 10 lakh needed for digitisation. “We hope the project will start soon,” says Scaria.
“The preservation project is set to commence shortly,” said Litty Chacko, head of the college’s manuscript wing. “These documents require urgent conservation,” she said, adding that former students of the department will assist with the work, but their expenses will need to be covered.
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