Christianity

1 Comment Posted on by Reji Koduvath Canada

Roman Charity

Roman Charity was a popular story in 17th-century Italy that many writers, thinkers, painters and sculptors depicted in their work of art, literature, and philosophy as a testament to human compassion.

This is based on an exemplary story of a woman Pero who secretly breastfed her imprisoned father Cimon. The poor man was sentenced to death by starvation for stealing a loaf of bread during the reign of Louis XIV in France. Pero was his only daughter and the only visitor to his cell. She was allowed to visit him daily but was searched thoroughly so that no food was taken in.

The selfless devotion of Pero to nourish her father Cimon at her own breast is called Roman Charity. It is history’s most altruistic story of honouring one’s father. The kindness of Pero towards her starving father depicts mercy – To feed the hungry.

This story of Pero and Cimon finds a place in Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium by Valerius Maximus – an ancient Roman historian. It is believed that this story is related to the mythological story of Juno, the goddess of Wisdom, the daughter of Saturn, wife of Jupiter and mother of Mars, breastfeeding of the adult Hercules.

The God Jupiter wished to immortalise his son Hercules, whose mother was the mortal Alcmene. For that he held him to the breast of his sleeping wife, the Goddess Juno, to drink her milk. Juno woke immediately and pushed Hercules aside. The milk which spurted upwards formed the Milky Way, while that which fell downwards gave rise to lily flowers.

When after four months the man still lived on with no weight loss, the prison guards were perplexed and started spying on her. To their astonishment found she breastfed her father, sharing her baby’s milk.

A case was initially filed against her but realising the love and compassion of a daughter towards her father softened the judge’s heart and eventually he pardoned the father and released him free. It was considered a noble act worthy of honour.

In all its various depictions, the image is intended to be seen as a horrific act against nature, but an example of human survival – the most natural, innate instinct. It also depicts love and care for the father. Pero’s outward gaze depicts her nervousness and fear of repercussions from the society of a daughter breastfeeding her father.

The story serves as a reminder of the sacrifices people make for their loved ones and the power of human kindness. In a world often driven by self-interest, the story encourages individuals to act with empathy and moral strength. It also highlights the importance of care-giving, whether in family relationships or professions like healthcare, nursing and social work.

The works of Hans Sebald Beham, Peter Paul Rubens, Charles Mellin and countless other classical artists who portrayed the Roman Charity story, there exists an uncomfortable testament to female sacrifice. It could well be because it was considered as an unnatural act based on social taboos of the time. The story raises moral dilemmas about breaking societal norms for the sake of love and duty.

Roman Charity is a powerful narrative of devotion, love, and moral courage. It transcends time and culture, inspiring generations with its message of selflessness. The story of Pero and Cimon reminds us that acts of compassion, no matter how unconventional, have the power to move hearts and change lives.

In an era where personal sacrifice is often overlooked, Roman Charity remains a beacon of true altruism and humanity.

5 Comments Posted on by Reji Koduvath Canada, Kerala

Malabar and Tellicherry Pepper

TellicheryPepper

Grocery stores in Canada carry Malabar and Tellichery black pepper. Malabar, one can easily associate with pepper, but how come a small town Tellicherry in Kerala, India, has been associated with this spice.

Tellicherry is the name given by the British to Thalassery. The name originates from the Malayalam word Thala (Head) and Kacheri (Office), thus Thalassery or ‘head of offices’. The Europeans nicknamed the town Paris of Kerala, as it was in close proximity to the sole French military base in Kerala in that era. Later the French abandoned Thalassery and shifted their base to Mahé.

Thalassery had a unique geographical advantage as a trading center being the nearest point from the coast to the spice growing area of Wayanad. The trading center developed mainly after the 16th century when the British got permission to set up a factory in Thalassery from the local ruler. Various conflicts with the local chieftains prompted the British to build a fort in Thalassery. The local king gave the fort and adjoining land to the British in 1708. The fort was later modified and extended by the British East India Company. The king also gave permission to the British to trade pepper in Thalassery without paying duty. After the construction of the fort, Thalassery grew into a prominent trading center and a port in British Malabar. The British won absolute administrative authority over Malabar region after annexation of the entire Malabar region from Tipu Sultan in the Battle of Sree Rangapatnam. Thalassery thus became the capital of British North Malabar.

In 1797 The British East India Company established a spice plantation in Anjarakandy near Thalassery. In 1799 it was handed over to Lord Murdoch Brown with a 99-year lease. Coffee, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg were cultivated there. Anjarakandy cinnamon plantation was the world’s largest at that time. Construction of the Tellicherry Lighthouse in 1835 evidences the importance the British attached to the area.  The British East India Company built a new spice warehouse in 1863 and also established the first registrar office in South India at Anjarakandy in 1865, only to register the cinnamon plantation of Murdoch Brown.

Thalassery municipality was formed on 1 November 1866 according to the Madras Act of 1865 of the British Indian Empire, making it the second oldest municipality in the state. At that time the municipality was known as Thalassery Commission.

The Arab traders had monopolised pepper trade from the Malabar region from about 1500 BC. They sailed in boats through the Arabian Sea, hugging the coastline and reached Malabar and Travancore regions. From there they used the backwaters and the rivers to move inland. The Arabs sold the pepper procured from these regions in Egypt and Europe. Black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there as part of the mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BC.

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In order to dissuade the Europeans from sailing into the Malabar coast, the Arabs successfully spun many a stories and myths about black pepper. The most common story was that large many-headed serpents guarded the forests where pepper grew and the local people would set the forest on fire once the pepper ripened. The fire would drive away the serpents and people would gather the peppercorns before the serpents could return. The black colour of the pepper was due to burning.

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Trade interactions between the Arabs and the local Hindus from Malabar resulted in many marital alliances. Some Arab traders settled in the Malabar region and Islam flourished there as a result. Today the region is dominated by Muslims. In Kottayam, south of Malabar, spice trade was based on the backwaters and rivers with Thazhathangady (Lower Market) and Puthenangady (New Market) as trading posts established by the Arab traders. Wherever the Arabs established trading posts, Islam also flourished there.

The Cheramaan Juma Masjid at Methala,  near Kodungallur, Thrissur District of Kerala is said to have been built in 629 AD, which makes it the oldest mosque in the Indian subcontinent which is still in use.

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The Christians in the region believe that they were converted to Christianity from Hindus by St Thomas, one of Christ’s disciples in the first century, who might have traveled in one such ship.

Many Christians and Jews persecuted in Persia fled to Kerala in the Arab ships and settled along the coast. They were welcomed by the local Hindus with open arms. Fort Kochi area was known for its Jewish settlement and these Jews were called Malabar Jews and are the oldest group of Jews in India and settled there by the 12th century.  

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They built synagogues in the 12th century and are known to have developed Judeo-Malayalam, a dialect of Malayalam language.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam came to Kerala through trade. but these religions elsewhere in India mostly through the sword.

Peppercorns were a much-prized trade good, often referred to as ‘black gold‘ in Europe and used as a form of commodity money. The legacy of this trade remains in some Western legal systems which recognize the term ‘peppercorn rent‘ as a form of a token payment made for something that is in fact being given. Pepper was so valuable that it was often used as collateral or even currency. In the Dutch language, ‘pepper expensive‘ is an expression for something very expensive.

Its exorbitant price during the Middle Ages was one of the inducements which led the Portuguese to seek a sea route to India. In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first person to sail to India by circumventing Africa. Gama returned in greater numbers soon after and Portuguese by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas gained exclusive rights to trade in black pepper in Malabar.

Pepper’s popularity quickly spread through world cuisines once more trade routes were established. At one time it accounted for a whopping 70 percent of the international spice trade. As it became more readily available, the prices dropped, and ordinary people were able to enjoy it. Regional cuisines began incorporating pepper into their foods alongside native spices and herbs.

Whatever may be the history of black pepper. it is still sold as Malabar or Tellichery pepper even though currently Vietnam is the world’s largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world’s requirements.

5 Comments Posted on by Reji Koduvath Family, Kerala

Koduvath the Meat Basket

A typical Syrian Christian family history will forcefully trace its roots to the to the 31 Brahmin families supposed to have been converted to Christianity by St Thomas, one among Jesus’ 12 disciples or to Pakalomattom, Kali, Kaliyankal, Shankarapuri Namboothiri (Brahmin) families, even though no documentary evidence exists to prove the connection.

After Jesus descended to heaven, all ten disciples moved Westward to spread the message of Christ and establish churches. Only St Thomas was sent Eastward (East must be a punishment posting then also as prevalent in the Indian Army.)  This could be because St Thomas was known as the Doubting Thomas who refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other disciples (Judas had committed suicide by then,) until he could see and feel the wounds received by Jesus on the cross. From this originated the English idiom of Doubting Thomas as a skeptic who refuses to believe without direct personal experience.

In the earlier days, the Syrian Christian  priests could only be ordained from the Pakalomattom family (an effect of the Hindu caste system prevalent then.)   Vasco da Gama landed in Kerala in 1498 and was surprised to find local Christians, involved in spice trade.  In those days the Christians followed most customs of the local Hindus (some of it even continues today) and used Syriac as the liturgical language because of the association with Persia due to the spice trade.  Hence the Portuguese called the local Christians as Syrian Christians and the Christians they converted as Latin Christians as they used Latin as their liturgical language. 

The Portuguese after landing in Kerala realised that the princely priesthood of the Pakalomattom family had to be broken to have a hold on the local Christians and so ordained priests from other rival families. By 1660 they weaned away 84 of the 116 churches who aligned with Rome and became the Syro Malabar Catholic Church and the rest thirty-two churches and their congregations formed the Syrian Orthodox Church.  The purported aim of the Portuguese was to wean away the local traders, mainly Christians, from the Muslim Arab traders.

It would be foolish on my part to do the same mistake others did and hence would limit to the details I had obtained by way of many discussions I had with our grandfather Karottu KT Varkey (he lived to the age of 104 and died in 2002.)  Surely some of these would have been his figment of imagination and he also must have added enough spice to make it interesting for a hyper-active young boy.

In the nineteenth century Koduvath Easo (in those days the family name preceded the christen name) came with his daughter Eli and occupied Malamelkavu (in Malayalam meaning hillock with a temple on top,) in Kolladu village, about eight kilometer from Kottayam and settled there.  Nothing is known about the other family members and from where Koduvath Easo came.  Thomas married Eli and moved into Koduvath family as the Adopted Son (Jamai जमाई) (DathuPuthran ദത്തുപുത്രൻ.)  From then on it is said that the ladies of the family have been more dominating and I can see it in today’s generation in the form of our daughter and her cousin sisters.   Thomas and Eli had nine sons and two daughters with our grandfather being the eleventh.  The nine sons and their further generations continue to live in and around Malamelkavu and some moved out in search of better jobs and opportunities.

The family belongs to the parish of St George Syrian Orthodox Church, Puthuppally (ex-Chief Minister of Kerala, Late Oommen Chandy’s family also belongs to the same church.)  Kolladu village is located West of Puthuppally village and is separated by a river.  Crossing the river up to 70’s was by means of a ferry, now by a bridge.   The annual festival of the church is celebrated in first week of May and is like the annual festivals of the Hindu temples in Kerala.   Vechoottu (a ceremonial feast), adya choroonu (a ritual in which children get their first rice feeding by priests,) etc. are some of the rituals associated with the festival.  Later  Raza, the grand festival procession taken out with the holy golden cross from the church, accompanied by Chenda Melam (drums of Kerala) and caparisoned elephants.  The Raza is received by every household which falls on its route, irrespective of their religion, with a lighted lamp.   In the evening the entire church is illuminated with lamps like any Hindu temples of Kerala.

The main offering to the church on the annual festival is fowl (preferably a rooster) as St George the patron saint of the church was a soldier and is believed to enjoy chicken.  In the earlier days the fowls offered were slaughtered on the church premises and the fried chicken was served as Prasad to the devotees.  This cruel practice was terminated by the 70’s being cruelty to animals.

I had heard a myth about the fowl slaughtering at the church from my grandfather.  In the earlier days, there was a Kali (Hindu Goddess) temple situated atop the hill adjacent to the church.  The fowls were offered there also on the annual festival day of the temple, which coincided with the festival day of the church.  One day both St George and Kali came together in a dream of the village chieftain and they came to a compromise that the fowls are to be slaughtered at the church and meat prepared there (St George enjoyed the meat,) but the blood had to be collected and offered to Kali in the evening (Kali seemed to be interested only in blood) and that way only a few birds had to be sacrificed.

The next day the Holy Mass is offered at the church.  At the end of the festivity, the Chicken Prasad is distributed to the devotees at the East and West gates of the church.  The chicken pieces are carried to the gates in bamboo baskets.  The teenagers from the Koduvath family now come into action and they snatch the chicken baskets and run as a relay race handing over the basket from one to another and swim across the river.  The prasad thus snatched is distributed among the family members.  The taste of the fried chicken will give run for the money to today’s Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC.)This practice continued for some years and all our family members, whether barristers, teachers, government officials of those days were all nicknamed ‘ഇറച്ചിക്കൊട്ട (Irachi Kotta)’ (in Malayalam meaning Meat Basket) and many of us still carry the same nickname, especially while studying in schools and colleges in Kottayam.