Enthurai - A glimpse on its recent past…

The geography, landscape and the social and other customs of Enthurai need to be placed on record for our future generations as it seems to be in extinction, at least geographically due to the unfailing sea erosions and the possibilities of tsunamis even.

For most of us, our beach is the one guarded by a sea wall! Do you remember the days when we never had this sea wall and had few more rows of houses, other structures to process fish and quite many coconut trees in a much broader beach? Yes, we have lost quite a lot in the past few decades in the annually recurring sea erosion during the monsoon in June, July and August. As for Erayumanthurai the border village in the south, it lost its tail end [‘Valiamulli’] with so much of coconut groves and other huts and buildings, including a shrine of old. The present settlement south of the church was indeed a reclaimed land from the river overflow beyond a weak bank and it formed a kind of pond. The Govt. Upper Primary School, Poothurai where we studied is no more there!

Can you ever imagine that in the area east of the present road which cuts across the villages there were no houses at all in the early sixties? The only structures in this area were the Govt. Hospital at Thoothoor, Pius XI Primary School, St. Rita’s Convent and the Grotto at Chinnathurai. The stretch of land between Poothurai and Thoothoor; Eraviputhenthurai and Vallavilai were called ‘Idappadu’ and there were practically no vegetation or settlements other than one dilapidated shrine and a bridge at the later. People never dared to travel alone in this stretch due to robbery.

This dilapidated bridge is known as “Aachanthura Paalam.” The area connected by this might have been once flourishing villages. Otherwise there would not have been a bridge there. This extinct village was also known as “Alinchakollemcode”, meaning devastated Kollemcode. People say that due a severe epidemic/plague people fled abandoning the village as many died. In course of time the unused bridge also might have got dilapidated.

As the area east of the present road, the area beyond the AVM Canal also was mostly uninhabited for long, but for very few houses beyond the bridge at Poothurai, the Pius XI High School and few houses and shops in front of it on the other side of Thoothoor bridge, three or four houses at “Athraankadavu” beyond the Canal at Eraviputhenthurai, few shops and houses at Vallavilai and Marthandamthurai.

Roads came to our area in the early sixties when the present bridge at Thoothoor was built. Before that buses were plying from Medavilakom, Pozhiyoor, Pattanam and Poovar to different destinations like Kaliakkavilai, Kuzhithurai, Marthandom, Nagercoil, Parasala, Neyyattinkara and Trivandrum. It changed the face of the region with road transportation cutting across the villages and PPM was the first ever bus plying between Poothurai and Kaliakkavilai. With this the water transportation came to a slowed down, finally to be given up for ever due to the blockade at Udappu.

There were pedestrian bridges at Poothurai, Vallavilai and Marthandamthurai. The later one was a wooden bridge. Till the roads came the only means of transportation was the boats in the AVM Canal from Pattanam [Thengapattanam] to Poovar. On the way at Vallavilai and Medavilakom [Marthandamthurai-Neerodi] were jetties where the boats could stop for rest and refreshments. At Vallavilai there was even a Lamp Pillar of the King’s times. On other days people walked either through the bank or beach.

The boat was pushed by the boatman with a bamboo pole and very rarely only sail was used. The canal was deep enough for this. But now the canal has become so shallow that one has to lie down for a good bath even! And it is almost stagnated and full of dirt.

The only churches which stood the time are Thoothoor and Neerodi. Poothurai Church is retained when it was expanded and remodeled recently. All other new churches were built on the place where the old ones stood, with the exception of Marthandamthurai. Thoothoor church underwent renovations of the altar and the roofs. All the parochial houses at present are newly built.

There were people of other faiths living with us in peace and harmony. Those were: 1. Hindus (Nulayas) and Muslims in between Erayumanthurai and Poothurai, 2. Hindus (Ezhavas) at Chinnathurai and Eraviputhenthurai, 3. Nulayas in between Vallavilai and Marthandamthurai, and 4. Nulayas at the north end of Neerodi. The Muslims have two Mosques at Poothurai- one is in their burial ground. The Nulayas had small temples at Erayumanthurai, Poothurai and Vallavilai. The Ezhavas practically had no place of worship. All these people engaged in fishing as a secondary occupation while the main occupation was coir making for the Nulayas, small commercial enterprises for Muslims and Ezhavas. For coir making they had to rot the coconut husks for which they dug pits along the canal banks but never used the canal itself till very late when the flow in the canal was almost blocked at Idappadu [Odappu] due to the heavy rush of water along with huge quantities of sand during monsoon times from the uphill areas/highlands.


For education, the only institutions were the Govt. U P School at Poothurai, the Primary and High Schools at Thoothoor, and the Primary school at Marthandamthurai and the High Schools at Kollemcode, Kanjampuram and Munchirai. For higher education people went to Trivandrum because of our religious connection with that capital city. In the seventies came the Sreedhar Hindu College which was abandoned by the management due some reasons and was bought in the eighties with far sightedness by Fr. Francis Peters Borgia and his suffragan priests and made into St. Jude’s College of today.

The only hospital was of the Government at Thoothoor and there we had a Post office too. There were libraries in almost all the villages and there was the only Foot Ball club [KRFC- Kennedy Rudolf Football Club] at Thoothoor. In Erayumanthurai there was a good volley ball team in the entire region.

Drinking Water was pumped from a well near the High School at Thoothoor to Thoothoor and Chinnathurai. There was also a Craft Centre near there where women were engaged in making ‘khadi’ threads and other fiber products.

The Panchayat office and village offices were at Ezhudesam and Kollemcode and the Police Stations at Punnamoottukkada and Puthukkadai.

But for a tea shop or two in every village, there were home based eateries, especially for the morning and evening. As for liquor men mostly used toddy, a brew from the palm juice and rarely a local brew called arrack or ‘Ayurvedi’cally brewed ‘Aristom’. Most of the men were either smoking or chewing betel. Some of the women also chewed betel, especially the elderly. There were also few provision stores in every village besides one or two textile shops with a tailor usually. Adjacently there used to be dhobi shop also for washing and ironing the cloths. Barbers were a village based service people with no shops.

There were Public Distribution shops in almost all villages managed by the Fishermen’s Societies. They were the ones who also owned the few mechanized boats also. This mechanization of fishing was said to be a joint venture of an Indo-Norwagean Project. These societies functioned mostly as few families’ affairs and memberships were restricted within those families or their henchmen.

The markets in the area are of course the one at Neerodi-Marthandamthurai, the one at Anthimaantheevu beyond the AVM Canal at Eraviputhenthurai and the Kaanjaamkada [Kanjampuram] beyond the same canal at Poothurai and at Pattanam beyond the river mouth at Erayumanthurai. Bigger ones were available at Puthukkadai, Karungal, Marthandam, Kaliakkaavilai and Poovar.

For entertainment the only place was the theatres at Puthukkadai [Jayashree], Karungal[Raja], Marthandom[Devi] and Poovar[Khaadiriya].

People used the canal for bath and washing cloths and the very few wells in the villages for drinking water. While men used the beaches as toilets, women used the canal banks. Wastes were dumped either at the canal banks or at the beach. The waste at the banks was used as manure in course of time while the one at the beach was washed off at high tides. The coconut trees at the banks used to be very healthy and highly yielding.

Houses were mostly fully thatched or the roof alone thatched. There were very few tiled houses then. There were also few houses made of wood all around and thatched at the roof. The terraced houses came only in the seventies and now such houses have changed the face of the villages.

Food habits: Our staple food is of course rice. Along with it we had fish curry or other fish preparations. It was the food for all the three times, morning, noon and night. For morning usually the left over of the previous day was used. Though, tapioca was considered to be the poor man’s food, it was eaten quite often. Where mothers go vending fish, cooking is usually done at night.

Again for every meal they used to buy provisions from the shops or they even borrow things like salt and so on. Seasoning of curries was a rare thing and vegetables were there only for important feasts, especially for the fasting days. On such feasts people made sweets. This custom is said to keep people awake for the midnight Mass and the like. Also there used to be entertainments like drama or orchestra and illumination on such days, especially for the village Patron/ Patroness’ Day.

Match box was some kind of a luxury and was not kept in houses; instead they used to light lamps or kitchen fire from a neighboring house which may have one. This is even applicable for the ones who smoke also.

Dress and ornaments: When men use dhotis and shirts, women used sari and blouse. Elderly women used ‘chelai’ which covered the whole body in such a way no other pieces was needed. In the same way elderly men wore only dhoti and at the most a towel. Women used ‘thali’ and other golden chains, whenever they could afford. Or else they had a black thread in which some medals will be hanging. Bangles rarely made of gold, but mostly ready made bangles of glass ware or plastic were common. Almost all have ear studs made of either gold or lesser metals or even plastic. Elderly women had their lower ear adorned with heavy ear rings which make the hole become wider and wider. Women used ‘pottu’ and ‘kan mai’.

Fishing was always seasonal. During the monsoon [June, July and August] the sea used to be rough. Those who dared the waves faced accidents and loss of life and equipments. Even this took few hours to cross the waves and only courageous men were able to cross over or else such ones need to help others. Those days there used to be “Thaathuvalai” a net which they cast and come back to be taken after few days. This was mainly for sharks and other big fishes. Also there was “Peruvalai”, a kind of shore seine made of jute with bigger holes and this is used specially for king fish or tunas. Those days only cotton nets were in use. Also there used to be so many hook and line fishers who usually go in the morning and come back by night. These used to be managed by single fishermen and depended mostly on sails.

The shore seine used to be kept in separate huts at the village boundaries and the boat used to be of single wood. The workers were hired in some kind of bonded labor, as they were given an amount for which they have to be bonded till they were able to pay back the entire amount together. While pulling the net to the shore they sing folklore songs like ‘Gnanathankal kathai’ and so on and it is called ‘Ela’. The ratio of the catch is 4:6 that is 4 for the owner and 6 for all the workers who used to be from 15 to 20 men.

The catch is used to be taken by wives of the workers or some vending women and they carry over head to near and far away markets. At times interior fishermen and women also buy the catch. Excess fishes are salted or dried up according to the nature of the fish.

Once the payment is made, it is distributed by the captain of the net. Though there is no specific criterion for this, this was done judiciously and there used to be no complaints. The dried up nets are to be kept ready for the next day’s fishing and for this also remuneration is given.

During the lean season people engage in shore fishing like crab catching and hook and line from the shore and so on. During the monsoon when there will be sea erosion, coins used to roll down from the washed of land mass and people used to watch and collect this.

Some 2 to 5% of the catch in cash is given to the church. Also the barber and sexton are given their share, besides the poor and widows mostly in kind.


SOCIAL CUSTOMS:
Marriages were always arranged and were conducted with all simplicity but with elegance. The parents and elders of the proposed boy and girl meet and agree on a nominal amount as dowry and marriage is finalized by putting a golden chain on the boy by the bride’s brother. This agreement is officiated in betrothal or engagement conducted in the church where the priest officially gets the consent of the boy and girl. This is also a celebrated in a simple way. Then three banns are announced on three consecutive Sundays before the marriage. Rich people make some difference even in the announcement of the banns by asking the priest to keep the document on a new cloth presented by them and it later goes to the priest for stitching cassock. For the banns the girl is given new dress, especially for the first one. On the previous day of the first banns sweets and plantain are sent to the boy’s house. This was carried in a wooden box.

The celebration of marriage was on the bride’s house for which they used to put up a ‘pandal’ a temporary hall. Even the pole erecting for this was a ceremonial function and the celebrations officially begins from that day onwards. In that pandal only they make flour for sweets and grind spices for curries and cook sweets and so on days ahead. On the previous day the pandal used to be decorated and illuminated and songs used to be played for almost the whole night with loud speakers atop of a tree.

On the eve of the marriage there used to be ceremony at the groom’s residence. In this the groom is ceremonially given a shave which lasts for hours. For this friends and relatives are invited and are given a high tea and they in turn donate an amount, usually coins dropped in a bowl of milk which goes to the barber.

On the day of the marriage the groom goes in procession, accompanied by processional music played by village artists and at times even martial art performances, to the bride’s house and was received at the entrance of the pandal by the bride’s brother and elders with garlands, sandal paste and rose water. Then the bride is received by the sister of the groom and taken to the church again in the same procession for the blessing of the marriage. Afterwards there used to be a party at the bride’s residence for all the invitees from both sides and gifts and sweets are exchanged.

The groom stays for seven days in the bride’s house and then takes her to his house. She stays their till she is taken back to her parents’ house for child birth by her parents and relatives after presenting sweets and other gifts to the in-laws. A new house for the new family is usually built after the birth of the first child.

Child birth is also another ceremony for which the girl is prepared elaborately with other accompanying preparations like collecting necessary firewood, swaddling cloths and the rest. Child is born at home, assisted by the village mid wife. Immediately after child birth the mother is given some kind of alcoholic drinks to energize her and the child is given few drops of wine so as to clean the tongue of the child. The new mother is kept at home for forty days with minutest care and then only she is taken to the church for purification rites and the child baptized. Baptism was always done outside the Mass and again rich people ask the priest to sing “Lauda te” wearing a cope and to ring the church bells by paying a special fee. The god-parents are an important people in the life of the child.

At the age of five not all children go to the school. But all of them will go for catechism in preparation for First Communion. Between the age of 8 to 12 children are given first communion. It is given along with some important church feasts. Again the so – called rich make it a celebration involving party and exchange of gifts.

This is followed by Confirmation after few years and it is always given by the bishop usually once in five years. This is also preceded by a period of preparation.

The girls’ coming of age is another ceremony and some celebrate it too. Here again the girl is treated in isolation with special food for some days. Then she is given a ceremonial bath usually by the first aunt who is the wife of the eldest maternal uncle. That aunt brings new dress in the form of half sari for the girl. Till marriage she wears half saris only. Hereafter she is not supposed to mingle with boys as she used to be and is treated respectfully. This is the time from when the parents search for a suitable boy for her to be given in marriage.

When the husband dies, the wife becomes a widow and usually remains single even if she is young. After the funeral, the widow’s ‘tali’ is taken off her by the sister-in-law and is given a white sari by the brother-in-law. She is then anointed and taken for a bath. This is followed by some kind of party as most of them were not taking regular food, other than some coffee or so.

When some one is dead, it is reported to the church where they ring the bell in a specific tone to inform the village of the death. They send the Crucifix, candles and small bell as a sign of the parish’s solidarity with the dead and his family. The body of the deceased is bathed and put on new cloths and stockings for the feet and gloves for the hands. Then the body is kept in a prominent place for viewing accompanied by the mourning. Womenfolk usually do the mourning with loud cries praising his/her glories and achievements called ‘oppari’. Messengers are sent to inform family people and friends in different villages. This was usually done by the barber and he is given again a donation by those people whom he informs. Usually the funeral is conducted on the following day. The dead body is taken to the church in procession and the way is marked by coconut leaves. Most of the villagers join in the funeral service. Grave is dug by the barber and the dead is buried after the Mass.

Church and Liturgy:
The church was present in everyone’s life from birth to death through various sacraments. This made the life in the villages orbiting around the church.
Every village in the early 60s had its own church, other than Chinnathurai, whether it was a parish or not. May be this was because of the convent chapel and the grotto near there. Wherever a priest resided, they had daily Mass in the morning. For this Mass people from the villages having no priest would go. But people, especially the elderly women, go to the church as early as 5 am, when the church would be opening. From then onwards they carry on with some devotion or other. Usually one can find some one in the church always. In the evening again people come more in number for such devotions like that of St. Joseph in March, Blessed Virgin Mary in May, Sacred Heart in June and of Rosary in October, Thursday devotions of the Holy hour, and the Way of the Cross through out the year, especially during Lent. During Lent at night people in groups sing the Passion stories and other devotional stories like that of St. Alex and so on. And this is called ‘Sindhu’ or ‘Elelakkummi’.

In the evenings men also come in good number for individual prayers. These men were usually the ones who go for hook and line fishing and also others. Mothers used to bring their children with them. In the morning and evenings there used to be catechism in preparation for the First Communion. Otherwise it is on Sunday mornings.

For Angelus the church bell will ring at 5 in the morning, 12 noon and 6 in the evening. For the evening Angelus a small bell is being rung around the village and children used to kneel down and the bell ringer used to place the bell on them as a sing of blessings. At 8 pm church bell will ring to remind the faithful to pray for the departed souls.

The devotion to the departed souls is very close to each one of us. People don’t compromise offering Mass for their departed beloved ones. And the November 2nd All Souls day is like a celebration where the loved ones of the deceased decorate the tombs of their loved ones and also ask the priest bless the tomb and pray over it. This is also paid. Before important occasions like Marriage or introducing a new net or boat or house warming, people used to host a party for the neglected ones in the village or surrounding places. People always hosted such people whenever they came to their house for help or alms.

Family prayer at night was the beauty of all our houses.

When people fall sick, the priest is called in to anoint the sick and give Communion to them. At such occasions when priest carries the Sacrament, it was accompanied by candles and the ringing of the bells and so people on the way kneel down to pay homage to the Blessed Sacrament. Consecration of the families to the Sacred Heart is also an important function and the priest is invited in every house.

The priest used to be all in all in the village. He may have first aid things for emergencies. He only manages the finance of the parish almost all alone. The owners of the shore seine used to be his advisors. Once in a year he used to present the accounts of the coconut yields and the shares from the fish catch. It was only a nominal exercise as no one questioned his integrity.

In the church there used to be a sacristan who was called ‘kanakkapillai’ as it was he who is supposed to help the priest in accounting. Besides him there used to be a musician and the official choir was in Latin even after the second Vatican council for quite some time. Till the late sixties the liturgy was in Latin but for the homily and few songs. All other devotions were in Tamil. There used to be a sexton who rings the bell, opens and closes the church, cleanses it, lit and maintain the sanctuary lamp and so on. He was not paid, but given a share in the Mass stipend and also a share from the catches from the sea.

There used to be small shrines in almost all the villages. Around this also there used to be devotions. Besides the church feast, such feasts also were celebrated. The church feast used to be the most important event of the village. It extends for nine to thirteen days. On the first day flag is hoisted and on the following days there used to be Rosary, Litany and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. These were the days for some serious preaching and guest priest are invited for this. On these days there used to be cultural programs for entertainment. On the eve and the day of the feast there used to be a concelebrated celebration and the neighboring priests are invited and they were given a big banquet. People also celebrate it very grandly inviting friends and relatives and giving them parties. On such days only the First Communion for children is given. This adds to the celebration mood.

On such feasts and on the feasts of Christmas and Easter people get new clothing and wear it. August 15 is the Assumption of Our Lady and also the Independence Day of India. This day is a day of obligation. On this day a special kind of rice pudding is made at homes. This is the time when people play swings tied on two coconut trees. This is mainly for girls.

Another aspect of religiosity is the Confraternities for men and women. That of men are very ostentatious and they celebrate their feast very well. For funerals and feasts these fraternities are an added decoration. In this account something need to be mentioned of a ‘Jebakkoodam’ at Thoothoor where men of the neighboring villages lived some kind of consecrated life away from their homes in prayer and penance. From this lay institutions there were quite a number of vocations for religious life.


Occupational celebrations:
When a new net or boat is made, it is celebrated at least among those who work in that net or boat. They make sweetened rice and distribute it along with plantains, jaggarie and coconut pieces. The one who makes the net or boat is rewarded with new cloths and pecuniary gifts. The boat maker is known as ‘Odaavi’ and the net maker is known as ‘Madikkatti.’ They used to be generous with the first catch and distribute it with as many people as possible. The priest is invited to bless the equipments. They also offer special Masses, especially for the deceased in the family. Mass for the dead is a kind of must before all important functions in the family.

Entertainments and Games:
People of our area are also interested in drama and singing. In some villages there were drama clubs and they present dramas once in a year or so, especially in connection with the church feast or the anniversary of catechism classes or some Pious Associations like Legion of Mary, Sodality or even this clubs.

In all the villages there used to be a choir in which mostly girls were members. They sang comparatively well. Men joined them during feast days or on Adoration days.

There used to be very many traditional games. Most of them are almost extinct now due to the fancy for games like cricket and so on. We did have some kind of cricket or base ball. It was called “Mattayum Panthum” meaning bat and ball. It was team game and when one team plays the other fields. There used to be four spots marked on the sand. The one who bowls or throw the ball stand at the center and the one who bats, bats and run around the spots and when he completes the four spots he gets one point.

There is also a local hockey called “Urulyadai” or “Ammanayadi”. This is played just at the beach where the waves wash the sand. The fix to terminals and the one which crosses the other’s terminal wins. The ball is usually one made out of rubber wastes or plastic wastes. The ball could go to the sea also.

There are other games like “Kilithattu,” “Chicku vilayattu,” and for children “Kallanum Policum,” “Chuttiyum Kambum” “Goli kali or kachi vilayattu” and so on. There were some kinds of indoor games also. Such are the “Kuriyana kallen veettile…” and the “Oosoosi… kaka parakka…” and so on. The ones for women and girls are “Pandy vilayattu” and “Kattan vilayattu.”

Neithal nilam:
Tamil grammar has five kinds of lands, flowers and deities. The ‘neithal’ is the land adjacent to the sea. Our landscape is in between the Arabian Sea and the AVM Canal. This canal was dug few generations before, that is at the time of Travancore kings and it divided the stretch of land with a width of not less than a kilometer. The area beyond the canal is known as ‘Kalingarajapuram.’

It has a story of some mythological nature. The ruling king seemed to have arranged for the marriage of his daughter and invited every one known. At last he thought of inviting the elements and thus the sea also. On invitation the sea seemed to have told that if at all she comes he won’t be able to contain her. However on his insistence the sea seemed to have gone for the marriage and have washed of everything. And this is the picture which comes to anyone’s mind seeing the landscape, especially the nature of the sand in the region. Added to this is the excavated temple at Godeswaram and the clay remains all over the area. This myth could be taken as a way of explaining a possible tsunami or the like affecting these areas in an ancient past and leaving it in this present-day form.

There were no settlements in these regions except the ones above Poothurai of few Muslim families, above Thoothoor-Chinnathurai of some Harijan families, above Eraviputhenthurai of again some Muslim families [Athraankadavu], above Vallavilai also of Muslims and above Neerodi-Marthandamthurai of a mixed group of Muslim and Ezhava families [Medavilakom].

This stretch of land is extended from Poothurai to Neerodi. This stretch was in face a barren land with only sporadic cashew trees. And of late people from all our villages have bought lands here and planted coconut trees, constructed costly houses and other establishments. In some places almost new villages have come up like St. Thomas Colony above Thoothoor, satellite villages above Vallavilai and Marthandamthurai. [An inhibition is there as regards our church affiliation as these areas come in the territory of the diocese of Kottar, though the Enthurai have to go one day linguistically to a Tamil Nadu diocese.]
-panky
28.01.2008