From Harvard, with love

Dr. Michael Witzel

Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University

The 6th International Vedic Workshop was held at Kozhikode (Calicut), in Kerala,
India, from January 7-10, 2014. Exactly 117 persons had registered and 57 scholarly
papers were delivered during these days of proceedings. Speakers and visitors came
from India, Europe, Japan and America.

As I have experienced myself, and as I have also heard from many participants, all
of us were extremely pleased by the smooth organization of the conference and of
the cultural performances connected with it. The meetings were held in a
cooperative and extremely friendly atmosphere that did not allow any extraneous
intrusions of matters that were not linked to the four Vedas. As a result, the
Workshop was held in the same scholarly manner as at any of the previous locations
over the years (Harvard University 1989, Kyoto University 1999, Leiden University
2002, University of Texas at Austin 2007, Centre for Eurasiatic and Afroasiatic
Studies, Bucharest 2011).

This scholarly atmosphere was no doubt achieved through the strict, double blind
selection procedure for proposed papers, headed by Prof. Shrikant Bahulkar (Pune)
and coordinated by Dr. Polpaya Vinod Bhattathiripad (the Chief Coordinator of the
workshop): neither the scholar who had proposed a paper nor its three anonymous
reviewers knew about each other. This sometimes led to the amusing situation that a
certain reviewer would admonish the author of a proposed paper to include some
recently published details – published by the very author of the paper. Thus, papers
that were not philologically, culturally or linguistically supported were excluded by
the judgment of reviewers, and we could enjoy a proper, scholarly conference.
During the workshop meetings papers were delivered smoothly, without any
untoward interruption of any sort; a cooperative, civil atmosphere prevailed; in the
same way, questions and answer were to the point.

My only regret is that we had so many vetted papers for these four days that some
had to be presented in a parallel session. That made me miss a number of
presentations I would have liked to listen to. Perhaps next time around we should
limit the number of speakers and simply post but not read out some of the papers.
Nevertheless, the papers are to be published, hopefully in 2018, so that we will be
able to read them, beyond the published summaries.

We focused on the Vedic texts themselves, their rituals, their scholarly

interpretation, and their traditional performance, especially that of Kerala. It is of
course impossible to give an account of all papers delivered.

In one word: the workshop was extremely well prepared and organized by the local
committee, headed by its chief coordinator Dr. Polpaya Vinod Bhattathiripad
(www.namboothiri.com). Other members were: Dr. Bhaskaran Nayar Pichirikkat
(Lincoln University, UK), Prof. M. G. S. Narayanan (Former Chairman, Indian
Council of Historical Research), Prof. C. M. Neelakantan (Former Professor (Veda),
Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala, India), Prof. C. Rajendran,
(Former Professor (Sanskrit), University of Calicut, Kerala, India).

The workshop had been vigorously prepared for two years. The committee paid
close attention to all the minute details, from the selection of the venue in a
comfortable hotel (Hotel Taj Gateway), to the location of the several Veda
performances, to the many technical details such as computer projection, and the
ready assistance extended by the organizers and their very helpful staff: M. N.
Sreekumari, Malathi, A. P. Nambutiri, Rahul Desamangalam, and P. M. Sudha.
Indeed, the location was congenial and the conference facilities were excellent. In
depth discussions were facilitated by a handing around a microphone. Coffee, tea
and lunch were served just next to the conference rooms, providing us with an
additional occasion for discussion and conversation.

We sincerely hoped to speedily publish the presentations in the conference volume

within a year but we are late. This has unfortunately been the norm for previous
conferences. The Harvard volume, for a host of reasons, appeared with great delay,
the Kyoto one was not published, the Leiden one was published fairly quickly, the
Austin one in 2016, and the Bucharest one in 2018 (in the Harvard Oriental Series,
Opera Minora).

There also are plans to put all previous papers, as far as copyright laws allow, on a
website designated for the International Vedic Workshops, to be maintained in
Kerala. This is another laudable initiative of Dr. Polpaya Vinod Bhattathiripad, for
which we cannot thank him enough.

Cultural Performances: The participants were also very happy about the cultural
features presented on each of the four days: a grand Kūṭiyāṭṭam performance, a
varied program of classical and popular forms of theater and dance at the
Sargalaya Craft village, Vadakara, a Karnatic flute recital by Shri Kudamaaloor
Janardhanan, and finally an Akshara Sloka demonstration by the Kozhikode
Aksharasloka Samithi (of Sanskrit and Manipravaala slokas) concatenating the
Śloka of one text, recited by one participant, to another Śloka recited by a different
person.

Veda demonstrations: Dr. Parvathy, opened the Workshop with her RV recitation.
She is the only female Ṛgveda reciter in Kerala.

Also, the proceedings of the Workshop included, as mentioned, a visit to the

Sargālaya Craft Village (Vatakara, in Kozhikode district) on the second day. Almost
all prominent Veda branches (śākhā) of Kerala were brought together. We could
listen to the recitation and performance of Ṛgveda (RV), Sāmaveda (SV) and
Yajurveda (YV) texts: that of the Śākala RV (Kauṣītaki style), that of Taittirīya YV
(Baudhāyana style), and that of the Jaiminīya SV (sung by Nambudiris of Paanjal)
and that of an additional sub-school, the Tamil Jaiminīya SV, as preserved at
Kodunthirappilly, Palakkad area on the border with Tamil Nadu.

The reciters of these Vedas demonstrated specimens of their individual traditions,

their teaching methods, and of some of the ‘games’ that are used to ensure correct
transmission. For example, for the RV: the Muṭippacca and Paccaratha, and the
Vaaram (Kallu vetchu vaaram). The latter recitation was performed by Dr. Naaras
Ravindran Nambudiri, Dr. Mannur Jatavedan Nambudiri and Kothamangalam
Vasudevan Nambudiri.

The YV in its Taittirīya recension was presented by the prominent Baudhayana

Nambudiris, while the rare Vādhūla śākhā of Iriñjalakuḍa was missing. However, to
my delight, I could inquire about them with the local Baudhāyana YV teacher, and I
could actually hear and record the differences in reciting the Taittirīya texts
according to the Baudhāyana and Vādhūla schools. The latter recitation indeed
differs somewhat from the common Baudhāyana style. It is actively preserved and
taught only in two Manas in the Iriñjalakuda area (see the volume of the Bucharest
conference). Our colleagues who work on the Vādhūla traditions definitely need to
follow up on this particular, altogether neglected aspect.

Another intriguing point that we noticed was the dominance of the Kauṣītakis, who
even recited the RV portions in an Atirātra Agnicayana performed in Āśvalāyana
style in 2012, at Kaimukku.The ritual procedure was based on written Āśvālayana
handbooks (Pākazhiya) of Kāpra.

However, in spite of the strong Vedic traditions in Kerala unfortunately some

transmissions of recitation have died out over the past few decades. (The
Atharvaveda has been absent in South India for at least 500 years but has recently
been reintroduced in some south Indian locations, based on its Gujarat-Maharastra-
Benares tradition).

Cultural tour: The 4-day workshop was followed by a 4-day “cultural tour”,
efficiently organized by Dr. P. Vinod Bhattathiripad and expertly lead by Dr. C. M.
Neelakantan, a Nambudiri Ṛgvedin and Veda professor emeritus of the Sankara
University at Kalady, Kerala. The tour brought us to various Brahmin villages in
central Kerala, where the traditional way of Veda teaching and the performance of
certain Vedic Śrauta rituals is continued until today.

However, on the first day of the tour we paid a visit to Olappamanna Mana near
Palakkad. We could view and walk around, at length, through this traditional
Nambudiri estate and its surrounding spice gardens. At this mana, we were treated
(by Olappamanna Damodaran Nambudiripad, who later left this world in 2017) to a
one hour performance of Kerala percussion ensemble, Thaayambaka, consisting of
several drum (chenda) players. In the afternoon we could witness an elaborate Kālī
pūjā in Tantric style, called Kalam Ezhuti Paatu. A colorful “sand” painting of the
deity gradually emerged as it was drawn on the ground by using many types of
colors, in a style resembling Tibetan and Navajo sand paintings. After the end of the
ritual the image was quickly erased, just as in Tibetan ritual.

The next day we proceeded to the village Kodunthirappilly, near Palakkad, where
Tamil Brahmins have settled long ago and still preserve their unique style of
Jaiminīya Sāmaveda singing. They demonstrated several examples, with some older
members of the group singing by rote while most others referred to their
handwritten copybooks.

In one house we were shown pictures of one of their ancestors: in one of the frames
there was a small photo of Sāmaveda specialist Wayne Howard (of Winona, MI)
who had visited the village decades ago.

From this village near the borders of Tamil Nadu we retraced our steps and visited
several Nambudiri settlements in Central Kerala. The next place was the Jaiminīya
SV village of Panjaal, near Cheruthuruthi, where the 2011 Atirātra ritual had been
held that some of us, presently or previously at Harvard, could visit. Unfortunately
a member of the family had died a few days earlier and so there was no SV
performance.

On the next day we visited the famous Brahmasvam Madhom at Thrissur, took an
extended tour of this old institution and could witness RV, YV teaching ad
recitation. The Madhom is one of the two traditional centers of RV teaching.
Nowadays the YV is also taught. At present there are some 2-3 dozen students each.

In the afternoon we visited the Kaimukku mana, where we could see the remnants
of an Atirātra Agnicayana that had been performed in the time of our young local
guide’s great-grandfather. The ritual ground, in a field a little distant from the
mana, is now completely overgrown. A tree emerges from the body of the
Agnicayana altar, but its tail could be made out clearly. So does Vedic archaeology
develop.

The same was true for the 1956 one at Paññal, where several trees have grown from
the body of the altar. However, the fire altar of the 2011 ritual at Paanjaal has been
completely taken down, and the offering ground has reverted to a rice field; only a
well belonging to the ritual ground is preserved. By contrast, at Kaimukku, the altar
has been laboriously reconstructed in the courtyard of the mana, painted in crimson
red. Kaimukku Raman Akkithiripad performed the Atrirātra in March 2012 with
the recitation and singing of the Āśvalayana Ṛgveda, Jaiminīya Sāmaveda and
Baudhāyana Yajurveda (while using the Pakazhiya of Kāpra Mana, though the
hautra was taught by Ravindran of Naras Mana, a Kauṣītaki). In the evening, at
sunset, we could also witness a performance of the Agnihotra. For many
participants this was the first time they could witness this hoary fire ritual, and they
eagerly filmed the proceedings.
The next day we moved on to Naaras mana (near Edappal, Malappuram district),
where we could view various aspects of RV chanting, lead by Dr. Nāras Ravindran
Nambudiri. Apart from RV recitation and teaching, a vāram was demonstrated as
well. The Harvard team had visited his estate in 2011, and we were very glad to be
back.

Finally we moved to Kaa(va)pra Mana and visited Kaavapra Sankara Narayanan

Akkathiripad (who also left this world in 2016), who had performed an Atirātra,
employing Kauṣītaki Ṛgvedins, Baudhāyana Yajurvedins and the Jaiminīya
Sāmavedins.

In sum, we all had a very good experience. All organizers, led by Dr. P. Vinod
Bhattathiripad, in Kerala deserve our deep gratitude.