Mappilapattu version of Ramayana soon

MALAPPURAM: The epic Ramayana would soon get a Mappilapattu version through the pen of writer O M Karuvarakkundu, considered a doyen of the genre.
Karuvarakkundu has written more than thousand Mappila songs which fall under the folklore genre. The work on the songs is progressing and it would be published within two months, the writer said. Karuvarakkundu plans to narrate the entire story of Ramayana epic through more than 150 Mappila songs.
The story begins with a 36-line song, “Sarayoo nadhikkare puriyam Ayodhyayil Dasharadhan vazhunne…..” written in ‘Param Enikathil’ ishal (tune).
“I have already completed the work on 108 songs based on the legendary story of Rama. I am hopeful that the rest of the story including Rama-Ravana yudha can be narrated in another 40 songs,” said Karuvarakkundu, a familiar name among Mappilappattu enthusiasts.
He has already discussed the project with eminent Sanskrit scholars and writers. “When I approached M T Vasudevan Nair and Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri with the sample of my works, they had offered all support to the initiative”, he said.
The Mappila song version of Ramayana would be a simple musical form of the epic that could easily become popular, he said.
The Mappila songs have been in circulation for over seven centuries, with the first dated work Muhiyudheen Mala attributed to Qadi Muhammed in AD 1607. Thereafter a large number of literary works reflecting the milieu of Muslim community in Malabar were reproduced in the form of Mappila songs.
The Mappila Ramayanam – a humorous take on the ballad – believed to be written by a mendicant 'Piranthan' Hassan Kutty more than a century ago has been widely studied by scholars. Although sung in Mappila Pattu style it could not be termed as a version of Ramayana because the tone is comic.
Noted Mappilappattu singer and composer V M Kutty, said the version of Karuvarakkundu cannot be compared to Mappila Ramayana. “The songs written by him have been composed following the rules of ishals strictly,” he said
Renowned writer M N Karassery who has studied Mappila Ramayana said it was in the form and metre of Mappila folk tradition. "Any effort to bring about a new Mappila song version of the Ramayana should be welcomed," he said.
The song form will introduce the epic to a large section of people belonging to other communities and can be viewed as a symbol of cultural exchange, said O M Karuvarakkundu.
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