A short visit to Thalavady

My earlier post about Thalavady

Its a Kuttanadan village. It was a journey to my father's home for a 'Sarpam pooja' at the Aayilyam day of Kanni month.
The above scene is from Thalavady. There we can see these type of hangings from every home. Most of the homes have traditional type of cooking they use 'viraku' or wood for cooking food. Here coconut tree is a common tree and these are the stem of the leaves in malayalam it is called 'Kavalan madal'. After removing all the leaves these are hanged out to dry.

'Ney kumbalanga' . Ash gourd variety used for Ayurveda medicine.

An earlier post about Kumbalanga. In sanskrit it is known as Kushmanda.

'Ada palaka' used to drain water from the rice( Ari varkkumbol adakkan use cheythirunnu) . In ancient times a special vessel made of wood used to collect the water drained from the rice is called 'Maravi'(kanji vellam collect cheyyan).

Some people tried to get the old versions. This 'Ada palaka' is a new one made for my cousin who is living in Muscat for more than 10 years. It was a curious news for me because he is a bachelor and trying to make a Kuttanadan touch to his new home there .

Ithil Plant

I was astonished to see a big ithil plant with somany branches with a rough look fell down from a big mango tree of our neighbours. There was strong wind in the last night was the reason behind that scene. The first thought was of its beauty, it was bent by nature in a cute way. It can be used for interior decoration. In Kerala a saying is 'Ithil kanni pole'. That means living under other's income. Its a parasite tree. I had seen lot of Ithil plants in Mango trees. I could not took the beautiful snap of that because of the heavy rains . Ya we are going through the kalla karkkidakam...and eagerly waiting for the grant sheer of Onam.

When I googled about 'Ithil Kanni' read an interesting ritual using this plant. Its a ritual associated with Christmas. Before christmas they will burn these dried 'Ithil kannis' as a symbol of removing all the sins from our mind. Ithil kannis are parasites, they will destroy the tree as our bad habits and sins destroy the purity of our mind. Isn't it interesting?
Its the view of these fallen plant from my kitchen window inspired me to know more about this and to write a small post about this plant. Please share your views..