Pulleri Illathu Madhusoodanan Thangal
Encyclopedia
Shri Pulleri Illathu Madhusudana Thangal, (born August 18, 1900, in Pulleri Illum, Mattanur) was a local landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...

 during British rule who controlled much of the land in Mattanur
Mattanur
Mattanur , also spelt Mattannur, is a town and a municipality in Kannur district in Kerala state of south India. Mattanur is around 25 km east of Kannur town and Thalassery....

. He was a member of the Madras Legislative Council
Madras Legislative Council
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the British...

 from the year 1929 to 1934, representing the Landlords of Malabar
Malabar District
Malabar District was an administrative district of Madras Presidency in British India and independent India's Madras State. The British district included the present-day districts of Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad , and Chavakad Taluk of Thrissur District in the northern part of...

. During this time he was nominated as a member of Military Advisory Board also. As a Landlord his total land holding covered 18 village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

s in and around Mattanur.

As the president of the Yogakshema Sabha in the year 1932-33 his achievements included the Namboothiri Bill; Temple-entry resolution; Hindu Divorce Bill; Hindu Charitable Institutions; Improvement to women's quarters set up; Resolution for reducing taxes; Civil Marriage Act. As a social reformist his contributions towards the upliftment of the downtrodden was recognized and appreciated by Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

, through a personal letter sent to him in this regard.


SREEMAN MADHUSUDANAN THANGAL, M.L.C.
PRESIDENT, 25TH NAMBOODIRI YOGAKSHEMAM CONFERENCE
KARLAMANNA (S. MALABAR)

January 2, 1933

DEAR FRIEND,
I thank you for your letter enclosing Resolution passed by the
Conference of Namboodiri Brahmins of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 of which you were the
President.
You already know that the fast has been indefinitely postponed.
I however hope that the Namboodiri Brahmins, both men and women,
will put forth redoubled efforts to secure for the Harijan
Harijan
Harijan was a term used by Gandhi for Dalits. Gandhi said it was wrong to call people 'untouchable', and called them Harijans, which means children of God...

s not merely
the right of entry into temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

s, but all the other rights to which all the
other Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s are entitled.

Yours sincerely,

M.K. Gandhi.


Thangal is a title given to this small Kerela Brahmin community for their expertise in martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

. Long ago when the then Kollatiri Raja came to conquer the famous Shri Rajarajeshwara temple of Taliparamba
Taliparamba
Taliparamba is a city and a municipality in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala and spread over an area of 43.05 km2. It stretches from the coastal area of Ramanthali to Nuchiyard and Vayathur villages, touching the Karnataka border.Taliparamba is a big town of 67,000 people...

 these few Nambudiri families fought with him and the king was defeated. As repentance the king honored them by offering the ownership of many villages.

William Logan's Mallabar Manual [Pg.568, 569] mentions an attack on Kallatil Kesuvan Tangal and family, who were the ancestors of Mattanur Madhusoodanan Thangal. The lone survivor of the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

ous attack, Kesavan Thangal (Great Grand Father of Mattanur Madhusoodanan Thangal), constructed the famous Mattanur Mahadeva Temple.

Mattanur Madhusoodanan Thangal was born on the August 18th 1900 at Pulleri Illum in Mattanur, as the eldest son of Kundirikya Mahalaxmi Andarjanam and Pulleri Illathu Kesavan Thangal.

He lost his parents at an early age and became the Karnavar
Karnavar
Karanavar or Karanavan or Karanava, parsimoniously speaking, was the title of male head in Malayalee and Kodava society.-Kodava:The founder of Kodava Okka was known as "karona"...

 of the rich landlord family at the age of 16. As per the Nambudiri tradition prevalent at that time, he married at the age of 16, Mahadevi Andarjanam, daughter of Kovilagatha Nilaghandan Thangal. While maintaining a luxurious lifestyle he made special efforts to learn English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 along with Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 education. Under the guidance of the famous Shri Chandera Swami, who belonged to a famous Shri Vidya Guruparampara, he mastered the Vedic
Vedic
Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...

 and Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 rituals and practices. During this time he made a social revolution by marrying Smt. Kavasseri Vittil Kalyani Kutty, daughter of the famous lawyer Kongott Koppunni Nair of Palaghat, through a ceremonious wedding by tying the traditional Mangal-sutra, as mentioned by Shri C.H.Kunchappa the then Editor of Mathrubhumi in his book, Smaranakal Matram.
He was the founder of the Mattanur Producers cum Consumer's co operative society,which was registered onj July 31, 1946 under the Madrass co-operative societies Act 1932 and formaly started its function on August 6, 1946. The society was further re-organised as a co-operative rural bank on February 17, 1956. The Mattanur co-operative Rural Bank Ltd. is now going on as one of the leading primary co-operative banks in the state of kerala.
In the year 1920 his first child was born and she was named K.V. Janaki Amma. His other children are K.V. Kesavan Unni Nair, P. Mahadevi Andarjanam (married to Kallur Illum), K.V. Vishvanathan Nair, K.V. Sridevi Amma (Ex-Librarian Mattanur NSS College), P. Narayani Andarjanam (Married to Ayithara Illum), K.V. Gowri Amma, P. Laxmi Andarjanam (Married to Malapuratha Illum), K.V. Subramanyan Nair (Mani Nair), P. Bharati Andarjanam (Married to Malapuratha Illum), K.V. Venugopalan Nair, K.V. Sridharan Nair.

The first organised attempt for the re-establishment of Kalari was made in 1933 the initiative of C.V Narayanan Nair, the famous disciple of Kanaran Gurukkal from Chombala. This new Kalari unit started at Tiruvangad in Thalassery, was run by Kerala Kalari Sangham, with Mattannur Madhusoodanan Thangal as President and H. Manjunatha Rao and Muttumgal Kumaran as Secretaries.
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