In Kerala most of the houses or families are known by a house/family name. Some of the families are very popular due to their Social, Economic or Political status. But how did they get these names? Is it an award or reward from somebody? No chances for both. The older generation might have burnt much mid night oil to find a suitable as well as attractive name for their houses or families. Today all most all houses, apart from their ancestral house names, have a name such as "Sopanam", "Nandanam" etc etc. Have these names got any meaning considering the location, feature and other qualities of the house. Certainly not. I could find a house named after an aranya [forest]. Does it mean that the in mates of the house are wild animals or they show the characteristics of beasts? The owners of the house select some names which they fancy so that one can easily identify their house from others.
When a child is born, the parents and relatives begin to scratch their heads eager to find a good name for the baby. Nowadays it has become a fortnight's job rolling over the Computer, searching over Internet and having heated discussions within family members. In most houses the Christening ceremony will take place on the 28th day of birth. By the 28th day, the the baby will be too tiny that the colour, complexion and character of the baby can never be weighed. Hence a name more suited to the baby can not be given. In olden days, in most of the cases, the name of grand father or grand mother will be acceptable. But in modern days, parents use to ponder for modern names, some of which could not be even spelt or uttered. Even such names are accepted, as a name is a name which does not require any specific meaning.
A girl, white in complexion, beautiful, christened Karuppayee or Karuthamma. A girl named Ponnamma,[Pon means gold] will not have even a single gram of gold on her body. So also with a cruel, involving in treason and arson being named Karunakaran [Karuna means kindness]. Dharuman[name of Lord Yama who is hailed for his quality of dharma]- involving in antisocial activities. Ramachandran [ Sri Rama who highlighted the Eaka Pathni Vritha in Ramayana ] having polygamy and practicing non-marital relationships. Can the parents, at the time of baptism know that the baby will grow up contrary to the meaning of his/her name?
To conclude, I would sight an example for how a house can get a name for itself. In the middle of a big plantation and surrounded by wast green fields, stood a big posh house - we can call it the "Bunglow House". The plantations were destroyed and only one tamarind tree stood in front of that house - can be called Pulikkale House [ Puli means Tamarind ]. The tree was cut down and the house becomes - MURIKKALE House [muri means to cut off]. Some parts of the tree were found protruding above the ground- Kuttikkale House [ Kutti- protruding remains]. The entire parts as well as the roots of the tree were removed and there appears a pit in it's place - Kuzhikkale House [Kuzhi- pit]. The pit was filled and the ground leveled and the house was modified - Puthen Veedu [The New House].
Thus goes the Namapurana.
When a child is born, the parents and relatives begin to scratch their heads eager to find a good name for the baby. Nowadays it has become a fortnight's job rolling over the Computer, searching over Internet and having heated discussions within family members. In most houses the Christening ceremony will take place on the 28th day of birth. By the 28th day, the the baby will be too tiny that the colour, complexion and character of the baby can never be weighed. Hence a name more suited to the baby can not be given. In olden days, in most of the cases, the name of grand father or grand mother will be acceptable. But in modern days, parents use to ponder for modern names, some of which could not be even spelt or uttered. Even such names are accepted, as a name is a name which does not require any specific meaning.
A girl, white in complexion, beautiful, christened Karuppayee or Karuthamma. A girl named Ponnamma,[Pon means gold] will not have even a single gram of gold on her body. So also with a cruel, involving in treason and arson being named Karunakaran [Karuna means kindness]. Dharuman[name of Lord Yama who is hailed for his quality of dharma]- involving in antisocial activities. Ramachandran [ Sri Rama who highlighted the Eaka Pathni Vritha in Ramayana ] having polygamy and practicing non-marital relationships. Can the parents, at the time of baptism know that the baby will grow up contrary to the meaning of his/her name?
To conclude, I would sight an example for how a house can get a name for itself. In the middle of a big plantation and surrounded by wast green fields, stood a big posh house - we can call it the "Bunglow House". The plantations were destroyed and only one tamarind tree stood in front of that house - can be called Pulikkale House [ Puli means Tamarind ]. The tree was cut down and the house becomes - MURIKKALE House [muri means to cut off]. Some parts of the tree were found protruding above the ground- Kuttikkale House [ Kutti- protruding remains]. The entire parts as well as the roots of the tree were removed and there appears a pit in it's place - Kuzhikkale House [Kuzhi- pit]. The pit was filled and the ground leveled and the house was modified - Puthen Veedu [The New House].
Thus goes the Namapurana.
Nice post.. the reason behind the names that the parents keep for their children is that they would like their children to be the same as per the name in future, but in reality it is otherwise.. Without name it would be difficult to identify people :P
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the part where there is an analogy between the name of the person and how they actually are in real life
ReplyDelete