Aji K.M. is Assistant Professor of Malayalam at K.K.T.M. College, Kodungalloor. Alphonsa C.A. is Assistant Professor of English at Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam. Anitha S. is Assistant Professor of English at Government College, Tripunithura Anoopa C.R. is Assistant Professor of…
1. How Smarthavicharam found us P.K. Sreekumar & Priya Jose K. 2. Temporal and spatial coordinates of chastity trials P.K. Sreekumar & Priya Jose K 3. Smarthavicharam Anonymous (gentleman) Reporter, Malayala Manorama 4. Smarthavicharam from…
1. How smarthavicharam found us P.K. sreekumar & Priya Jose k. 2. Temporal and spatial coordinates of chastity trials P.K. Sreekumar & Priya Jose k 3. Smarthavicharam Anonymous (gentleman) Reporter, Malayala Manorama 4. Smarthavicharam from Archives Anonymous Report (Malayala…
1. How smarthavicharam found us P.K. Sreekumar & Priya Jose K. 2. Temporal and spatial coordinates of chastity trials P.K. Sreekumar & Priya Jose K 3. Smarthavicharam Anonymous (gentleman) Reporter, Malayala Manorama 4. Smarthavicharam from Archives Anonymous Report (Malayala Manorama)…
Azhivuchollal— term used to denote re-integration into the community if it is established beyond doubt in the Smartha-trial that the accusation of sexual promiscuity levelled against the accused is baseless. Azhivupanam—amount received by Smarthan and Koyimma for their participation in…
Abstract: This article which appeared in May 1968 in Mathrubhumi Weekly chronicles the different stages in the life of a Namboothiri woman and holds up a mirror to reflect the living hell inside the illam. Keywords: sartorial practices, habits, male…
I The erstwhile princely states of Travancore and Cochin (which were merged with the British Malabar in 1956 to form the linguistic state of Kerala) witnessed an unprecedented mushrooming of organisations which can generally be described as community-based in the…
Abstract: Ishti (2015), the directorial debut of Dr. G. Prabha, is the first ever Sanskrit movie to handle a socio-political theme. Smarthavicharam as such figures in it only tangentially; in fact though the stage is set for the spectacular event the accused—both the woman and the man—walk out on the decadent system and express their quest for freedom which is possible only after discovering their own inner selves. The rationale for including the article in this volume is that it vividly and vehemently visualises the Brahminical economic structures and belief systems which necessitated many a custom including chastity trials. The film is yet to have a theatrical release as it is embroiled in a litigation.
Abstract: This article is a look at the structural economic changes which transmuted the social sensibility and habits of Kerala in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first few of the next.
Abstract: This article discusses the trial of Thathri in terms of the sociological concepts of space and liminality, and illustrates how both the communitarian domain and the modernizing order in Kerala had significant differences in terms of the treatment meted out to the female gender, compared to other orders within the Indian subcontinent.
Abstract: This article conceptualizes the well-documented trial of Thathri in 1905 not as an objective historical incident, but as an event the contours and lineaments of which are constantly changing due to continuous processes of repetition and imagination.
Abstract: This piece, a compilation of excerpts from the monograph Smarthavicharam by P. Bhaskaranunni, provides the basic bearings and orientation of the Namboothiri community which entailed rigorous measures like the chastity trial.
