KOCHI:
Traditional art forms cannot be protected by staging them alone and a comprehensive development for their sustenance is needed which would also require active participation of youths, said Vinod Nambiar, founder of Vayali, an organisation formed to protect traditional knowledge.
“The youth must come forward to protect and encourage the cultural heritage and traditional art forms of Kerala,” he said, while addressing the ‘Abhimukham’ programme organised by Sahapedia here on ‘Youth lead actions in safeguarding Bharathapuzha lore – A tapestry of Vayali initiatives’.
A software engineer with keen interest in Kerala’s cultural heritage and traditional knowledge systems, Nambiar, a native of Arangottukara village, has shown an avid interest in assimilating local knowledge and in observing and absorbing the local ethos.
He formed the collective Vayali with a band of like-minded friends. The efforts of the organisation towards preserving the traditional knowledge surrounding the river Nila (also known as Bharathappuzha) won Nambiar the Young Social Change-maker Award (2008), Excellence Award for National Social Activity (2012) and the first Swami Vivekanda Youth Award (2013).
Nambiar pointed out that the change in living conditions of the traditional artists has also helped in protecting these art forms. Comparing the cultural heritage of 44 rivers in Kerala, he said the rich cultural heritage still remains with the Nila, the 209-km-long second largest river in the state which has become a metaphor for the combination of cultural heritage of Tamil at the Palakkad side and Malayalam in the Valluvanadan area. The culture of Ponnani and Kodungaloor could be witnessed at the banks of this river.
Abhimukham is a monthly talk series on various subjects of art, heritage and Culture of India, held by Sahapedia to offer knowledge to the public. The talk was to show how organisations like Vayali are working using different models to help protect intangible heritage of the country in a manner which is lucrative, and sustaining.
