Mamangam trade festival of Kerala

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About Mamangam- 

• Mamangam is a 28-day-long trade festival celebrated once every 12 years on the banks of the Bharathappuzha, also known as Nila. 
• Traders from various parts of India and as well as places such as China, Ceylon, Arabia and Europe used to arrive by ship at the Ponnani port and then move to Thirunavaya to participate in the trade fair held on the premises of the Navamukunda temple, believed to be around 5,000 years old now.
• Famous historian MGS Narayanan, compares Mamangam to many such trade fairs held on riverbanks in Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain, Gokarna and Kumbhakonam in medieval India.
• There is no consensus on when the first Mamangam was held, but it is believed that the Chera kings began the duodecennial trade festival. 
• The last Chera ruler passed on the right to conduct it to Valluvakonathiri (rulers of the Valluvanad region) around the 12th century.
• The last Mamangam was said to be held in 1755 before Mysore’s Hyder Ali invaded Malabar and ended the Zamorin’s prominence.
• Today, Mamangam relics such as the ‘nilapadu thara’ and the ‘manikinar’ are protected by the Kerala government’s archaeology department. Pazhukka mandapam, from where the Zamorin family members used to watch the festivities; marunnara, where the Zamorin kept the gunpowder; and the Changampally Kalari, where the soldiers used to train, have all been maintained under the Nila project from 2010.
• While the remains of Mamangam are in relatively better shape, the Cheerpumkundu iron bridge, which was used for the immersion of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes on February 12, 1948, is in ruins these days. Known as Kerala Gandhi, freedom fighter K Kelappan in 1949 launched the week-long Sarvodaya Mela in Thirunavaya in memory of the Father of the Nation.

Enter Zamorin and chavers-

• The Zamorins, the rulers of Kozhikode, in a bid to expand their kingdom, beat the Valluvakonathiri in the 14th century and secured the right to preside over Mamangam after capturing several Valluvanadan provinces, including Thirunavaya.
• The Valluvakonathiris decided to avenge the defeat as well as the murders of their princes by sending suicide squads called chavers to fight the Zamorin’s army during Mamangam. 
• At each Mamangam, the Valluvakonathiri’s chavers would come with an intention to kill the Zamorin. 
• The chavers, belonging to prominent Nair families like Putumanna Panikkars, Kokat Panikkars, Chandrath Panikkars and Verkot Panikkars, began their journey to Thirunavaya from the chaver thara at the Thirumandhamkunnu temple in Angadipuram.
• At Mamangam, the Zamorin would stand on a platform called the ‘nilapadu thara’ cocooned by his soldiers.
• Bodies of the chavers who died during the fight were thrown into a nearby well called the ‘manikinar’. 

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