Meet the Kudumbies

KOCHI: It was in the 16th Century that the Kudumbies first set foot in God’s own country. This Konkani speaking community migrated from Goa in the 1500s under the threat of forced conversion. “We are essentially the Adivasis of Goa. Over there we are still called Kunbis. Under the threat of conversion in the 1500 we escaped from Goa and sailed to various parts of the country. Today, we constitute a population of more than 7 lakhs in various parts of Kerala”, says, the Secretary of Kudumbi Sewa Sangh, P S Ramachandran.The Kudumbi’s count Kodungaloor temple as their first point of asylum.“We  reached the Kodungaloor temple by sea and spent a night in the temple. The Raja there gave us asylum and later we migrated from there to various parts of the state. This stay at Kodungaloor is now a part of our tradition. Every year on the 1st of Makaram, Kudumbies from various regions get together at Kodungaloor temple,” says the V N Manoj, editorial board member of the Kudumbi community magazine, Margadeepam.The oral history of the community passed on through the generations, narrates about the migration of the Kudumbies to various coastal districts of Kerala including Kollam, Kochi and Allapuzha, in search of land and labour.“We were basically an agricultural community which specialised in farming in swampy areas. It was in search of this ‘Pokkali Krishi’, that the community reached various coastal areas like Vypeen. It was tough work to develop these swampy lands, remove the wilderness and start cultivation, but we as a community were essentially known for our hard work,” says P V Mahesh, State General Secretary, Kudumbi Yuvajana Sangam.Even today, the community preserves many of its traditional festivals and cultural practises. For instance, the Kudumbies still celebrate Holi in the Malikarjuna temple in Kalamukku, Kochi. The ‘Gusli’ a sari like garment worn with the blouse is a heritage cloth of the community. Going back to its identity as an agricultural community, the festivals are mainly harvest festivals.But through the years, the community gradually lost its identity as a farming community. In fact, in areas like Vypeen, where a majority of Kudumbies live, they are essentially known as a fishing community. The members of the community allege the gradual misappropriation of land by members of the upper classes as one of the chief causes for this. But in the absence of documentation many such points in the history of the community is vague and disjuncted.“There is hardly any clear documentation of the community. Even the manuals prepared by the Kings of Kochi and Kodungaloor fail to mention the community. One of the reasons might be that we belonged to the lower social order. Now there are attempts made by historians in Goa and some in Kerala, to document our history and make it available for the future generations”, says Vinod, a journalist from the community.