ABOUT RAMAYANA MASAM

AUM SRI SAI RAM AUM SRI SAIRAM

Today is 22nd day of Malayalam month Karkidakam which is the last month of Malayalam Calender.Actually Ramayana Masam is celebrated in Kerala during the month of Karkidakam.In olden days parayan of epic Ramayan was performed in all houses in Kerala during the month of Karkidakam,reading starting on the first day of the month and finishing the parayan of the holy book by the last day of the month, altogether there are 31 days for the holy reading.
During those days, month of Karkidakam was considered to be the month of unhappy and poor month for the people for this month is marked by low agricultural production, heavy rain and spread of contagious diseases.Hence the month is referred as'panja masam' which means the month of scarcity.Remedy for this malady found out by our fore-fathers was to carry out reading of the epic Ramayanam during the entire month.Nowadays due to stress and strain of modern corporate life,the reading is limited to temples and holy places which are being performed under the auspices of various Hindu orgnisations in a grand manner.
Ramayan now in vogue for parayan is Adhamaya Ramayanam Kilipattu written in Malayalam by Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan who is considered to be the father of modern Malayalam literature.He is popularly known as Ezhuthachan.Adhamya Ramayanam is the Malayalam version of famous Hindu epic Ramayan attributed to sage-poet Valmiki.Thunchathu Ezhuthachan who was born during 16 th centuary at Thirur in Malappuram district in Kerala has written this epic in Malayalam for spreading righteousness and goodwill among people.
During this month" Nalambala Darshan" (pilgrimage to 4 temples) is also important for devotees.Nalambalam are those four temples dedicated to Lord Rama and his brothers.
They are 1)Sree Rama Temple at Thrippayar 2)Koodal Manickam temple dedicated to Bharatha 3) Lakshmana Temple at Moozhikulam 4)Temple at Payyammel dedicated to Shathrugananm