ഞാറ്റുപാട്ട്

• മലയാളത്തില്‍ വായിക്കാം

The rhythm and melody that was once heard in the paddy fields of Kerala vanished over time. Songs were sung during planting of saplings and during harvest. These songs have played a major ruling in maintaining the uniqueness of the language and highlighting its richness.

There were songs to be sung while planting the seedlings, just like the harvest songs which were sung during the harvest. These songs were sung to ease the intensity of labour and to maintain a certain speed and rythm while planting the saplings. Nattu pattu | ñāttŭ pāṭṭŭ | is also known as Pulayarpattu as it was passed down orally among the Pulayar community of Kerala. These songs remind us about the importance of songs in every stratum of the Kerala society.

The following lines are from the great Malayalam poet Ullur’s ‘Kerala Sahithya Charithram’ :-

mārimaḻakaḷ coriñcē ceṟu vayalukaḷ okke nanañcē
pūṭṭiyorukkippaṟañcē ceṟu ñāṟukaḷ keṭṭiyeṟiñcē
ōmala centila mālaceṟu kaṇṇamma kāḷi kaṟumpi
cātta caṭayanmārāya ceṟu maccikaḷellāruṁ vantē
vantu nirantavar ninṟē keṭṭi ñāṟēllāṁ keṭṭippakuttē
oppattil naṭṭukarēṟānavar kuttiyuṭuttu kuniñcē
kaṇṇacceṟumayappōḷ avaḷ ōmalēyennu viḷiccē
pāṭṭonnu pāṭīṭṭu vēṇaṁ niṅṅaḷ naṭṭukaraykkaṅṅu kēṟān
appōḷōru tattappeṇṇ avaḷ mēmaramēṟikkarañcē
mēppōṭṭu nōkkippaṟañcē koccu ōmala kaṭṭicceṟumi
tattammappeṇṇē nīyippōḷ iṅke vantoru kāriyaṁ collu

Here one can see the peculiarities of language in nattu pattu. The corresponding ‘ñña’ in Standard Malayalam is ‘ñca’ in the above lines. Besides, the corresponding dental ‘nna’ is ‘nta’ here, as in vantu (vannu) and nirantavar (nirannavar). Also the usage of iṅke for ‘here’ as opposed to ‘iviṭe’ in standard Malayalam is another distinguishable feature of this song.

Two versions of the above song are provided here

Reference

1. കേരളസാഹിത്യചരിത്രം ഒന്നാം വാല്യം, മഹാകവി ഉള്ളൂര്‍ എസ്. പരമേശ്വരയ്യര്‍, 1953 ജൂണ്‍.