Snake boats sailing along the tortuous lagoons to some unknown land
Kerala’s contribution to Indian thought has been immense. One name is enough to justify this claim. Sankara, presumably a Nambudiri, was born in Kaladi in AD 8th century. He is Indian’s most celebrated philosopher. His impact on the thinking of his countrymen has been both profound and everlasting.
Today, twelve centuries later, Kerala is engaged in a work of reconciliation as significant as the one Sankara achieved with the diverse faiths of India. Will its present thinkers and politicians succeed in integrating an alien doctrine like Marxism with the ideas that have sprung from the soil? Whatever may be the answer, the charm of Kerala will ever remain: little boys’ andgirls gathering flowers for Onam; the laburnum braking into sprays of gold and the palasa aflame with blossoms of red on New year’s Day (Vishu), Snake boats sailing along the tortuous lagoons to some unknown land.
There are also Sanskrit works on astrology, astronomy and Ayurveda. Aryabhatta, the celebrated astronomer who anticipated Copernicus, was probably a Malayali.