Bramayugam: Kunjumon Potti, Koduman Potti, Punchaman Potti – All You Need To Know (Image: screenshot from Bramayugam trailer)
Mammootty’s Bramayugam directed by Rahul Sadasivan released today to positive reports from both the audience and critics. Mammootty’s Koduman Potti character is winning all the applauds from all corners for the actors versatile acting in the movie. Before the release of the movie, the name of Mammootty’s character was on news after a member of the Punchaman Illam, a traditional Brahmin household in Kerala, filed a petition against the release of the movie.
The petition had claimed that the character Kunjumon Potti (as it was certified earlier by the Censor) would negatively impact their family’s name with its portrayal of the Mammootty’s character as practising black magic. However, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday closed the petition after the filmmakers agreed to change the protagonist’s character name from ‘Kunjumon Potty’ to ‘Koduman Potty’. The censor board has also agreed with the filmmaker’s demand to change the character’s name.
Before and after the petition, once the trailer and other details about Bramayugam (translated as ‘age of madness’) started trending, curiosity among the public increased about the movie and the story. All stopped at one rumour that the movie is about patriarch of Punchaman Illam (Illam is the traditional home for the Namboodiri Brahmins in Kerala), a famous household in Kerala’s Kottayam known for magical arts, and black magic, as claimed by many.
This Illam is located near Puthupalli in Kottayam district. It was on the instructions of then King, Punchaman Potti, known as the king of magical arts, moved to Puthupalli from Mavelikkara, a place in present day Alappuzha district.
Three centuries ago, after reaching at Puthupalli, Punchaman Ptti built the Illam that we see today.
According to reports, Balashastav (or Kuttchatthan, literal translation is little demon) was worshiped by Punchaman Illam.
The legend is that members of each generation of this Illam became proficient in magical arts and witchcraft obtained through ‘upasanas’, and people from many parts of South India used to come to the Punchaman Illam in search of Punchaman Potti.
There is a legend connecting the great magician Kadamattathu Kathanar and Punchaman Potti.
According to many accounts, Kathanar lived at the same time as Punchaman Potti was a close friend of the latter.
Once, at the invitation of Potti, Kathanar came to visit Illam in a boat. He went to the quay, received him, and brought him to Illam and entertained him well. When Kathanar went to the quay to return, the boat from which the Kathanar had come was nowhere to be seen. Punchaman Poti used his magical powers to propel Kathanar”s boat up the tree.
“Aren”t you a great wizard, do what you can,” Potty said to Kathanar, smiling.
When Kathanar replied, “I will get the people of Illam to lower the boat,” Potti admitted defeat and lowered the boat with a whisper.
The story doesn’t stop there:
Kathanar, insisting on taking a different path, made a banana-leaf boat and set off from there.
Remnants of old Illam and its history are still visible in Punchaman. Even today, palm leaves and scriptures containing precious information, including mantras, are kept in Punchaman Illam. The shrines of idols can still be seen today.
(With inputs from Mathrubhumi)
