Concluding Remarks

Just like the rest of India, Kerala also has its share of Mahabharata episodes with local flavour, which lie outside of Vyasa's epic. Do they have any links with other regional variations? For example, in the Mavaratam Pattu, Bhima after being poisoned, ends up in Nagapura (city of snakes) where he marries a girl. In Vyasa's Mahabharata there is the episode of Bhima's rejuvenation by the Nagas in the netherworld (omitted in the Critical Edition). In Ref. [2] we read that in the Assamese Mahabharata of Rama Saraswati, there is an episode of Bhima fighting with nagas in the netherworld (same episode also occurs in Bengali versions [1]. Speaking of Kuratti, in Hiltebeitel(1988) [4], we find that there is one Terukkuttu play called Draupadi Kuravanci. In this play, during the stay in the forest Draupadi disguises as a Kuratti and goes to Hastinapura and engages in fortune telling to collect fresh grains. So it turns out that both in Tamil Nadu and Kerala we find some connections between Kuratti and Mahabharata even though the episodes have nothing in common. Investigations into what prompted such regional variations outside the Sanskrit Epic could be richly rewarding. Hopefully folklorists in Kerala could unearth and profitably study such episodes with epic connections in Kerala oral/ritual traditions.

Acknowledgements We are deeply indebted to Shri Pradip Bhattacharya for a careful reading of the manuscript and for suggesting many improvements.

Glossary

• Abhicara Black Magic.

• Attakatha Literary text for Kathakali play containing slokas and padams. The language used is generally Manipravalam, a mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam.

• Kuratti (Kuravan) Female (male) members of the Kurava community.

• Malayan (Malayi) Male (female) member of the Malaya community.

• Nizhalkkuttu Shadow piercing.

• Pattu Song.

• Velan (Velatti) Male (female) member of the Vela community.

• Velan Pattu Song sung by members of the Vela community.