Thus in addition to regular lessons, there were other opportunities to learn Sanskrit. The late C. K. Ravi Varma (1917-2011). a former diplomat and head of the aristocratic family (Mal. karaṇavan) from the Chemprol Palace.36 when asked about the education of girls in his family. described the following picture: his older sister. Asvati Nal37 Srimati Tampu- ratti (Mal. aśvati nāl śrimatī tampuraṭṭi), called Kunjikutti (Mal. kuññikuṭṭi) (1915-1990), recites Panini’s grammar rules. and their teacher. helping in the kitchen, just grinds the coconut pulp and at the same time corrects the student. Asvati Nal Srimati, when she grew up, authored minor works in Sanskrit, unfortunately not preserved by the family, although there are anecdotes about the circumstances in which some of them were created. The old gen-
… likkulaṭu kuññuṇni) Nambyar: 168 then dramas (Skt. nāṭaka) and poetics (Skt. alamkāraśāstra) under Palapurattu Pudiyetadu (Mal. palappurattu putiyeṭatu) Govindan Nambiyar: tarka or logic un- der Patudol (Mal. paṭutol) Vidvan (Skt. vidvān) Nambudiri- pad and vyakarana or grammar under Subrahmanyan Edappalam (Mal. subrahmanyan eṭappalam) Nambudiri (Kunjunni Raja 1980: 261). In her own compositions she mentions Edappalam Nambudiri as her guru. As her great granddaughter Chandravali Tampuran put it. she was a personality of harmonious blending of bhakti-jñāna-vairagya - namely devotion, knowledge and non-attachment to worldly things. 169 She was filled with a great passion for knowledge. Every day she would read purāņas and upanisads. She maintained regular contact with Sanskrit scholars and studied various works all her life. In order to be in touch with the Kodun-
… After three generations of women literati belonging to the Cochin Royal Family, the names of women close to that court should be mentioned. Ikkavamma (Mal. ikkāvāmma) of Tottakad (Mal. toṭṭakāṭ) belonged to an aristocratic Nayar family. Her husband served as a Divan Peshkar194 for the Cochin Raja. Her father was Irinjalakkuda 195 Nandikkara Panikkar 196. She was taught not only kāvya but also astronomy and astrology. The fact that she studied the Naiṣadhacaritam proves that her Sanskrit education was at an advanced level. Her only extant works are in Malayalam. Her drama, the Subhadrārjunam in Malayalam, was translated into Sanskrit by Kesava Sastri of Karamana in Trivandrum (Kunjunni Raja 1980: 273). Her daughter Tottakad Madhavi Amma (Mal. mādhavi. Skt. mādhavī) (1888-1968) gained proficiency in Sanskrit, English and other European languages and was a well-known poet and literary critic. She was a member of the Ernakulam Women’s Association and (…) was nominated an unofficial member to the Cochin Legislative Council in 1925. She was the president of the Women’s Conference held as part of the Nair Conference at Karuvatta in 1929. (Devika 2005: 93)