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A scholar’s take on age-

old customs, belief

V SUNDARAM | Fri, 03 Jul, 2009 , 04:11 PM

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Recently I have read an amazing book titled THAALIYOLA – Secrets of Indian Customs
and Belief Systems written by a great scholar from Venganoor in Kerala. Thaaliyola
means palm leaf. All the lore relating to the inherited knowledge and wisdom of ancient India,
through the ages and across centuries, was kept inscribed on chemically processed palm
leaves.

Traditionally these palm leaves have always been treated with great
piety and devotion as sacred objects by dedicated scholars and savants
in Sanskrit and all other Indian languages. In my view, Dr Venganoor
Balakrishnan has chosen the most appropriate title for his book called
Thaaliyola. As a painstaking scholar, he has chosen to go on an exciting
voyage of exploration on the nature, worth, value and multi-faceted
significance of India’s age old customs, cultural, social, religious and
spiritual practices and belief-systems. He makes it clear on every page of
this uniquely conceived book that these practices and belief-systems,
rooted in and emanating from Sanatana Dharma, are ultimately
leavened, and seasoned by a highly evolved ethical and philosophical
perspective / approach.
Dr Venganoor
Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan has taken a doctorate in philosophy from Balakrishnan
Lucknow University. He has done extensive studies on the glory and
grandeur of Gayathri Mantra. For more than 15 years, with
unremitting toil, he has earnestly endeavoured to collect all the opinions / thoughts / beliefs /
view points relating to their customs, practices, conventions and observances that our
common people have passed on by word of mouth, through their oral tradition, from
generation to generation. Thaliyola was published in Malayalam for the first time in 2004. It
created new history in the world of publishing in Malayalam language. Within a period of three
years, this book went into its 50th edition and more than five lakh copies have been sold.
What is more, Thaliyola has been translated into several languages — Tamil, Telugu and
Kannada and English.

When Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan was asked by one of

the journalists as to what motivated and inspired him to
collect these oral traditions, he replied as follows:
‘People feel that a lot of observances have no valid
reasons, but now you find that a lot of grandma’s
cures and other proverbs have been backed by
scientific reasons. Whenever scientific reasoning for
such practices is published in newspapers, I take
particular care to collect them. In the old days, people
would do things only if they had some religious
significance attached. That’s why you find many
practices associated with religion, when actually they
were meant and proposed as good practices for good
health.’

In a brilliant foreword to his book Balakrishnan has stated:

‘Writing is a sort of meditation. One has to stay tuned to the
subject in all its dimensions keeping the mind observant, yet
unbiased, analytical, yet critical, and receptive, yet
unprejudiced. The compilation of Thaaliyola which
Front cover of book in
called for decade’s research work and study of Indian
English
traditions spread over rather a wide canvas, in its
every aspect, relating to the very minute details of
practices, observances and beliefs, effected a transformation of my very person. My

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career as an enthusiastic, aggressive and investigative

journalist ceased; a rather serene, philosophical and
metaphysically awakened person emerged within. Compilation
of Thaaliyola that influenced and transformed me, sold out
in Lakhs, enchanting the readers with its awesome revelations
and new realizations regarding the customs and practices they
lived on hitherto.’
In Thaaliyola, Dr
Venganoor
Balakrishnan has
raised three hundred
and thirty (330)
questions relating to
all aspects of life and
given short and
precise answers in a
subtle and simple
language. In order to
Ancient Palm leaf
illustrate this point, I am
Documents (Thaliyola)
giving below some of the
questions (Q) raised by him, together with the answers
(A) he has given.

1 Q. Will meditation lead to salvation?

A. A man who looks for emancipation from miseries and

sorrows of life resorts to meditation as a means to
salvation. Man can attain freedom from mental and
material restlessness only if he controls his mind.
Timeless centuries back the people of India knew this.
The modern man is subject to all sorts of tensions and
Front cover of book in stresses that in turn, cause high blood pressure and
Malayalam cardiac problems. Even these diseases can be cured if
one practises continuous meditation. When one
observes meditation, the energy collected in different centres of the body gets dispersed in
the relevant areas. This regularises the rhythm of the body. This happens because, as one is
fully absorbed in meditation, the beta waves of the brain rise themselves to the wavelength
of gamma and delta. The sages of ancient India chose to sit under the banyan tree to
do meditation since it helps the body extract all negative energy and fill in with
positive energy, instead.

2 Q. What is meant by Bhootayajna?

A. ‘Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu’ is a doctrine that reflects Indian tradition. It means let
the whole world enjoy well-being. Our fore-fathers had abundance of mercy and compassion
in them towards the world. They could view event the tiniest of living organisms as their
fellow beings who have equal right over this world. They considered every living being as an
atma (soul). Compassion is an essential quality a cultured person is supposed to possess.
This at large means ‘love and be merciful to the whole world’. We grow trees on both sides of
the road, we protect forests, we worship trees and provide sanctuaries for even wild life. We
have long realized the importance of maintaining the Rhythm of Nature. All endeavours
towards the well being of moveable and immoveable organisms of the world undertaken by
man can be termed Bhootayajna.

3 Q. How do Hindu temples differ in their construction from the worship centres of
other religions?

A. Hindu temples are not merely Bhajan Centres or Prayer Centres. They are centres that
vibrate in life owing to the presence of Godly power in systematically consecrated idol of the
deity. Hindu doctrines consider this universe as the body of the Almighty. The Grace of God
reflects in every living organism in the universe. Hindu sciences have developed certain
schemes to lift the Grace of God in every man through hard observances to the supreme level
of Salvation. But for common man, this is not easy to acquire. His alternate path or remedy is
temple. Every object in the universe is made up of five elements called Pancha-Bhootas.
They are Prithvi (Earth), Aakasam (Sky), Vaayu (air), Agni (fire), and Jalam (water).
Temples are also constructed in the model of the universe and human body. The building is
the gross body of God, where as the idol in the Sanctum Sanctorum represents His
subtle body. The idol becomes graceful when a portion of Godly Grace acquired through
observances of spells is invested in it. Later this Gracefulness is promoted through daily
poojas, observances, offerings and festivals. As a devotee makes prayer to the deity with a

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pious mind, the vibrations that emerge from the idol and the vibrations in his heart come into
harmony. In turn, his prayer materialises in soulful fulfillment. I am giving below some
samples of the many types of questions that have been raised by

Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan in his Thaaliyola:

A. Why is crataeva (Bilwa) leaf used in temples of Lord Shiva?

B. Will observances of Pradosha fasting please Lord Shiva?
C. Why should fasting be observed on Saturday?
D. What is the importance of the direction East?
E. What is the importance of the direction North?
F. What is Agnihothram? What is its benefit?
G. How does the performance of Agnihothram help the plants?
H. What are the flowers used in the worship of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva?
I. What are the different categories of fasting?
J. What is Sruti?
K. What are Smritis?
L. What are yantras?

All in all, Thaliyola compiled by Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan is a remarkable book which

must be read by all enlightened Indians interested in the traditions, conventions and practices
of the social, cultural, religious and spiritual heritage of Hindus in India in absolute majority .
Vijnana or human intelligence is not the final stage of spiritual evolution. There is a far
greater consciousness characterised by infinite self-existence, pure awareness and freedom of
thought, ananda, which realises not partially and imperfectly, but wholly and absolutely, the
indwelling divine. The spiritual progression to a far greater consciousness than the human
mind is itself a manifestation of divine activity. Life in the world is not a distraction from,
but a means to the attainment of, the Final End. Human life is not to be regarded as
unworthy. Human desires are the means by which the ideal becomes actual. The
world is not a mistake or an illusion to be cast aside by the soul but a scene of spiritual
evolution by which, out of the material, the divine consciousness may be manifested. We can
see and understand from every page of this book that spiritual experience is the ultimate end
of the entire cosmic process. Earth is only heaven in the making. Contingent existence can be
raised to the level of unconditioned significance. Eternity is in love with the productions of
time.

God possesses the Heavens, but He covets the Earth.

Let me conclude with the lines of a beautiful poem:

‘Life is real, life is earnest,

And the grave is not its goal.
‘Dust thou art to dust returnest’,
Was not spoken of the soul’
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)
e-mail the writer at
vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

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