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| Kesavachari, Payyannur, Kannur |
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Scholars from even outside India come to him to study Vasthu Vidya, the traditional science of construction. Engineering graduates seek his advice. Doyen of Vasthu, Payyannur Kesavachari is architect of numerous houses and temples built to the specifications of the ancient Sastra.
He has so far authored 18 books on Vasthu Vidya. Some of these are translations of ancient texts into Malayalam. And at present he is into writing the 1st dictionary of Vasthu in Malayalam.
All these by a person who was dumb till the age of 5. Born as one of the 7 children of Kunji Manikkam and Raman Viswa Karma Achary in 1923, he recognized his path after studying Sanskrit. When his uncles refused to part with the ancient texts on the Vidya, he vowed to collect all the books in this field and to teach it to thousands.
For 25 years he studied in gurukula system under Kunjambu Keralavarman Achary. At the end of it the guru said: “My days are now limited. Whatever I know I am giving to you. Do not hesitate to distribute it to seekers.”
And so he collected Rs.6.5 lakhs from about 2000 houses south of Uduppi, and was able to construct a building adjacent to the Viswa Karma temple for giving training. Besides he taught for1 year in Nirmithi Kendra and for 5 years in Vasthu Vidya Gurukula, Aranmula. For the last 12 years he is teaching at the Kalikamba Devastanam in Mangalore.
Although Academies and State Language Institute refused to publish his works, he is not disheartened. Using the money got from his profession, he is publishing them for the benefit of posterity. According to Achary, it is more difficult to publish the work than to locate the ancient texts and translate them into Malayalam.
Courtesy: M.P.Sukumaran (text), Jose Kutty Panakkal (photo), Sree, Malayala Manorama, April 6, 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
