The puny Peruvamba village near Chittoor in Palakkad district has earned a unique place in history. It is arguably the country’s only panchayat with three products that have earned the prestigious Geographical Indication (GI) tag. They are Navara and Palakkad Matta, two indigenous rice varieties, and Palakkad Maddalam, a percussion instrument, all with centuries-old traditions. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines GI as a sign used on products with a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation due to that origin. This year, Navara, Kerala’s only medicinal rice, has completed twenty years since it won the GI tag, one of the first agricultural products to make the grade. In India, the GI tag is issued by the Geographical Indication Registry, which is part of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry. GI tags for Matta and Maddalam soon followed Navara's recognition.
Yet, how many, even among Malayalis, know of Peruvamba and its unique products?
Compare them with products we are all familiar with: Champagne, Scotch whisky, Tequila, Swiss chocolates, India’s own Basmati rice or Darjeeling Tea. Like Peruvamba products, they are all known by their places of origin, have GI tags and earn higher market prices. Indeed, Navara and Matta have popular demand and earn good returns. Yet it has no comparison with the other global products mentioned above, which are immensely popular worldwide and command premium prices. The situation of the meticulously manufactured Palakkad Maddalam - now made by a few families of Peruvamba- is even more unfortunate, as they face a limited market that shrinks every day for multiple reasons.
Indeed, well-known products with global markets certainly cannot be compared to those with minimal geographical appeal. But why can't our governments or the tourism industry project these products’ use and value as mascots of Kerala’s tradition and culture, as they do in many countries?
“We are unable to carry forward the tradition as the new generation is not interested due to the low returns compared to the economic and physical efforts put in for making a maddalam,” says Raghavan, 69, the eldest in one of Peruvamba’s maddalam-making families belonging to the Kadachi Kollan community. The family has been designing leather-based percussion instruments like Mridangam, Maddalam, Tabla, Timila, Chenda and Idakka for about 200 years. Their products deliver the best performance and are sought by prominent musicians thanks to the craft of manufacturing and the right choice and processing of the materials -cattle hide and........