Pathonpatham Noottandu 2022

A young Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker from Arattupuzha arrives at the English East India Company headquarters in Travancore to ask a lord for a permit to export cardamom. The scene inside is tense and provocative: a brutal fight among slaves, staged by British officers alongside nobles and other guests. When the winner is forced to kill the loser with a bludgeon, a moment of intervention from Kayamkulam Kochunni interrupts the bloodshed and saves the vanquished man, but the clash spirals into chaos and a close escape for Panicker.

The Maharaja of Travancore summons the brave young warrior to his Durbar, tasking him with locating and capturing the infamous [Kayamkulam Kochunni], who has already stolen sacred salagram ornaments from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Yet the palace ministers and governors hesitate to enlist a man from the lower-caste Ezhava community, fearing social upheaval. The tension deepens when Kochunni allegedly assaulted Paachupanikkar, the commander-in-chief of the Travancore Army, and his aides during a failed capture attempt, prompting the Maharaja to declare a reward for anyone who can bring him in. Meanwhile, Kochunni plots to recover the chest of stolen ornaments, which he had hidden underground near the palace during the prince’s wedding celebrations.

In parallel, Panicker’s act of defiance continues to ruffle the status quo: he builds a Shiva temple for lower-caste people, a bold project that sparks an arrest under orders from the Diwan. While Panicker is imprisoned, the deputy commander-in-chief, Padaveedan Nambi, and the naduvazhi Kaimal scheme to poison him to death. Inspector Kannan Kurup, the son of Paachupanikkar’s former commander, rescues him, and the queen steps in, ordering Panicker’s release. She then seeks his help once more—to retrieve the stolen ornaments and bring Kochunni to justice.

During the wedding night when Kochunni reappears to claim the hidden chest, Kurup captures him but releases him in exchange for half the value of the ornaments. Kochunni and Kurup attempt to sell the chest to Looper, a trader who handles ivory and antiques for export to England and France. Panicker arrives, outwits Kochunni and his team, and recovers the chest, while Kurup and Looper escape. Kochunni’s capture seems imminent, yet he ends up jailed, and the Maharaja offers a reward of veera shringala and 1008 gold coins. However, the ministers counsel restraint, citing untouchability laws, so Panicker declines the prize. In a ceremonial gesture, the Maharaja elevates Panicker’s status, bestowing the title Panicker and forever associating him with the name Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker.

As the story unfolds, the oppression against the lower caste escalates. Women who clad themselves modestly—covering ankles and chests—face brutal punishments, while others suffer slicing punishments for their adornments. Panicker responds with a social protest: he proclaims that women should cover their chests, wear long dothis, and shoulder the heavy burden of the breast tax through the Poothan dance in the Perumpoothan Thullal. He also ensures that garments and nose rings are made available to all women, challenging the tyranny of the tax.

Trouble deepens when Kaimal and Raman Thampi conspire against Panicker. Kandappan, Panicker’s loyal aide, is coerced to kill Panicker, and the plan intensifies as Kaimal, aided by a trusted confidant of the king, spikes the tender coconut drinks during a boat trip. The attack succeeds in disabling several of Panicker’s guards, and Bava—one of Kochunni’s associates—overlaps into the fatal confrontation, meeting his end as the plan to topple Panicker moves forward. The betrayal continues as Kaimal and Raman Thampi secure a deadly advantage.

In the aftermath, Nangeli—the beloved woman who defied the breast tax—suffers at the hands of those enforcing control over her body. Her father Kelu is captured and beaten in the same struggle. To save her father, Nangeli makes a heartbreaking choice: she cuts off her own breasts in a symbolic act of protest and presents them to the authorities, dying soon after. Her lover, Chirukandan, leaps into her funeral pyre in a final, passionate gesture of devotion.

The deaths of Panicker and Nangeli ignite widespread fury and upheaval among the people. Riots erupt as shops and markets are targeted by the angered crowd, and the authorities face mounting pressure. In response, the King takes decisive steps to restore order by abolishing the brutal taxes that had fueled the unrest and by granting women the right to cover their upper bodies, a historic concession that signals a broader social shift for Travancore. The narrative closes on the transformed moral landscape: a realm where courage and sacrifice catalyze social reform, even as the memory of two steadfast figures—Panicker and Nangeli—remains a powerful emblem of resistance and dignity.