ARPO: Chronicling Kerala’s past for its future

How a small collective of volunteers carves a unique niche in preserving the State’s vanishing heritage.

Members of ARPO documenting the traditional songs of Jenu Kuruba Tribal musicians as part of their efforts to provide the tribal people with a livelihood. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

In a nondescript corner of Thrippunithura, a temple town near Kerala’s Kochi, a stone’s throw from the newly constructed metro station, a small two-storey house comes alive with music, chatter, and laughter most evenings. A radiant group of youngsters gathers here to discuss Kerala’s art, culture, heritage, folklore, and more.

This small motley crew is engaged in a not-so-small mission. In November 2021, Sruthin Lal, Parvathi A.R., and Nevin Thomas came together with a common vision: to preserve and archive the pluralistic cultural heritage of their home State through the Archival and Research Project (ARPO), a not-for-profit organisation founded to discover, share, and digitally archive unique aspects of Kerala’s rich heritage. They travel throughout Kerala, collecting folklore, researching the State’s unheard history, and recording narratives that might otherwise be forgotten. Their efforts have been recognised by multiple agencies, including the United Nations.

“It all started with a random phone call,” says Parvathi, co-founder and Director of Projects and Outreach. “As art buffs, Sruthin Lal and I often discuss music, dance, and more. Little did we know that one of those discussions would result in ARPO,” she tells Frontline. The organisation, set up as a Society under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955, has its registered office in Thiruvananthapuram.

Parvathi says, “Most Malayalis, locals and otherwise, are hardly aware of Kerala’s cultural history. We wanted to change that, especially because we have a rich history featuring a diverse population.” A former Assistant Professor at Government College Munnar, she is a researcher and art enthusiast managing ARPO while pursuing her PhD in public policy. 

There are several government and independent cultural organisations in the State such as the Kerala Lalithakala Academy, Kerala Sahitya Academy, Kerala Folklore Academy and Kochi Biennale Foundation that conserve and promote their land’s unique culture and heritage. ARPO is one such initiative whose main mission is to make less-discussed cultural knowledge accessible. While people are more aware of mainstream art forms, such as the dance drama of Kathakali or classical dance Mohiniyattam, the organisation wants to tell stories of subaltern culture and art forms of indigenous communities. These are shared through mass media to reach a wide range of audiences.

ARPO’s co-founder, Sruthin Lal, the executive director, is a social entrepreneur and multimedia journalist. He has a background in Indian classical music and dance as well as a passion for art, history, and culture. This passion led him to launch ARPO. “Engaging with the past is essential for an equitable future,” he says, adding that the intention behind ARPO is “not to mirror a museum. Culture is alive and we aim to highlight what the past can do for the future.” Along with Lal, Parvathi runs ARPO’s day-to-day operations remotely after Nevin left in February 2022.

ARPO projects

With a growing community of researchers, storytellers, artists, and creative professionals, ARPO comes alive through its projects and initiatives. Earthlore, a flagship programme launched shortly after ARPO’s inception, is dedicated to representing and documenting Kerala’s tribal traditions. Kerala has 37 Scheduled Tribes, which amount to 1.5 per cent of the State’s population. Lal tells Frontline, “We promote tribal artists by facilitating their musical skills so that they can utilise them to make an income.” The initiative seeks to promote tribal music via collaborations with national and international professionals to produce music videos.

Architectural restoration of the Karnikara mandapam which won ARPO several accolades and awards. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

The first edition of Earthlore took place at Bolgatty Palace in Kochi in 2022. Indigenous artists shared the stage with professional musicians in a music concert attended by “roughly 300 spectators,” Parvathi says. Following this, musical performances and workshops were held at Kochi Biennale, Kozhikode Museum, and the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav event in Delhi. The indigenous artists were members of the Irula tribe from Attappadi in Palakkad as well as the Kattunayakar tribe from Wayanad. As part of the project, ARPO documented the Irula tribe’s death dance, which they perform when one of their community members passes away. “We felt happy when ARPO recognised our custom. They also helped us with more income, which we fail to make otherwise,” says Swaminadhan, a 44-year-old member of the Irula community from Kallakkara hamlet in Attappadi, who performs the death dance as part of his profession.

Parvathi says that ARPO’s music production team visited both tribes and “recorded their music in their natural environment.” She adds that musicians including Charu Hariharan, her brother and playback singer Sreekanth Hariharan, Majeesh Karayad (winner of Kerala State Folklore Academy Award), and Julian Schoming (a musician from Berkeley) were among the artists ARPO collaborated with as part of Earthlore. 

While Earthlore caters to the musical heritage of indigenous tribes, LoreKeepers is ARPO’s gateway to oral tradition. According to their website, the LoreKeepers project is a “collective gathering of oral traditions of our land using smartphones.” Described as an open online folklore archive, it includes various forms such as songs, tales, riddles, and hearsay, available on ARPO’s website and social media platforms. Parvathi says that the project has two full-time staffers to manage the material “we receive via crowd-sourcing” and “lorekeepers” are employed to gather stories and material from across Kerala. She adds, “We tell people to shoot in familial and community settings and send it to us. We then take it through stages of vetting and editing, and make it readily accessible for the listeners.” 

Through the first edition of LoreKeepers, they collected 1,000 lores. The target for the ongoing second edition is also 1,000, of which, 200 lores have already been collected. They also conduct workshops in educational institutions on the basics of shooting videos on mobile devices, digital archiving, and educating youngsters on the importance of oral traditions and folklore. 

From a camp conducted for school children as part of the Lorekeepers initiative. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

While the first season of Earthlore was funded by Experion Technology, based in TechnoPark in Trivandrum, LoreKeepers is supported by a Bengaluru-based philanthropic organisation, Faizal and Shabana Foundation. Recently, ARPO received a grant from the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy to document Irula, Kattunayakar and Kotas tribal groups from Kerala and Tamil Nadu. “Currently, the funding takes place through personal contributions, donations, grants and CSR funding and we are looking for the same going forward,” says Parvathi. 

Given ARPO’s multiple areas of interest, they have a group of advisors comprising Swarup B.R., a tourism campaign manager; Manu S. Pillai, historian and author; and journalist Manju Sara Rajan. “ARPO stands out for its emphasis on identifying marginalised or lesser-known elements from the past. It is not an easy space to work in. But they have been able to persuade others, including non-Malayalis, to take an interest and support them,” says Pillai.

“I am quite excited by their work so far, despite relatively meagre resources, and hope that in time they can attract more funding and grow bigger.” Apart from the website, the young organisation is expanding their online presence through Instagram and YouTube with more than 4,000 followers and 2,000 subscribers.

 Conserving traditional architecture

Apart from Earthlore and LoreKeepers, ARPO’s efforts to digitally archive Kerala’s cultural identity extend to architectural conservation. Lal beams about the now famous project to restore the semi-open hall or Karnikara mandapam of the 600-year-old Kunnamangalam Bhagawati Temple in Naduvannur village, about 30 from Kozhikode city. “I visited the village in November 2022 and found it to be in woeful condition,” he says, adding that it is the oldest architectural structure in his village. He also notes how people of all castes, “from Brahmins to tribals,” visit the temple, making it “very important to the locals.” 

The Karnikara mandapam was originally made with 16 wooden pillars of teak. After discovering the poor condition of the mandapam, he decided to undertake its restoration. “When we approached the temple committee for the restoration, they were contemplating reconstructing it with cement. So I decided to intervene with ARPO,” he says, adding that he contributed one-third of the total restoration costs, with the condition that the process is fully sustainable. To this end, he contacted Ezha, a trio of conservation architects, to undertake the restoration. ARPO monitored and documented the entire process. Lal also speaks of the time-bound constraints placed upon the architects as the project—which commenced in January 2023—had to be completed by March in time for the annual ritual.

The project garnered significant recognition, including awards from UNESCO Asia Pacific, IIA Kerala State, and International Domus for heritage conservation and sustainable development.

Looking ahead

Evidently, from that small two-storey house in Tripunithura, ARPO’s vision is growing far beyond its humble beginnings. As the lively discussions and music continue to fill those rooms, the organisation’s ambitions now stretch across Kerala and into neighbouring southern States. Lal and Parvathi are focused on the future. “We plan to expand across Kerala with new editions of LoreKeepers and Earthlore,” Parvathi says, “but funding remains a challenge.” They also note the lack of legal policies for heritage protection. With ambitions to expand into other States, ARPO continues its unique mission of chronicling Kerala’s past for future generations.