Centuries ago, there was a poor Namboothiri Brahmin in a village in Trissur District in Kerala.
He had six daughters. He always worried about bringing them up and getting them married.
One day, he decided to go to the town and ask for money from the King and rich landlords.
The King and few landlords gave him money and helped. He put the money in his purse and hung it on his waist.
Soon it was noon and he was hungry. He saw a temple and went to get some food there.
Seeing the hungry Brahmin, the priest offered a meal. But insisted that he had a bath in the nearby before lunch.
The Brahmin went to the pond. He saw a cow grazing there. He kept his purse by the pond and dived in.
After quickly finishing his bath he came out to see the purse missing.
He was shocked and rushed to the temple and enquired people there. No one had seen the purse.
He sat for lunch but was unable to eat even a morsel. He was very disappointed.
Many months passed, his situation at home became worse. He decided to go to the town once again and seek help.
It was late evening when he reached the town. He decided to meet the King and landlords the next day and went straight to the same temple.
The priest by then had closed the temple. But he was happy to meet the Brahmin again and offered to take him to his house for dinner.
The priest and his wife gave a warm welcome to the Brahmin.
During dinner, the two discussed their problems. The priest said he was sad since he had no children after many years of marriage. While, the Brahmin narrated how he lost his purse several months ago near the pond.
The priest’s wife was listening to the conversation and rushed inside to bring a purse to the Brahmin.
“sir, is this the purse you are talking about?” she asked.
Yes!! Exactly the same. The Namboodiri could not contain his joy. “where did you find this?” he asked.
“A few months ago when I had gone to the pond to fetch water, I saw a cow grazing. I wanted some cow dung so went near the cow to collect it. When I gathered, I saw a purse lying beneath. “
“I brought it home, washed it and kept it safely in my wooden chest. I was confident that one day the owner would come for it.”
The Namboothiri was so happy to notice the money was intact. He immediately offered half the money in the purse to the couple.
The lady said: No, Sir. I will not take a single coin from the purse. I preserved it for almost a year. If I had my eye on it, I could have taken the full amount. It is all yours.” “I would be happy, if you would bless me” She added.
The Namboodiri put both his hands on the lady and said” You will be blessed with a son who will earn you name and fame”
His words came true. The following year, the lady gave birth to a son. He was named Kunjan Nambiar. He became the most famous folk art- Ottan Thullal performer and poet Kerala ever witnessed.