. Every literature has a section known as नाटोटिप्पाट्टुस् (folk songs). In Kerala ( मलयालम् ) literature the period of folk songs was a golden era. Worship of देवतास् , honouring heroes, entertainments, philosophy, science, caste-professions, morals, ethics etc., generally formed the themes for folk songs. There are a number of folk-songs in मलयालम् called सङ्घक्कलि , तीयाट्टु , ओलप्पावक्कूत्तु , एज़्हामतु कलि , काणिप्पाट्टु , नाट्टुप्पाट्टु , वट्टिप्पाट्ट्न् , पूरक्कलिप्पाट्टु , अटच्चुतुरप्पाट्टु , ( पुल्लुवर्पाट्टु , निज़्हल्कूत्तुप्पाट्टु , भद्रकालिप्पाट्टु , तिरयाट्टु etc. All these songs are reflective of the spiritual thoughts and ideas of the masses. Also, there is a special series of folk-songs called वटक्कन्पाट्टुस् (songs of the north)

All the वटक्कन्पाट्टुस् are heroic songs. They are folk-songs eulogising the heroic deeds and achievements of certain heroes and heroines of exceptional courage and prowess who flourished in olden days in north Malabar. Though there are more than four hundred such songs, only thirtyfive of them have been printed and published yet. These songs, which call for no special training or gifts for their singing or require any special knowledge in music for their appreciation, take their roots in the hearts of the common people. Almost all these songs are connected with कलरिस् (schools where gymnastics are taught), अटवु (strategic feats of the duel fight), पयत्तु (physical training) and अङ्कम् (fight). Descriptions of the challenges by heroes, clashing of arms and the way how youngsters get out of danger by their intelligence and prowess are really exciting and exhilarating to read.

Most of the heroes in the वटक्कन्पाट्टुस् lived either in कटत्तनाडु or its suburbs. A good majority of the songs sings the praises of two powerful families पुत्तूरम् house and तच्चोलिमाणिक्कत्तु , the former a तीय and the latter a नायर् family. तच्चोलिमाणिक्कत्तु house was at मेप्प in पुतुप्पणम् village near वटकर in कटत्तनाडु , and most of the songs relate to the great hero ओतेनक्कुरुप्पु of this house. ओतेनक्कुरुप्पु was born in 1584 A.D. and lived for thirtytwo years. Therefore, the वटक्कन्पाट्टुस् may generally be placed in the 16th and 17th centuries A.D. आरोमल्चेकवर् , आरोमलुण्णि , आट्टुम्मणमेल् उण्णियार्च्च , तच्चोलि ओतेनन् , तच्चोलि चन्दु , पालाट्टु कोमप्पन् , बम्बायि आलिकुत्त्य् , पुतुनाटन् केलु and कल्प्परम्पिल् कण्णन् are the chief characters in the पट्टुस् . Especially the song about उण्णियार्च्च is thrilling. Brief notes about the heroes and their families in the पाट्टुस् are given below.

पुत्तूरम् वीटु . ( Puttūram House)

आरोमल् चेकवर् , आट्टुंमणमेल् उण्णियार्च्च and आरोमलुण्णि were the star heroes of the house. उण्णियार्च्च was the sister of आरोमल्चेकवर् and mother of आरोमलुण्णि whose father was कण्णप्पन् . It may be understood from the song 'puttiriyaṅkam' that आरोमल्चेकवर् was born to कण्णप्पन् when he was fortytwo years old. One or two songs about आरोमल्चेकवर् are extant, one about his playing a game of dice and the other about his fighting the 'puttiriyaṅkam'.

As for the game of dice, आरोमल्चेकवर् went to his uncle at Mikavil Mikaccerivīṭṭil--an expert in the game of dice--to study the art. There he spent a night with his uncle's daughter तुम्पोलार्च्च , who became pregnant by him. Though people ridiculed her at this development आरोमल् चेकवर् took her as his wife when she had delivered his child. आरोमल् चेकवर् had also another wife called कुञ्चुण्णूलि of आलत्तूर् house.

With regard to the पुत्तिरियङ्कम् , अरोमर् as the चेकवर् ( सेवकन् , one who served) of उण्णिक्कोनार् , once went to fight with अरिङ्ङोटर् . चन्दु , his father's nephew, accompanied him as his assistant. चन्दु hated आरोमर् from the day the latter stood in his way of marrying उण्णियार्च .

अरिङ्ङोटर् brought over to his side Candu, assistant of आरोमर् . आरोमर् killed अरिङ्ङोटर् in combat and on his way home he slept lying on the lap of Candu weary after the combat when the treacherous Candu thrust heated handle of the lamp into a wound in the stomach of आरोमर् , who managed to reach home only to die there.

आट्टुम्मणमेल् उण्णियार्च्च

उण्णियार्च्च , overruling the opposition of her father-in-law and mother-in-law, one day went with her husband कुञ्जुरामन् to witness कूत्तु in the Allimalar temple. When they came to एटवट्टम् market after passing तानूर् market certain ruffians confronted them. The coward that he was, कुञ्जुरामन् trembled before the ruffians, but उण्णियार्च्च routed them with her skill in combat.

आरोमलुण्णि

आरोमलुण्णि , who as a youth heard from his mother उण्णियार्च्च the story about the treacherous killing of his uncle, आरोमल् चेकवर् , by चन्दु rushed to कोलत्तुनाडु and killed the latter in combat.

Taccoli Otenan

ओतेनन् was a powerful नायर् ( कुरुप्पु ) born in तच्चोलि māṇikkattu house. His father was a नायर् chief well-known both as पुतु ppanattuvāzunnor and चीन ṃvīṭṭil तङ्ङल् . His mother was उप्पाट्टि , daughter of a woman called तेयि . He had an elder brother called कोमप्पन् and a younger sister called उणिच्चिरुत ( उणिच्चिर ). ओतेनन् 's father begot a son ( कण्टाच्चेरि चाप्पन् ) of माक्कं , the maid-servant of उप्पाट्टि . चाप्पन् grew up to be a constant companion of ओतेनन् . कोमप्पन् ( कोमक्कुरुप्पु ) brother of ओतेनन् was a peace-loving, sedate person. ओतेनन् mastered all the tricks of कलरिप्पयत्तु at the gymnasium of मतिलोओर् गुरुक्कल् . ओतेनन् had also mastered the use of the उरुमि (a thin sword). He was such a master in the use of the उरुमि that he could, by one sweep of it, graze the throat of a man without cutting and shedding a drop of blood. He was an expert in necromancy also. What could not be managed by the physical strength of ओतेनन् , चाप्पन् used to manage with his intellectual powers.

ओतेनन् was born on the slope of a hill at Meppa one mile east of the present वटकर railway station. Relics and remnants of माणिक्कत्तु family are there yet to be seen. Many songs have been composed about ओतेनन् . One of them is his going to receive presents of cloth on ओनम् day from a stingy chief who, after the death of ओतेनन् 's father, had become 'Putuppaṇattu Vāzhunnavar'. Another song relates to his collecting taxes from Kotumala कुञ्ञिक्कण्णन् on behalf of राजा of कोट्टयम् . Yet another song is about his putting down the conceit and pride of कुङ्कि अम्म of Kekki house. And, another song is about his killing कैतेकि ओतेनन् नम्बियार् . His fight with the माप्पिलस् on behalf of the राजा of चिरक्कल् forms the theme of yet another song. Another interesting song is about his making कोट्टक्कल् कुञ्ञालि मरक्कार् , who was a bosom friend of his, though a philanderer put on the attires of a female and thus teaching him a good lesson in life. Another song describes the escape of ओतेनन् , who went to see the construction of the करिमल fort, with the help of चाप्पन् . There are also many other songs about ओतेनन् .

The very marriage of Otenan is an interesting story. मातेविअम्म of काविलुम् चात्तोत्तु had a daughter named चीरु . मातेविअम्म went to माणिक्कत्तु house and requested Otenan to marry her daughter चीरु . Otenan refused to oblige her. But, चीरु grew up to be very beautiful girl, and Otenan, who saw her in that state felt a great passion for her. He sent चाप्पन् to her for a pan (betel leaves for chewing) which she also refused. At last चाप्पन् took Otenan disguised as a blind person to चीरु 's house. चीरु and Otenan got married without the knowledge of चीरु 's mother, who cursed them when she knew about the marriage.

There is another story about ओतेनन् and करुत्तनिटम् ( कटत्तनाटु ) कुञ्ञिक्कन्नि , the only daughter of the राजा of कटत्तनाटु . A rowdy called Kelappan of Ponnāpuram for forcibly carried her off. The राजा , who tried to bring back his daughter had to return wounded. ओतेनन् came to know that Ponnāpuram fort had once been given as dowry to his family and Kelappan was in illegal and forcible occupation of it. ओतेनन् along with चाप्पन् went and captured the fort. He released कुञ्ञिक्कन्नि from captivity and took Kelappan captive. The राजा of कटत्तनाटु was very much pleased with this exploit of ओतेनन् and married कुञ्ञिक्कन्नि to him.

There is also a story about ओतेनन् fighting with the माप्पिलस् of चिरक्कल् . The माप्पिलस् did not honour the राजा of चिरक्कल् during one of his tours, and the राजा asked ओतेनन् to put down the haughtiness of the माप्पिलस् , and he did so. कोतमल कुङ्किअम्म , the राजा पुलिनाडु , मतिलूर् गुरुक्कल् and others are referred to in this story. कतिरूर् गुरुक्कल् was a very powerful enemy of ओतेनन् . The गुरुक्कल् one day kept his new gun leaning against a jack fruit tree, and ओतेनन् , in derision, commented about it thus: "Who is it that has kept the spear made of earth leaning against the tree on which usually spear made of gold is kept so?" The गुरुक्कल् , angry at the insult challenged ओतेनन् for a combat within three months from Wednesday, the ninth of कुम्भम् . On the appointed day ओतेनन् went to गुरुक्कल्ऽस् combat field and killed him, परिन्तुकूल् एम्मेन्पनिय्कर् and others. On his way home after the victory, ओतेनन् remembered that he had forgotten his dagger on the platform of the peepal tree, and paying no heed to the advice of his friends he returned to the combat field and got killed there.

तच्चोलि चन्दु

चन्दु was ओतेनन् 's nephew and was reputed for his great prowess. मालु of ताज़्हत्तुमठम् was his wife. One day she went for worship in the ओमल्लुर् temple where कण्डर् मेनोन् of तुलुनाटन् fort abducted her into his court. चन्दु was at the time, twentytwo years old. On hearing about his wife's mishap चन्दु , disguised as a सन्न्यासिन् , entered the fort and fought singlehanded against Menon and his army of 400 soldiers.

पालट्टु कोमन्

कोमन् Nāyar, another nephew of ओतेनन् , the son of कुङ्किअम्म of कप्पुल्लिपलाट्टु , became famous under the name कोमप्पन् . The family feud between the कुरुप्पुस् of तोण्णूराम्वीतु and the नायर्स् of पालाटु was a long-standing affair. There were seven कुरुप्पुस् during the days of कोमन् , and they had two sisters named उण्णिच्चिरुत and उण्णिअम्म . कोमन् felt a great passion towards उण्णिअम्म , who was bathing in the tank, and her brothers rushed to kill कोमन् . But कोमन् outlived all obstacles created by the seven brothers of उण्णिअम्म and the tale-bearing उणिच्चिरुत because of the cleverness of the very intelligent उण्णिअम्म . कोमन् also got settled by ओतेनन् the fortytwo items of family quarrels and married उण्णिअम्म .

बम्बायि आलिक्कुट्टि

In the song about आदिराज it is said आलिक्कुट्टि , an expert in the science relating to elephants, was invited for help when the seventh elephant of the राजा escaped back into the forest. आलिक्कुट्टि hailed from Bombay. According to the song under reference आलिक्कुट्टि brought back the elephant from the forest to the राजा , who, greatly pleased with him, gave his daughter, कुञ्ञिक्कण्णि , in marriage to him.

पुतुनाटन् केलु

पुतुनाटन् चन्दु and केलु were brothers. चन्दु married a woman named मातु . One वट्टोलि Menon became मातु 's paramour by bribing her with a golden chain worth three thousand पणम्स् , and she got her husband killed by this paramour. चन्दु had two dogs called मल्लि and चोक्कन् , and one of them kept guard over चन्दु 's dead body while the other went and informed केलु about चन्दु 's death. केलु in great rage, rushed to the place, saw the golden chain presented to मातु by Menon and blinded one of her eyes.

कुरुम्परम्पिल् कण्णन्

This tīya youth had a very chaste wife called आर्या . One day when कण्णन् was away from home for tapping coconut palms for toddy Putukolottu rājā saw आर्या , and having felt a great passion for her he presented her one night four pieces of silk and a gold ring. The next day आर्या dressed her husband as a brahmin with the sacred thread on, and deputed him to return to the राजा 's wife the presents made by her husband to her ( आर्या ). कण्णन् succeeded in his mission, but the revengeful राजा ordered him to be executed. आर्या went to the राजा and after various discussions with him returned home.