Iyers of Kerala

Kerala Iyers

Regions with significant populations
Palakkad district, Kerala Travancore Region (Trivandrum district, Alappuzha district), Kerala Thrissur district, Kerala Ernakulam district, Kerala Malappuram district, Kerala Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu Thirunelveli Tamil Nadu Chennai Mumbai Bangalore
Languages
Kerala sub-dialects of Tamil
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Iyers, Malayali people, Tamil Brahmin, Malayali Brahmins

See also: Iyer

Kerala Iyers or Bhattars, are Tamil Brahmins of the Indian state of Kerala — people who were residents in Kerala region, and also people who migrated from present day Tamil Nadu in different waves starting from the medieval period onwards. They are also called as "Pattars" which is the corruption of the word "Bhattar" which has its roots in the Sanskrit word "Bhat" , meaning Bhramin.

The community consists of two groups - the Palakkad Iyers and Iyers of the Cochin and Travancore regions. The first wave of Iyers settled down in Palakkad district at the beginning of the medieval period. Migrations to the Travancore and Cochin regions took place mostly in the 16th and 17th centuries AD. Many of the Diwans or Prime Ministers of the princely state of Travancore were Tamil Brahmins. Kerala Iyers, like the Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the Namboothiris of Kerala, belonged to the Pancha Dravida classification of India's Brahmin community. They mostly belonged to the Vadama and Brahacharanam sub-sects. The Vadama Iyers and The Brahacharanam Iyers did not intermarry until recently. The Vadama Iyers were considered to be northern in origin, from whom the Iyengars split and gave rise to the Vadakalai sect among Iyengars. The Vadama Iyers mostly indulged themselves in teaching in Vedic schools known as Veda pathashalas and showed less interest in temple rituals, whereas the Brahacharanam were more into temple rituals.

The native Namboothiri Brahmins of Kerala initially resisted the arrival of the Iyers into Kerala because in the basic difference in their ideologies and the ideological Vedic-Tantric friction between some elite Namboothiris and Iyers started. So the Iyers demanded the Palakkad king to expel all the opposing Namboothiris. The King expelled many Namboothiris and when the Kerala Iyers gained support in Palakkad they expelled the remaining Namboothiris. Till the 19th century there were hardly any Namboothiris in Palakkad.

But, during the course of time, the Iyers who came to Kerala started getting increasing acceptance from Namboothiris outside of Palakkad and Travancore. Mezhathol Agnihothri, the Namboothiri member of Parachi Petta Pandeeruvar married an Iyer girl.

Revathi Pattathanam was annual assembly of scholars held since ancient times at Kozhikode in Kerala, India. Traditionally a seven-day event, the festival used to be held under the patronage of the Zamorin of Kozhikode. The prime event of the assembly, is the conferring of the title "Bhatta" along with a panakizhi (purse of money) to selected scholars. The word Pattadhanam is derived from Bhattadanam, which in Malayalam means "awarding of the Bhatta". The assembly used to begin on the day of the Revathi asterism, and hence the title Revathi Pattathanam. A Iyer named 'Uddanda Shastri' won this title and was accepted as "Mel Shanthi" (a High priest) by the Namboothiris.

Kerala Iyers were called Videsi Brahmins meaning "foreign Bhramin" or "immigrant Bhramin" in ancient land records. In the modern day Kerala Iyers have become an integral part of Kerala culture. There is no hatred or rancor among other communities towards them. In fact they are equal members of society. Kerala Iyers constitute one of the most educated segments of society. Some of the proverbs in Kerala about Kerala Iyers are self-explanatory regarding the attitude of others towards them. Some of them are:

"Pattaril Pottanilla" - There is no fool among Kerala Iyers.

"Onnum Kanathe Pattar Kinattil Chadilla" - The Kerala Iyer will not jump into the well without any motive.

They also have become very interesting characters in Malayalam literature. The most notable is their description by Kunjan Nambiar in Ottan Thullal. They are the butt of jokes by many even during the modern times. But there is no rancor in these jokes. The common man in Kerala likes them, loves them and respects them. There has been a long debate on the linguistic background of the Kerala Iyers, most Kerala Iyers came to Kerala as early as the 13th century. Thus their constant interaction with Malayalam and Malayalis eventually highly increased the level of Sanskritisation into their Brahmin dialect of Tamil which in itself was sanskritised thus as time flew most of them started to speak a form of Tamil highly concentrated with Malayalam.

History

The waves of Tamil Brahmin migration into Kerala continued till the first half of 14th century, a few centuries after the decline of all the great Hindu empires of Tamil Nadu (such as Chola and Pandya dynasties). However there are also other accounts which point to earlier migrations around the 8th century. Most of these migrants settled close to the Nila river banks around Palakkad.

Palakkad Kings had their own reasons to welcome and settle these Brahmins in their area, to break the hegemony of Namboothiri Brahmins who seemed to have protested and boycotted Palakkad Kings. The Palakkad King in retaliation brought in Tamil Brahmins and settled them in 64 settlements around Palakkad, granting them lands and privileges and allowing them to perform rights in Palakkad temples.

The native Namboothiri Brahmins of Kerala initially resisted the arrival of the Iyers into Kerala because in the basic difference in their ideologies and the ideological Vedic-Tantric friction between some elite Namboothiris and Iyers started. So the Iyers demanded the Palakkad king to expel all the opposing Namboothiris. The King expelled many Namboothiris and when the Kerala Iyers gained support in Palakkad they expelled the remaining Namboothiris. Till the 19th century there were hardly any Namboothiris in Palakkad.

They enjoyed autonomy in Palakkad ( later Malabar ) and in Travancore Kingdom but faced some discrimination in the Kingdom of Kochin. Since Temple worship in Kerala is more Tantra based than Mantra based. The Iyers who were not experts Tantric form of worship were therefore denied the posts of priests in all the temples managed by the Namboothiris in Kochin Kingdom. The Iyers on were not allowed to conduct pooja as the priest (shanthi) in some regions of Kerala where temples followed Tantric rituals. So Iyers being Vedic scholars built their own temples in their Agraharams to conduct pooja, since they followed the Vedic rituals and not the Tantric rituals of the Namboothiris. The most famous one being Viswanatha Swamy Temple, Kalpathy, Palakkad which was constructed as per Vedic Rituals and not as per Tantric Rituals. The Vedic practices of Iyers and the Tantric practices of Namboothiris differed somewhat. For example, Tamil Brahmins in Palakkad, celebrate Lord Rama's birthday in association with Valmiki's Sanskrit epic and not Kampan's epic. The Namboothiris also had a practice called "Sambandham" wherein only the eldest son of the Namboothiri family would marry a Namboothiri girl and the younger sons would marry Nair girls. Only the eldest son of the Namboothiri family would be considered a Namboothiri, this practice was not followed by Kerala Iyers. Kalpathy in Palakkad is the most famous among the collection of agraharams. Other Agraharams include the one in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala called Valiya Sala which is the lengthiest Agraharam in India. There are two main cluster Agraharams in Kottakkakam (Fort) and Karamana in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala State, India.

They enjoyed autonomy in Palakkad ( later Malabar ) and in Travancore Kingdom but faced some discrimination in the Kingdom of Kochin. It is also stated that continuous drought over many years in the Kaveri Delta area also triggered migration of Tanjore Brahmins to Kerala. During the invasions of Malik Kafur and subsequent Muslim kingdoms, large numbers of Tamil Brahmins migrated and settled down on the western side of the Western Ghats which provided them security and safety from the invaders. Occasionally, Iyers also migrated from Tamil Nadu at the invitation from the Rajas of Kerala. The waves of Tamil Brahmin migration into Kerala continued till the first half of 20th century. Over the years these migrants built up their own individual culture and established an identity of their own. In Kerala, they are commonly referred to as Bhattars. The word 'Bhattar', a Sanskrit word indicating Brahmins. This was one of the earlier surnames used by the Tamil Brahmins.

This brahmin community mainly follows the Sringeri Mutt of Karnataka and also the Kanchi Mutt of Kanchipuram and believes in Adi Shankara and the Advaita Smarta tradition of Hinduism.

They use the surname Iyer, Sharma, and Deekshitar. A few centuries earlier Iyers also use other surnames as Sāstri or Bhattar., in a way that both the Travancore Tulu Brahmins and the Malabar Namboothiris use the surname Namboothiri.

In ancient times, Iyers were also called Anthanar or Pārppān, though the usage of the word Pārppān is considered derogatory in modern times. Until recent times, Kerala Iyers were called Pattars. Like the term pārppān, the word Pattar too is considered derogatory.

Many parts of the present Tirunelveli district were even part of the old Travancore state. These Iyers are known today as Trivandrum Iyers. Some of these people migrated to Cochin and later to Palakkad and Kozhikode districts. There were also migrations from Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu to Palakkad. Their descendants are known today as Palakkad Iyers. These Iyers are collectively now called as Kerala Iyers.

In Coimbatore, there are a large number of such Iyers due to its proximity to Kerala.

Legends

The first wave of Iyers settled down in Palakkad district at the beginning of the medieval period or even before as the legend says that they came with Adi Shankara, after the Namboothiris of Cochin did not help the monk to perform the last rites of his mother, Aryamba, and even today, the temple dedicated to Adi Shankara in Kaladi has Iyers as priests, not Namboothiris. The elite Namboothiris of the Kingdom of Cochin who followed own rules as a unique sect, and the Iyers who followed the monasteries of Kanchi and Sringeri historically, as the mainstream Hindus in otherparts of India, often considered each other as unequals as the former believed even Adi Shankara was an outcaste or heretic while the latter believed betraying a saint was a sin and hence the local Namboodiris were cursed and their local non-Vedantic habits were incompetent to attain Moksha or liberation.

Diverse origins, Old and New Kerala Iyers

The community consists of old migrants who speak a mixture of Tamil and Malayalam at home, ancient natives who now speak only Malayalam at home as a result of language shift and the later migrants who include both Tamil and even speakers mainly settled in Trivandrum.

Tamil speaking later-migrant Iyers are basically classified into six or more groups- as per location or sub-sets exactly like in Tamil Nadu:- the proper Palakkad district Iyers(Palakkad Iyers), north Malabar Iyers, Cochin Kingdom Iyers, Central Travancore Iyers, Trivandrum Iyers and Venad Iyers.

The modern Kerala Iyer community is mostly consisted of new migrants after the automobile and railway were introduced during the early 20th century and a result of employment opportunities in the banking and other private sector development and thus a direct branch of Tamil Nadu Iyers grew through English education in the Madras Presidency, while the old natives or old Kerala Iyers are numerically very less than the new migrants. Practically, many old agraharams in Palakkad were purchased by new migrants since it couldn't be sold to other communities due to caste-restrictions and also inter-marriages caused the numberof old Kerala Iyers numerically far lesser than the new Tamil-speaking Kerala Iyers.

Old Kerala Iyers & Namboothiris: The superstitions

Kerala Iyers, like the Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the Nambudiris of Kerala, belonged to the Pancha Dravida classification of India's Brahmin community. They mostly belonged to the Vadama and Brahacharanam sub-sects.

Around 14th century, the King of Palakkad invited a group of Tamil Brahmins and donated lands after a dispute with some local Namboothiris, hence, the ideological Vedic-Tantric sectarian friction between some elite Namboothiris and Iyers started.

Then, musicians and temple assistants during Vedic rituals, since they were not considered an option to conduct pooja as the priest (shanthi) in Kerala temples which followed Tantric rituals and compulsarily from a hereditary local family, which owned the temple and all outsiders were excluded including other Namboothiris from other villages outside the locality.

So Iyers being Vedic scholars built their own temples in their Agraharams to conduct pooja in the mainstream Hindu way like in other parts of India, since theythey followed the pure Vedic rituals and not the local Tantric rituals of the Nambudiris, which Iyers considered Tamasic or negative as Namboothiri rituals included exorcism and often tolerated animal sacrifice by other Malayali castes.

On the other hand, like all Tantrics, many Namboothiris considered Iyers uninitiatable or Adeekshithaas in the Kerala school of Tantras, which were hereditary till 20th century and among the ten categories of Namboothiris .

Precisely, Iyers didn't come to the picture as the Iyers and Namboothiris were two different sects with different ideologies.

Some sects of Iyers were usually employed as cooks in the Oottupuras or Namboothiri Brahmin feeding shelters, along with the Adukkala group of Namboothiris as these Namboothiri families were specialists in large-scale cooking and catering and a family belonging to this group has to be consulted on all catering-related issues including for Yaagam, but their numbers were very less.

Palakkad Iyers

File:Kalpathy stone.jpg

Archeological society took an impression of the inscription in 1895 and later around 1914, so we have it here, as posted. The writing itself is made on one side and extends to the other. The stone was placed between the Nandi and the flag staff. The inscriptions are made in vattezhuttu, in Malayalam. It is dated to 1424 or 1464.

The Tamil Brahmins who originated from Palakkad district of Kerala, which is close to Tamil Nadu, are known as Palakkad Iyers. They were mainly from the Tanjore district in the State of Tamil Nadu. From Palakkad they migrated to other parts of North Kerala which were part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency like Kozhikode and Malappuram.

The mother tongue of all Iyers is no doubt Tamil but the form of Tamil that a Kerala Iyer speaks is modified to a large extent by their constant interaction with Sanskrit and Malayalam. Malayalam which has very large number of words owing allegiance to Sanskrit and which is endowed by the most phonetic alphabets among the Indian languages has influenced the way that a Kerala Iyer speaks. The amount of mixture of Malayalam in spoken Tamil of Kerala Iyers varies from place to place. While the Tamil of Palakkad villages is corrupted to the extent of 20%, those in the western parts of Kerala speak Tamil with a mixture of more than 80% Malayalam.

It is said that Iyers from Tamil Nadu can instantly point out a Palakkad Iyer, the moment he starts speaking. It is often said that a Palakkad Iyer prefixes most sentences with an Ooo, Eii, Ooh, Aiyye and uses words like aakum, ktela and tia wherever he can.

Apart from being priests the Palakkad Iyers were also a land-holding community owning extensive cultivable land in Palakkad, Trichur, Chittoor and surrounding areas. They were in a majority in Palakkad town. The members of the community held the office of the Municipal Chairman for a number of years.

Palakkad Iyers arrived to the Chera Kingdom (Kerala) in waves. A major wave entered during the Muslim invasions in the 14th century by Ala-ud-din Khilji. However there are also other accounts which point to earlier migrations around the 8th century. Most of these migrants settled close to the Nila river banks around Palakkad.

History records that, King Maravarman Kulasekhara Pandyan (1268 - 1310) had two sons Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan and Jatavarman Veera Pandyan. The elder son, Sundara Pandyan, was by the king's wife and the younger, Veera Pandyan, was by a mistress. Contrary to tradition, the king proclaimed that the younger son would succeed him. This enraged Sundara Pandyan. He killed the father and became king in 1310. Some local chieftains in the kingdom swore allegiance to the younger brother Veera Pandian and a civil war broke out. Sundara Pandyan was defeated and he fled the country. Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji who was ruling much of northern India from Delhi. At that time, his army under General Malik Kafur was in the south at Dvarasamudra (far to the north of Tamil Nadu). Khilji agreed to help Sundara Pandyan and ordered Malik Kafur's army to march to Tamil Nadu. With Sundara Pandyan's assistance, this Muslim army from the north entered Tamil Nadu in 1311. Kafur and his troops created mayhem in the area for a full year, looting and pillaging, finally carrying an immense treasure on 312 elephants, 20,000 horses and 10 crore gold coins. It was apparently during this period that the Brahmins of Madurai and the surrounding area started to feel insecure about their existence and livelihood. Fearing persecution and forced conversion to Islam, these people started to migrate to the Chera country through the well-traveled Palakkad Pass and the routes through Dindigul and Pollachi. The southern route from Karur passes through Dharapuram and Udumalpet to Pollachi and Palakkad. The Iyers congregated around temples.

Nevertheless, the systems of Cheranaad were different since only Nambuthiris were allowed to perform religious rites in temples as the Chera Kings preferred Tantric Rituals and not Vedic Rituals of the Iyers. Since Iyers were Vedic scholars, they went on to build and conduct their Vedic rites in their own temples called Agraharams. The most famous one being Viswanatha Swamy Temple, Kalpathy, Palakkad which was constructed as per Vedic Rituals and not as per Tantric Rituals. Kalpathy also known as Dakshin Kasi or the 'Varanasi of the South is an early Tamil Brahmin settlement (agraharam) is close to the Olavakkodde (Now called Palakkad Railway Station). The legend of the temple goes like this, An Iyer widow Lakshmi Ammal tracing the route of Kannagi, ventured out to Cheranad around the early decades of the 15th century. She carried with her some 1,320 gold coins. Legend has it that this Lakshmi Ammal, a widow of Sekharipuram, brought the Shiva Lingam from Kasi (Varanasi) during her visit to that holy place and gave the prince Ittikombi Achan, 1320 of those gold coins in 1424-25 AD and requested him to consecrate the Siva Lingam and construct a temple on the banks of Nila River. However the actual temple is believed to have been much ancient. Legends also say that Lakshmi Ammal handed over the responsibility of managing the temple affairs. Lakshmi Ammal also constructed three other temples in nearby Kollengode, Koduvayur and Pokkunni.

The temple, regarded as one of the oldest in Malabar is also known as Kundukovil and of course as mentioned previously, Dakshina Kashi. The temple houses the deities of Lord Shiva and his consort, Parvati, who is worshipped as Visalakshi. The temple as such is built on the banks of the Kalpathy River a tributary of the Nila or Bharathapuzha, and surrounded by New Kalpathy, Old Kalpathy, Chathapuram and Govindarajapuram. The Kalpathy temple is linked to the Kasi Viswanatha Swami Temple, because the main deity here is Lord Siva and the temple is on the banks of river Kalpathy, like Kasi on the banks of river Ganges. This is the reason for the saying, Kasiyil Pathi Kalpathy, that is, half of Kasi is Kalpathy Kuzhalmannam Agraharam is another prominent Agraharam in Palakkad. Each Palakkad Iyer family is associated with a temple or kavu close to their Agraharams. The next generation of Iyers is named and their horoscope is documented.

Palakkad Iyers mainly reside 19 gramam’s of Palakkad being Kalpathy, Pazhaya Kalpati, Chatapuram, Govindarajapuram, Vaidyanathapuram, Kumarapurama, Lakshminarayanapuram, Mukka, Chokkanathapuram, Puttamkurichi, Sekharipuram, Ramanathapuram, Tarekad, Vadakkanthara, Noorni, Nellisheri, Thondikulam, Pallipuram, Tirunellayi. Mukkai is where the rivers of Palayar, Walayar and Malayar unite to form the Kalpathy River. Out of the 18-19 gramams in Palakkad, Thirunellai and Pallipuram are settled by Vaishnavites, whereas the rest by Saivaites. It is also said that migrants from Madurai established themselves first near Chokkanathapuram, and those from Pollachi and Dindigul established the villages of Kollengode, Koduvayur, Chittoor, and Thattamangalam which were nearer to their travel route. Sekharipuram, was perhaps founded by migrants originating from the village of the same name near Tanjore (It is also possible for Sekharipuram to have been named after Rajashekara Varma of Palakkad). Those from Vaitheeswaran Koil called their village as Vaidyanatha puram, those from Madurai called their village as Chokkanathapuram , those from Champa called their village as Chempai. Nevertheless, the lands where they settled in became their Karma bhumi as against the east coast ( Tamil Nadu ) which they consider their Punya bhumi or Gnana bhumi. Interestingly, in a Karma bhumi you attain salvation only by good deeds whereas in a Gnanabhumi you attain it by the mere fact that you were born in it, irrespective of their actions. That is the reason Palakkad Iyers try to maintain that they are Tamilians and not Malayalis, even though they started settling in Chera Kingdom/Cheralam/Keralam a thousand years ago.

The arrival of Tamil Brahmins to Kerala is shrouded in some amount of mystery. No specific details are available and only general conjectures can be made. While the migrations to Palakkad can be summarized to be from Kumbakonam or Trichy, the arrival of Brahmins to the Tali area of Calicut was for other reasons and happened much later.

The Palakkad Iyers were greatly affected by the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill, 1957 (repealed in 1961 and substituted by The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963) which abolished the tenancy system.

Most Palakkad Iyers migrated to Kerala after invitations from important personalities in Malabar. This includes Mezhathol Agnihothri, whose wife was a Tamil Brahmin. Mezhathol Illam was a major centre of learning where Brahmins gathered from all over southern India.

Later, for Revathi Pattathanam, Zamorin invited Tamil Brahmins and they also settled in Malabar, which includes Palakkad and Uddanda Shastri was one among this group.

North Malabar Iyers

This group came into existence as the assistants to judicial and other government offices required a working knowledge of Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and English as Malabar was part of Madras Presidency and also included places like Kasaragod and Mangalore. Being experts in Carnatic music and also having strong connections to Sringeri Mutt, many Iyers spoke Kannada and also many were migrated from Nanjanagud in Mysore Kingdom and not from Tamil Nadu directly. So, multilingualism was natural and helped the translation, it's believed.

Travancore Iyers

Many of the Travancore Iyers were the original residents of Travancore. There were many Iyers in Venad which later on grew to be the Travancore state. Shungoonny Menon calls them natives of Travancore. There has also been a continuous inflow from Thirunelveli and Ramnad districts of Tamil Nadu which are contiguous to erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Many parts of the present Thirunelveli district were part of the old Travancore state. Some of these migrated to Cochin and later to Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.

During the rule of Travancore kings, many Iyers (Tamil Brahmins) were invited to Thiruvananthapuram for administrative requirements of Travancore kingdom and for participating in rituals related to Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Some Padamangalam Nairs involved in temple service are thought to be descendants of Travancore Iyers. The migration continued for decades, and thus Iyer population is concentrated around this temple in Trivandrum.

Old natives & Central Travancore Iyers

Many of the old families of Travancore Iyers were the original residents of what was Travancore before 1947 as the modern Indian state of Kerala was only formed in 1956 on linguistic basis and before that, the Travancore included many historically Tamil speaking regions like Sengottai and Tenkasi, which are on the eastern side of Western Ghats, and these areas were often ruled by ancient Cheras and Pandyas alternatively, whoever became the powerful from time to time throughout the history. Later, when Pandyan Kingdom fell to Delhi Sultanate and the Madurai Sultanate was formed, many Iyers settled near Sengottai and Tenkasi as the last Pandyan royal family members were based in Tenkasi and established a successor kingdom there, opposing the Delhi Sultans. Later many of the Pandyan royals merged with the Pandalam royal family, which also has Pandyan origins.

In this way, after the Chera rule, a re-establishment of an all-level interaction was developed between the two regions located on the iwo sides of the Western Ghats, where other Tamil trading communities who depended on Kollam port were already having their homes and even small road-side Tamil community temples mainly dedicated to Ganapati and Devi and other deities, and the priests were Iyers brought from the Tamil region.

Venad Iyers

There were many Iyers in Venad, especially around Padmanabhapuram and Suchindram, which later on grew to be the Travancore state. Consequently, Iyers migrated from these rural Tamil regions to urban Trivandrum. Shungoonny Menon calls them natives of Travancore. Today, most of these rural areas are in Tamil Nadu.

Subsects

See also: Vadama

Caste-mark of the Vadamas

Iyers have many sub-sects among them, such as Vadama, Brahacharnam or Brahatcharanam, Vāthima, Sholiyar or Chozhiar, Ashtasahasram, Mukkāni, Gurukkal, Kāniyālar and Prathamasāki. Each sub-sect is further subdivided according to the village or region of origin. But Kerala Iyers are mostly Vadama

Iyers, just like other Brahmins were required to learn the Vedas. Iyers are also divided into different sects based on the Veda they follow. Iyers belonging to the Yajur Veda sect usually follow the teachings of the Krishna Yajur Veda.

Gotras and Shakhas

See also: Brahmin gotra system

Iyers, like all other Brahmins, trace their paternal ancestry to one of the eight rishis or sages. Accordingly they are classified into eight gotras based on the rishi they have descended from. A maiden in the family belongs to gotra of her father, but upon marriage takes the gotra of her husband.

Rituals

See also: Sandhyavandanam

Iyer rituals comprise rites as described in Hindu scriptures such as Apastamba Sutra attributed to the Hindu sage Apastamba. The most important rites are the Shodasa Samaskāras or the 16 duties. Although many of the rites and rituals followed in antiquity are no longer practised, some have been retained.

Iyers from South India performing the Sandhya Vandhanam, 1913

Iyer priest from Tamil Nadu carrying out a small ritual with his grandson.

Iyers are initiated into rituals at the time of birth. In ancient times, rituals used to be performed when the baby was being separated from mother's umbilical cord. This ceremony is known as Jātakarma. However, this practice is no longer observed. At birth, a horoscope is made for the child based on the position of the stars. The child is then given a ritual name. On the child's birthday, a ritual is performed to ensure longevity. This ritual is known as Ayushya Homam. This ceremony is held on the child's birthday reckoned as per the Tamil calendar based on the position of the nakshatras or stars and not the Gregorian calendar. The child's first birthday is the most important and is the time when the baby is formally initiated by piercing the ears of the boy or girl. From that day onwards a girl is expected to wear earrings.

A second initiation (for the male child in particular) follows when the child crosses the age of seven. This is the Upanayana ceremony during which a Brahmana is said to be reborn. A three-piece cotton thread is installed around the torso of the child encompassing the whole length of his body from the left shoulder to the right hip. The Upanayana ceremony of initiation is solely performed for the members of the dvija or twice-born castes, generally when the individual is between 7 and 16 years of age. In ancient times, the Upanayana was often considered as the ritual which marked the commencement of a boy's education, which in those days consisted mostly of the study of the Vedas. However, with the Brahmins taking to other vocations than priesthood, this initiation has become more of a symbolic ritual. The neophyte was expected to perform the Sandhya Vandanam on a regular basis and utter a prescribed set of prayers, three times a day: dawn, mid-day, and dusk. The most sacred and prominent of the prescribed set of prayers is the Gayatri Mantra, which is as sacred to the Hindus. Once a year, Iyers change their sacred thread. This ritual is exclusive to Tamil Brahmins and the day is commemorated in as Āvani Avittam.

Brahmin house with hand marks to ward off the evil eye

Other important ceremonies for Iyers include the rites for the deceased. All Iyers are cremated according to Vedic rites, usually within a day of the individual's death. The death rites include a 13-day ceremony, and regular Tarpanam (performed every month thereafter, on Amavasya day, or New Moon Day), for the ancestors. There is also a yearly shrārddha, that must be performed. These rituals are expected to be performed only by male descendants of the deceased. Married men who perform this ritual must be accompanied by their wives. The women are symbolically important in the ritual to give a "consent" to all the proceedings in it.

Trade routes and society in south Kerala

Trade routes between ancient Pandya Kingdom and Kollam, which was a major port on the western coast always brought different Tamil speaking communties including Chettiars, Vellalas as much as the Jews, Arabs and Syrian Christans intereacted with Kerala's ports. The Tamils were interested in the trade routs towards the east, while, the Jews, Christians and Muslims managed the trade routes through the sea and the ships. Many among these non-Malayalam speaking Hindu communities needed priests for their community services like marriages and for crematoriums, during the final rites and for annual Sraadhas. They constructed their own temples and gave food to Tamil Brahmins during annual memory days for their departed relatives and considered it as a merit or Punya. Many houses were also donated to Shaivaite Brahmins in this ways especially by the Shaivite Nagarathars or Chettiars and this is the reason why Vaishnavite Iyengar population is almost lower than Shaivite Brahmins in Kerala. They conducted Homams, Sri Rudra Parayana etc. for their well-being and patronized Shaivism in Kerala.

Tippu street

During the rule of Travancore kings, many Iyers (Tamil Brahmins) were invited to Thiruvananthapuram for administrative requirements of Travancore kingdom and for participating in rituals related to Padmanabhaswamy Temple, both from Tamil Nadu and from Palakkad. The migration continued for decades, and thus Iyer population is concentrated around this temple in Trivandrum. Another reason for this is that during the rule of Dharmaraja, Palakkad and Malabar went to Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan, and along with Namboothiris who migrated to Travancore, many Palakkad Iyers also settled around Trvandrum as the name of Tippu street or Tippu Theruvu, tells the history, as a refugee resettlement place. Hence, many Travancore Iyers are also have Palakkad ancestry. </ref> http://www.academia.edu/2611941/Agraharams_The_origin_and_evolution_of_a_unique_housing_pattern_in_Kerala. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)</ref>

Role in formation of modern day Kerala and accession of Travancore state with India

The Tamil Brahmin history and migration was often misunderstood by Malayalees during the 1950s and 60s mainly due to the communist era politics of Malabar which mistakenly portrayed all Iyers were brought from Tamil Nadu during the rule of C. P. Ramaswami Iyer's rule and were exploiters. But, in reality, in Travancore, the relations between the Diwan and native Travancore Iyers were frictious since they were expecting a merger with Indian union.

In fact, because their migrations are as old as Syrian Christians, Jews or Muslim traders and thus being a perfect and integral part of Kerala society yet denied equality, they opposed all Tamil Nadu origin Diwans and wanted to join Indian union for equality. But, however in Malabar, they were often misunderstood.

After EMS, things were changed and no discriminatory attitude was thereafter. However, now people remember that it was the famous freedom fighter K. C. S. Mani or Konattumatam Chidambara Subrahmania Iyer who was a socialist activist of Kerala who is known for his attempt of assassination on C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, the then Diwan of Travancore (a princely state in India), that created the smooth way for the signing of the instrument of accession, making Kerala a part of India.

On July 25, 1947, Mani attacked the Diwan in front of the erstwhile Music Academy (now the Swathi Thirunal College of Music) in Thiruvananthapuram, following a concert in the evening. Ramaswamy Iyer was wounded. Following the incident on July 25, the King informed the Viceroy the decision to join the Union of India. On August 19, 1947, C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer formally resigned as Diwan. The Malayalam movie Rakthasaakshikal Zindabad tells an outline of these facts.

Patronage of art

For centuries, Kerala Iyers along with Iyers of Tamil Nadu have taken a keen interest in preserving the arts and sciences. They undertook the responsibility of preserving the Bharata Natya Shastra, a monumental work on Bharatanatyam, the classical dance form of Tamil Nadu. During the early 20th century, dance was usually regarded as a degenerate art associated with devadasis. Rukmini Devi Arundale, however, revived the dying art form thereby breaking social and caste taboos about Brahmins taking part in the study and practice of the dance.</ref>

However, compared to dance, the contribution of Kerala Iyers in field of music has been considerably noteworthy. The Trinity of Carnatic Music were responsible for making some excellent compositions towards the end of the 18th century.

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar a.k.a. Vaidyanatha Iyer (Malayalam:ചെമ്പൈ വൈദ്യനാഥ ഭാഗവതർ, b. September 1, 1896, d. October 16, 1974), was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad (state of Kerala, India). Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi-I/II near Palakkad on Janmashtami day. Chembai was noted for his powerful voice and majestic style of singing. His first public performance was in 1904, when he was nine. A recipient of several titles and honours, he was known for his encouragement of upcoming musicians and ability to spot new talent. He was responsible for popularizing compositions like Rakshamam and Pavana Guru, among others. The music critic 'Aeolus' described him as "the musician who has meant the most to Carnatic Music in the first fifty years of the 20th century." His prominent disciples include Chembai Narayana Bhagavathar, Mangu Thampuran, Guruvayur Ponnammal, T. V. Gopalakrishnan, V. V. Subramaniam, P. Leela, Jayan and Vijayan, K. J. Yesudas and Babu Parameswaran, among others. He also mentored and lot of young accompanists, including Palghat Mani Iyer, Lalgudi Jayaraman, M. S. Gopalakrishnan, T. N. Krishnan, Palani Subramaniam Pillai and L. Subramaniam. Memorial music festivals have been held in his honour annually since his death in 1974, the most important being the annually celebrated Chembai Sangeetholsavam.

Today, there are Kerala Iyers who give traditional renderings as well as playback singers in Indian films like Usha Uthup, Shankar Mahadevan, Mahalaxmi Iyer and many more. Iyers have also contributed considerably to drama, short story and temple architecture.

Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer (6 June 1877 – 15 June 1949) (Malayalam: ഉള്ളൂർ എസ്. പരമേശ്വരയ്യർ), was a famous Malayalam poet and historian. He was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala in the first half of the 20th century. Ulloor published his mahakavya Umakeralam in 1914. Until then, only Pandalam Kerala Varma's Rukmamgadacharitham was considered as a complete mahakavya in Malayalam. Some of his other best known works were Pingala, Karnabhooshanam, Bhakthideepika, and Chithrasala.

After Ulloor's death, University of Kerala published one of his most noted works Kerala Sahitya Charithram, which describes the history of Malayalam language, culture, and literature. He studied ancient literature and palm leaf manuscripts to bring out old literary works such as Rama Charitham poem and Doothavakyam prose.

English education

Later migrations to the Travancore and Cochin regions took place mostly since the 16th and 17th centuries AD and with the arrival of Kollam-Sengottai-Madurai-Kumbhakonam railway, the migration was in full scale. Many of the Diwans or Prime Ministers of the princely state of Travancore were Tamil Brahmins since many courts inTravancore were under the legal supervision of Madras High Court of the Madras Presidency and the knowledge in English and Tamil was considered as an advantage for smooth administrative relations and the management of legal matters and translation. Another factor is that, Iyers were the first Hindu community open to English education in the south like Bengalis and the only other option was Anglo-Indians, but the strong caste laws followed by native Malayali society prevented itself from obtaining proper English education, and Iyers bridged this gap.

Palakkad Iyer characters in Movies

Lots of Tamil Directors have used Palakkad Tamil in their movies. The Palakkad Tamil is a mixture of tamil and malayalam. Padmashree Kamal Hasan in the movie Michael Madana Kama Rajan, a mega hit movie played the role of a Palakkad Iyer in an outstanding way. Kamal Hassan's Kameshwaran character and Urvashi's Tiruppura Sundari character both acted as Palakkad Bhramin, rocked the screen. Another notable movie is 'Nala Damayanthi' acted by Madhavan. His character Ramji a cook from Palakkad is widely appreciated by the audience. Actor Jayaram who himself is a Palakkad Bhramin has acted as Palakkadan in lots of movies. Mammooty has also acted as a Kerala Iyer in the movies Iyer the Great and Sethurama Iyer CBI.

Palakkad Iyer's cuisine

Palakkad Iyers have their own special cuisine which vary with the cuisines of Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the Malayalis of Kerala. Some of them are - Over the years some of the very special dishes have gone out of fashion from the Kerala Iyer family. It is not because they are not good nor because they are difficult to prepare but because of the migration of families to different areas and their adopting to the recipes of the new area, that these are not prepared. Some of these are given here.

1. 1. Paalada-pradhaman
2. 2. Moru Kootan
3. 3. Mezhukku Peratti
4. 4. Puliyitta Keerai
5. 5. Puliya Kuthi Upperi
6. 6. Mulagooshyam
7. 7. Mulagu Vellam
8. 8. Moru Charu
9. 9. Podi Podicha Pulungari
10. 10. Murunga ilai Adai
11. 11. Chakkai Adai
12. 12. Koozhu.
13. 13. Koozhu dosai
14. 14. Aracha Kozhakattai
15. 15. Mooda Kozhakkattai
16. 16. Arachu Kalakki
17. 17. Molakootal

This cuisine is authentic to Palakkad Iyers, apart from this one can also find other Tamil Bhramin cuisine in their homes.

List of Kerala Iyers

Journalists and writers

• Ulloor Parameswara Iyer (1877–1959), Malayalam poet
• Professor K. V. Krishna Iyer (1894–1986), Professor of history and author of standard reference books on Kerala History
• Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (1927–1997), Malayalam novelist
• S. N. Swamy, Indian screenwriter
• K. K. Neelakantan well known by his pen name Induchoodan, a leading Indian ornithologist and writer of the best known book on birds of Kerala, 'Keralathile Pakshikal' (Birds of Kerala)

Advocates and social activists

• V. R. Krishna Iyer (b. 1915), judicial expert and Justice, Supreme Court of India, minister in first kerala ministry
• P. R. Sundaram Iyer (1862–1913), Indian lawyer and founder of Madras Law Journal. Grandfather of cinematographer P. C. Sreeram

Sportspersons

• K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan (b. 1968), former Kerala Ranji Trophy cricketer

Musicians

• Neelakanta Sivan (1839–1900) Carnatic music composer from Nagercoil, erstwhile Travancore kingdom
• Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar (1895–1974), Carnatic music singer
• Palakkad Mani Iyer (1912–1981), Musician/Mridangist
• Palghat R. Raghu (1925–2009), Musician/mridangist
• M. D. Ramanathan (1923–1984), composer/vocalist
• K. V. Narayanaswamy (1923–2002) Carnatic musician (singer)
• T. N. Krishnan (1928- ) Carnatic music violinist
• N. Rajam Hindustani music violinist and sister of T. N. Krishnan
• T. V. Gopalakrishnan (1932- ) Carnatic and Hindustani vocalist, violinist and Mridangam exponent
• Trichur V. Ramachandran (1940- ) Carnatic vocalist
• Guruvayur Dorai (1935-) Mridangam exponent of Pudukkottai style
• K S Narayanaswamy (1914–1999) Carnatic Veena exponent
• V. Dakshinamoorthy (1919- ) veteran music director of Malayalam films and Carnatic vocalist
• Kudamaloor Janardanan Exponent of Carnatic flute
• Puducode Krishnamurthy Carnatic vocalist
• K. V. Mahadevan famous South Indian music composer
• N. C. Vasanthakokilam (1919–1951), Carnatic music singer and Tamil film actress
• Bombay Sisters C. Saroja and C. Lalitha, a Carnatic music singing duo
• Usha Uthup Indian pop, jazz and playback singer
• B. Arundhathi playback singer in Malayalam films and Carnatic vocalist
• Anuradha Sriram playback singer and Carnatic vocalist
• Hariharan Playback singer and performer; carnatic & Hindi classical
• Shankar Mahadevan Born in Mumbai, a popular National Award winning musician who has sung many songs in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu.

Scientists and academicians

• Dr. T. V. Raman is a computer scientist who specializes in accessibility research.His research interests are primarily in the areas of auditory user interfaces and structured electronic documents.

Actors

• Jayaram (b. 1964), Malayalam and Tamil film actor
• Vidya Balan (b. 1978), Bollywood Actress
• Kalpana Iyer, Bollywood actress
• Sudha Chandran Film and television actress and a Bharathanatyam dancer who performs with a prosthetic leg
• S. G. Kittappa (1906–1933), Tamil stage actor and classical singer. Husband of singer K. B. Sundarambal
• Poornima Jayaram, Tamil and Malayalam film actress
• Priyamani (b. 1984), National Award winning South Indian film actress
• Trisha Krishnan (b. 1983), Tamil and Telugu film actress
• Saranya Mohan (b. 1989), South Indian film actress
• Priya Raman Malayalam and Tamil film actress
• P. C. Sreeram, Tamil film cinematographer and director
• M. S. Thripunithura (1942–2006), Malayalam film actor

Politicians and administrators

• Ramayyan Dalawa, famous Dewan of Travancore from 1737 to 1756. Strategic advisor to Maharaja Marthanda Varma during the Battle of Colachel against the Dutch.
• Janaki Ramachandran (1923–1996), Wife of M.G. Ramachandran and the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
• T. N. Seshan (1930- ), 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India.
• N.K.Seshan former Finance Minister of Kerala and Head of the Department and Dean of Faculty of Language and Literature in Calicut University
• C.M. Sundaram (1919–2008) Minister for local administration in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala from 1982 to 1987.
• Krishna Gopalayyan, Diwan of Travancore from 1768 to 1776.
• K.C.S. Mani, Communist revolutionary
• V. Nagam Aiya (1850–1917), civil servant, chronicler and administrator from the princely state of Travancore. Author of The Travancore State Manual.
• Sankaranarayana Iyen, Diwan of Travancore from 1815 to 1816.
• Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, (1845–1901) Dewan of Mysore from February 1883 to March 1901, the longest tenure for any Dewan of the princely state
• Shungrasoobyer, Dewan of Travancore from 1892 to 1898.
• V. S. Subramanya Iyer, Indian lawyer and administrator. Diwan of Travancore from 1929 to 1932.
• Vadiswaran Subrahmanya Iyer, Diwan of Travancore from 1776 to 1780.
• Varkala Subbiyen, Diwan of Travancore from 1763 to 1768.

Businessmen

• Kris Gopalakrishnan (real name Senapathy Gopalakrishnan) one of the founders of Infosys

References

• P.Sangunny Menon (1878 (Reprint 1983)). A History of Travancore. Kerala books and Publications Society, Cochin. ISBN 81-85499-14-4. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

External links

• Kerala Iyers Website
• [1]
• []
• [<ref>http://historicalleys.blogspot.in/2013/05/the-iyers-of-palghat.html]

• Tamil Nadu Brahmanar Sangam (THAMBRAAS) or the Tamil Nadu Brahmin Association
• The Tamil Brahmin forum
• The Kerala Iyer community website
• Website of Kuzhalmannagraharam, a Kerala Iyer Agraharam
• The Iyers Network