Tharavad

Traditional Nair tharavad

Tharavad ("ancestral home", ) is a system of joint family practised by people in Kerala.

A typical Nair tharavad reproduced from Panikkar's article published in 1918. Capital and small letters represent females and males respectively. Supposing that the females A, B and C were dead and the oldest male memberkarnavan being d, if the male members t, k and others demanded partition, the property would be divided into three parts.

Overview

Tharavads are a type of large family or clan in Kerala, India. Nair tharavads have in the past, and most still do, own large estates and even temples and mansions built in the traditional Nair style. They follow the Marumakkathayam system of inheritance, thus Nairs belong to their mother's tharavad rather than to their father's one. This is a particular trait of Nairs. These tharavads formed a focal point in Nair society, as most of the day to day dealings were associated with it in the past, however recently, they are less important than they were centuries ago. Tharavadu is a system of joint family practised by people in Kerala, south India, especially castes like Nambudiri and Nairs Marumakkathayam is a matrilinear system of inheritance that is unique to Nair Tharavads.

There are hundreds of Nair tharavads in Kerala. Although originally there were only 600 tharavads, one for each 'thara' - a sub-division of the land for administrative purposes.

The most remarkable thing about the Nairs is their style of pagoda-like temple architecture and house construction which are stylized beautifully.However, it must be stated that huge Tharavads were built only by those families who could afford it. Others however, had miniature and less opulent versions of the same style.

Tharavad names as a means of identity unlike the name of birth place is a peculiar system followed by nairs. However, this has been a major cause of rivalry amongst the nairs as tharavads were compared against one another based on wealth and fame.One example of this is the famous boat races held in Allapuzha where competing families would have their boats racing aginst one another in the backwaters.Of late many Tharavads are in a state of recession.