Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is the southernmost state of India. The tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population, it is the home of the Tamils, who speak the Tamil language, the state's official language and the first to be recognised as a classical language in India. Chennai is the state's largest city and capital.
Malabar DistrictMalabar District, or Malabar, also known as British Malabar was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792–1800), Madras Presidency (1800–1950) and finally, Madras State (1950–1956) in India. It was the most populous and the third-largest district in the erstwhile Madras State.
Malayali BrahminMalayali Brahmins (Malayalam: മലയാളി ബ്രാഹ്മണർ, malayāḷi brāhmaṇar; also known as Malayala Brahmanar) or Kerala Brahmins are the group of Brahmins from the Indian state of Kerala. The proper Malayali Brahmin castes are the Nambudiri, and the Potti. The Ambalavasi community such as Pushpaka Brahmin, Nambeeshan, Nambidi, Chakyar, Nambiar, Ilyathu, etc., are other semi-Brahmin castes.
KeralaKerala, officially Keralam, is a state on the Malabar Coast of southern India. It was formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, which unified the country's Malayalam-speaking regions into a single state. Covering 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is primarily a strip of coastal plains sandwiched by the Western Ghats and the Laccadive Sea, bound by Karnataka to the northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east, and the Lakshadweep islands in the western vicinity.
IllamIllam (), also referred to as Mana, is the Malayalam word for the house of a Namboodiri Brahmin. In the traditional lineage system used for the classification and identification of homes based on the castes of Kerala, South India, an Illam served as the Tharavad (ancestral house) of Nambudiri Brahmin families. Illam also refers to the house of some prominent Nair and Ambalavasi families in certain regions of Kerala.
NairThe Nair (, Malayalam: [n̪aːjɐr]), also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom historically bore the name 'Nair'. These people lived, and many continue to live, in the area which is now the Indian state of Kerala.
Azhvanchery ThamprakkalAzhvanchery Thamprakkal or Azhvanchery Samrāṭ (transl. The Azhvanchery Emperor) is the title of the senior-most male member of the NambudiriBrahmin feudal lords of Azhvanchery Mana in Athavanad, Kerala, India. They had the right over Guruvayur, and were the titular head of all NambudiriBrahmins of Kerala.
SanskritAncient Indo-Aryan language of South AsiaSanskrit (; stem form संस्कृत; nominal singular संस्कृतम्, saṃskṛtam,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age.JenmiJenmi or Janmi (Malayalam:), plural Jenmimar, is the Malayalam term used to refer to the landed aristocracy of Kerala, India, who traditionally held their lands as absolute and allodial owners, with such lands known as Jenmom or Janmam. They formed the landowning nobility as well as the landed gentry of the region in colonial times, and the majority of the estates and feudal properties were owned by this community.Land reform in KeralaLand reform in Kerala refers to a series of legislative and administrative measures implemented to restructure the agrarian system and dismantle the centuries-old feudal Janmi-Kudiyan system in the Indian state of Kerala. The land reforms effectively ended the Janmi-Kudiyan (landlord-tenant) system, provided security of tenure to millions of cultivators, and granted ownership rights to hutment dwellers.
VedasThe Vedas ( or ; Sanskrit: वेदः, romanised: Vēdaḥ, lit.'knowledge'), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.
TharavadTharavad, also spelled as Tharavadu (pronunciation) (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic Nair families in Kerala, which usually served as the common residence for the matrilinealjoint family under the Marumakkathayam system practiced in the state.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.