History of the Nayars of South Travancore
Transcript of History of the Nayars of South Travancore
Chapter - V
Social challenges and
nayar responses
CHAPTER - V
SOCIAL CHALLENGES AND NAYAR RESPONSES
Patrilineal and Matrilineal
A distinctive feature of the social organization of Travancore
till recent times was the prevalence of Marumakkathayam or the
matrilineal system among certain castes and communities. It was one of
the peculiar customs that strangulated the Nayars for long. Makkathayam
or the patrilineal system was the prevalent form of succession in the
civilized society1. Marumakkathayam involved the inheritance and
succession through the sisters children in the female line. The antiquity of
the system has been a theme of controversy among scholars. The
traditional views propagated by the Brahmin aristocracy and expounded
by the authors of the Keralopathi is that marumakkathayam is of hoary
antiquity.
However, it is believed that the patrilineal was the system of
inheritance prevalent in ancient Kerala, and that matrilineal came into
vogue at a later period of Kerala history under the impact of some
compelling forces.2
Matrilineal had been the system of inheritance and succession
prevailing in ancient Kerala and that had been in a state of suspended
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1. Nagam Aiya, V., Travancore State Manual, Vol. II, Trivandrum, 1906, p. 363.
2. Wester Marie, The History of the Human Marriage, New York, 1921, p. 97.
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during the period of the ascendancy of the patrilineal Brahmin caste
and again it staged a revival at a later period.3
A Nayar tharavad or family consisted of a group of persons
male and female, all tracing descent from a common ancestress living
under the control and management of the eldest male who was called the
karanavan. In its simplest form a family consisted of a mother when
children living together with their maternal uncle that was the mother's
brother as karanavan. It was the mother that form the stock of the descent
and kinship as well as rights to property were traced through females and
not through males. Each of the mother and her children and descendants
in the female line formed a thavazhi. (Thai means 'mother' vazhi means
'line') meaning a mother line.4
Every member male or female had an equal interest in the
tharavad property. But could not claim his or her share of it. The karanavan
was legally responsible for the well beings, control and management of the
tharavad and was bound to meet the wants of the members arising from
their social status. But he had no right to alienate the immovable property
of the family without the consent of all the members, atleast of all the adult
male and female members. The internal management of the tharavad was
vested in the karanavan and he held the family purse and was practically
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3. Sreedhara Menon, A., A Survey of Kerala History, Kottayam, 1967, pp. 84 - 85.
4. Nagam Aiya, V., op.cit., Vol. II, p. 363.
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the family itself rather than its agent or representative. The disposal of the
movable property of the family was under his control and he was not
bound to account except when he habitually wasted the property or did
not administer it for the benefit of the other members in which case a
suit might lie to dispose him from the karanavanship.5
Origin of Marumakkathayam
The origin of the marumakkathayam system still lies in
obscurity. There are various theories with regard to the origin of the
marumakkathayam system. Many European writers believe that the
system of the inheritance in the female line was prevalent among the
Nayars must have originated from the polyandry or free love. In order
to ascertain the origin of the marumakkathayam it is necessary to go back
to its early stages and examine the condition of society which have rise to
it. Sir Henry Maine views that the origin of society was in patriarchal
families, that polyandry and kinshif through females were of temporary
duration liable to be brought about at a stage in the progress of a society
by peculiar circumstances under which it may be placed.6 Andrew Lang
observed that "the Aryan races have generally passed through the stage of
scarcity of women, polyandry, absence of recognized kinship and
recognitions of kinship through women.7
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5. Ibid., p. 36.
6. Sir Henry Maine, Early Law and Customs, New York, 1971, p. 202.
7. Andrew Lang, Customs and Myth, New York, 1885, p. 775.
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Of the Aryan races there can be no question that they too had
passed through the several stages before reaching the final one of paternal
kinship. So the maternal family and inheritance in the female line need not
necessarily be the result of polyandry. Among the Tibetians, the Todas,
the Aimons of Japan and other races that practiced polyandry and had
hardly any system of settled marriage8, marumakkathayam was found
among some of the kshatriyas, vellalas and muslims also but polyandry
was never practiced by them.9
Thus the question is of polyandry did not lead to
matrilineal inheritance of marumakkathayam. What caused its origin?
K.P. Padmanabha Menon has dealt with this question in detail. He was
firmly of the opinion that marumakkathayam began in Kerala only in
recent times, on account of some special circumstances unknown to us
now.10
Mc Lennan, Morgan and Engels have put forward the theory that
in early stages of human history the patrilineal system was the common
basis of inheritance and succession and the matrilineal system evolved
later.11
This may be the common process of social development and
progress. But in some societies owing to certain peculiar circumstances
development might have taken place in the reverse order. According to
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8. Wester Marie, The History of the Human Marriage, New York, 1921, p. 98.
9. Elamkulam, P.N., Kunjan Pillai, Studies in Kerala History, Trivandrum, 1970,
p. 29.
10. Ibid., p. 292.
11. Mc Lennan, J.F., Studies in Ancient History, London, 1938, pp. 27 - 44.
134
Engles, the patrilineal system marked the age of civilization. But certain
tribes which still exist in rude savagery follow the matrilineal system for
example the hill tribes of the sahyadri region.12
Circumstances Responsible for it
The early Chera kings who ruled Kerala in the Sangam age,
followed the patrilineal system as was shown by the Sangam literature. But
the descendant of the Cheras in the medieval times followed the matrilineal
system.13
Due to the force of compelling circumstances people under the
patrilineal system adopted matrilineal system. None of the foreign
travellers who visited Travancore before 14th
century had seen any thing
peculiar in the family organization of the land. Frair Jordanm who lived at
Quilon early in the 14th
Century was the first foreign visitor who referred to
the peculiar laws of inheritance in vogue in Travancore. After him Ibn
Batuta (1342), Abdul Raza] (1442) Nicolo Conti (1444) and many others
have mentioned this peculiar institution. Since all visitors till the 14th
century were silent of the matrilineal system, the system of inheritance in
Travancore must have been patrilineal upto the 14th
century. The 14th
and
15th
centuries were marked with the growth of landlordism all over India.14
In Travancore also it became the way of life. The Nayars were the tenants
____________________________________________________________
12. Krishna Iyer, L.A., The Aboriginals of Travancore, Trivandrum, 1941, p. 92.
13. Padmanabha Menon, K.P., A History of Kerala, Vol. II, New Delhi, 1981, p. 88.
14. William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.I, Madras, 1951, p. 282.
135
of the Nambudiri Brahmin land lords or Jenmies, who followed the
patrilineal system of inheritance. These Brahmin land lords insisted upon
the tenants that the Jenmam lands could only be enjoyed by them and
transfer should be made by the Jenmies.15
Majority of the lands of the
Nayars were Jenmam lands and it was from the enjoyment of these
Jenmam lands the collections or joint family system emerged among the
Nayars. The Jenmies insisted that even though there were sub-tenants,
the tenants were responsible for the Jenmam lands and cultivation. The
younger members of Brahmin families condemned by customary law of
life and long celibacy had to seek asylum with the Nayar families. They
entered into loose unions called sambandham. It was for the advantage of
the Brahmin Jenmies and for the sexual pleasures of the Brahmins and
they compelled the Nayars to change the law of inheritance, from
patrilineal to the matrilineal, under which individualism was ignored, the
Brahmins succeeded in erecting a strong body contented, handed tenancy
and not a landed aristocracy which was the base of marumakkathayam or
matrilineal system of inheritance.16
Under marumakkathayam, the Nayar
tharavad (family) was a union of relation of varying degrees of
propionquity traced through a common female in joint ownership of
corporate property under the beneficial management of a common
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15. Nagam Aiya, op.cit., Vol. II, p. 363.
16. Sasitharan Nayar, N., History of Social Legislation in Travancore, 1811 - 1925,
An unpublished Ph.D. Thesis , University of Kerala, Trivandrum, 1987, p. 251.
136
Karanavan (uncle). Ordinarily a man does not take as much interest in
his distant kinsman as in the children of his own mother, his brothers, his
sisters and their children. The benefits of legal marriages, parental rights
domestic rule, the obligation to support the wife and children were ignored
under the system.17
The individual members of a tharavad had only the
right to maintenance. The system of marumakkathayam led to a life of
idleness among the members of the family which stood against the
prosperity of the society. The karanavans were practically voice less, when
karanavan was not bound to provide for them beyond subsistence and
improve their, moral and intellectual condition.18
The arbitrary and
absolute powers of the karanavan naturally tended to foster a feeling of
discontent among the other members regarding the management of the
tharavad and led to quarrels.
Under marumakkathayam again the marriage tie was very
loose and temporary. Marriage as a duly recognized social institution did
not exist in the Nayar community.19
Although the Sambandham union has
in it all the elements of a valid marriage, it had no legal sanction. Even the
powers of disposing by will of self acquired property was not recognized
in the case of Nayars by the law of marumakkathayam.
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17. Ibid., p. 253.
18. Nagam Aiya, V., op.cit., Vol., II, p. 364.
19. Travancore Law Reports, Vol.I, Ernakulam, 1904, p. 22.
137
The most important merit of the matrilineal system was that
the Nayar women enjoyed freedom and independence in the management
of the family Property descended in the female line and the
marumakkathayam succeeded in keeping Nayar tharavad from being
dismembered. It prevented alienations also. In addition to all these it
encouraged a feeling of collectivism and mutual love and affection
among the members of the tharavad. With the advance of education
marumakkathayam became hopelessly unworkable. It worked against
every principle of political dictums and of healthy family life. It was based
upon the doctrine that there was no merit in female virtue and no sin in
being unchaste, by freeing a man from the obligation of maintaining his
wife and off-spring.20
Opposition
Towards the end of the 19th
century, the Nayar began to
question the existing social institution. They considered their system of
inheritance and succession a primitive way of life. The advance of English
Education among the Nayars and the free contact they had with developed
communities made them look upon the primitiveness of their family
Institution and clamoured for a change.21
The convenience and comfort of a man living with his
mother and sister and his wife and children in peace and quite of separate
____________________________________________________________ 20. Malabar Marriage Commission Report, p. 37.
21. Robin Jeffrey, The Decline of Nayar Dominance, New Delhi, 1976, p.154.
138
home has come to be preferred to the primitive habit of living and messing
together in the uncongenial surroundings of an over grown tharavad22
,
want of affection had alienated the sympathies of the distant nephews or
anandaravan and turned him into a permanent enemy which led to the
disobedience of junior members to the karanavan and made the
management of the tharavad difficult. The idea of division was not
revolutionary one in the social history of the Nayars. A group of patriotic
men commenced a compaign to educate public opinion on the necessary
for a law of partition for the Nayars. Among such patriotic men, the first
who tried to educate Nayars was P. Thanu Pillai who was a teacher in the
Maharajan cottage of Trivandrum in the 1870 as latter an official Thanu
Pillai was the leading Nayar official and an enlightened safe and trusted
leader of the Nayar community.23
In the year 1870 he founded a cultural
association called the Malayali Social Union.24
Members of the Malayali Social Union worked against the
marriage customs and other social systems that existed among the Nayars.
When he turned to be a critic of the social order he was transferred from
Trivandrum to Quilon, which shattered the work of the Malayali Social
Union. But it was revived by C. Krishnapillai. He changed the name of
____________________________________________________________
22. Velu Pillai, T.K., Speeches in the Travancore Legislative Council, Trivandrum,
1941, pp. 24 - 25.
23. Parameswaran Nair, Raman Pillai, Compilers Regional Records Survey
Committee, Trivandrum, p. 86.
24. Travancore Government English Records, Cover File No. 1228.
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the Malayali Social Union as Malayali Sabha in 1884. It aimed at
promoting the welfare of the Malayali community through western
knowledge. The Sabha encouraged female education and stood for
reforming the marriage system.25
Malayali Newspaper
In order to achieve its aims the Sabha began to publish a
Malayalam newspaper in 1886 called the Malayali, edited by C.V. Raman
Pillai. The Sabha had also some non Nayar members. At the first the
Sabha enjoyed the support of the officials of Travancore government, with
the attack of the members on the Brahmin supremacy in the sirkar service,
the government turned against it. In 1887 the Maharaja and his Brahmin
favourites in the sirkar service came under bitter attack in a Madras
newspaper the Standard.26
In 1887 T. Rama Rao became the Dewan of
Travancore and patronized Brahminsm in the state on 15 August 1887 the
Standard attacked the Dewan and the Maharaja for being under the
influence of Brahmins.27
In January 1891 the Malayali Sabha presented a memorandum
to the Maharaja which demanded Travancore for Travancoreans. The
Malayali Memorial wanted to put and end to the supremacy of
____________________________________________________________
25. Madras Standard, 21 December 1887, p. 2.
26. Ibid., p. 179.
27. Madras Standard, 15 August 1887, p. 2.
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non-malayali Brahmins in the sirkar service. The memorial expressed the
grievances of Nayars and demanded a change in their family
organisation.28
How ever the Malayali Memorial was the first open attack
against the non-malayali Brahmin monopoly of government services and
also their special supremacy in Travancore.
The endeavour of the Malayali Sabha brought them some
advantages in the field of employment. But with regard to the social evils
like the tharavad system and marriage, nothing was gained in the 19th
century. There was incessant dispurses and litigations among the Nayar
tharavads. Eventhough tharavads were willing to divide themselves into
branches, those divisions could not have the force of law. In the decades of
1879 - 89 there was an average of 60% suits a year for tharavad partition.
From 1889 - 90 to 1898 -99 the average increased to 80 suits annually
from 1889 - 1890 to 1903 -1904 the average was 96 in a year.29
Economic Deterioration
The economic deterioration led to the ruin of many of the
Nayar tharavads Brahmin sambandhams with Nayar women were also in
the increase. With the advance of education among the Nayars, they could
know the changes taking place in the rest of life. In 1890, C. Sankaran
Nayar member of Central legislative council introduced a bill to permit
____________________________________________________________
28. Travancore Government English Records, Cover File No. 1744, p. 34.
29. Administration Report of Travancore for the year 1905, p. 23.
141
Nayars in British to register their sambandhams.30
The proposed bill was
objected to by the orthodox Nayars and the Nambudiris of Travancore.
The Orthadox Nayars were unwilling to give up their old system. The
Madras Government appointed the Malabar Marriage Commission headed
by Sir T. Muthuswamy Aiyar to study the whole system of marriage of
Malabar. It was on the basis of their report that the Malabar Marriage
Bill was passed in 1896. The bill in its provisions allowed any caste in
Malabar which followed marumakkathayam to register their marriage.
This made sambandham a legal marriage and a man could make wills over
his self acquired property to his wife and children. But the act was only
permissive, there was no compulsion. The Malabar Marriage Bill gave an
impetus to the Nayars of Travancore to have such an act to remove the
evils of their sambandhams and matrilineal system.31
Agreed partition had risen from 301 in 1896 - 97 to 516 in
1906-07. It shows that within the ten years period nearly 3500 tharavads
had unanimously agreed to partition and executed the partition in the
courts. In addition to the partition members wishing to live apart
from their tharavads negotiated agreements for maintenance. In 1896 - 97,
205 such agreements were executed and in 1906 - 1907 the number rose
to 385.32
Finally the committee came to the conclusion that the
____________________________________________________________
30. Robin Jeffrey, op.cit., p. 185.
31. Travancore Legislative Council Proceedings, 20 June 1896, p. 9.
32. Ibid., p. 10.
142
traditional organizations of the Nayars had to be abolished and
advocated partition. In their letter of 28th
August embodying their
recommendations and also a draft bill to give effect to them. The
government passed orders on the report. Since there was some opposition
against the partition of the tharavad, the bill sent in by the committee was
amended and it was declared that the bill would be introduced in the
council in due course.33
Government felt that there was a rapidly growing
sentiment in favour of partition but one section of the Nayars was against
partition. So the government came to the conclusion that some provision
was necessary for partition unless a tharavad became unmanageable. As to
the mode of division some were for division per stripes and the rest for
division per capita. In this situation government thought that a middle
course should be taken.34
A bill revised in accordance with the views of the government
was introduced in the council by the official members on 6th
April 1911.
It was intended to remove doubts as to the validity of the conjugal union
among certain clans of Hindu marumakkathayees viz. samanthas and
Nayars and to provide for certain matters connected there with and to
define and amend the law of succession and family management among
them. Under the bill, no individual partition, no partition during the life
______________________________________________________________________
33. Travancore Government Gazetteer, dated 27.12.1910, p. 22.
34. Report of the Marumakkathayam committee, 1908, pp. 30-70.
143
time of a common ancestors or her children was allowed. Subject to these
conditions, it allowed each collateral thavazhees (thavazhees of a female
means of a group of persons consisting of that female and her issue and
thavazhee of his mother) to claim out right partition of property common
to all he thavazhees. The bill was passed by the council on 17th
October
1912 and became Regulation 1st of 1088 M.E.
35
Question of Succession
The Regulation I of 1088 M.E. defined and clarify the law of
marriage and succession and family management of the Nayars. Even
though one of the purposes of the bill was partition of the tharavad
properties, that was omitted when the bill was finally passed by the
council. The bill reduced the powers of the karanavan. The non-official
Nayar members were strongly against the partition of the tharavad
properties and the government had to yield to these non official Nayar
members.36
Another important omission was that the samanthas were
excluded from the scope of the bill. The marumakkathayam committee
proposed that their recommendations were applicable to all samanthas and
Nayars. But the president of the council pointed out that there were only a
few Samantha females and most of them did not apparently want this
legislation. It was not to force upon the Samantha community a piece of
____________________________________________________________
35. Ibid, p. 57. 36. Abstract Proceedings of the Travancore Legislative Council I, 16
th April, 1923, pp. 820-21.
144
social legislation which they did not unanimously ask for.37
This
was against the committee's recommendations.
Regulation I of 1088 M.E. recognized a public sambandham
as a legal marriage. The husband was made the legal guardian of his wife
and children as long as they lived with him. A man could dispose of all his
self acquired property by making a will. This bill reduced the powers of
the karanavan and simple procedures for divorce were laid upon.38
However the legislative council ignored the pressing demands of the
Nayar Community demand for partition of tharavads.
In spite of its defects, the Regulation I of 1088 M.E.
succeeded in recognising some of the demands of the Nayar Community.
The wills Regulation and the Nayar. Regulation I of 1088 had their effect
in the neighbouring state if Cochin as well. There was an attempt of the
Cochin Darbar to pass a wills. Regulation of 1908 on her lines of the
Travancore wills Regulations. In view of the strong protest of the orthadox
section of the Nayar community it was finally decided by the Darbar to
drop the proposed measure shortly after the passing of the Travancore
Nayar Regulation I of 1088 M.E. 1 December demanded a similar of social
legislation for them too.39
In the year 1916 a large representative body
______________________________________________________________________
37. Travancore Legislative Council Proceedings, dated 05.02.1912, p. 11.
38. Regulations and Proclamations of Travancore, Trivandrum, Vol. I, 1928, p. 820.
39. Travancore Law Reports, 1917, p. 242.
145
headed by K. Raman Menon who was the Chief Justice of Travancore
high court approached the Raja of Cochin praying for a legislative
enactment on matters of marriage, inheritance and family management.
They submitted their suggestions in the form of draft bill. Sensing the
desires of the Nayar Community the Cochin government appointed a
committee to study the question of the above draft T.S. Narayana Iyer
Chief Judge was the president of the committee. The committee submitted
its report on 30 October 1917. It was on the basis of that Cochin Nayar
Regulation was passed.40
An important merit of the Regulation I of 1088 was that it
legalised the existing sambandhams of the Nayars In addition to this it
restricted autocracy of the karanavans of the Nayar tharavads. The
Regulation gave a stimulus to the Nayar community to strive further for
social reforms.
The alarming growth of family dissensions and the
unquenchable thirst for litigations in the Nayar community for family
partition affected the moral law and material prosperity of the Nayar
tharavad, the disease of the tharavad was traced to the evil effects of the
joint family system in which the individual had no defined right or
responsibility. The Nayar Regulation I of 1088 was not a solution to the
____________________________________________________________
40. Mannath Padmanabhan, op.cit., pp. 97-98.
146
evils of the marumakkathayam system. But the Nayars continued their
agitation in a more organised and intensified form focusing their entire
attention on the question of makkathayam and individual partition. The
cry for change was loud persistent and large in volume.41
It was the opinion of the marumakkathayam committee that
among Nayars marriage was merely a civil contract that it was dissoluable
at the will of either party and that it was not expedient to prohibit or
restrict divorce in any manner except by way of compelling the husband
when he was the petitioner, to give compensations accordingly the law was
enacted in 1088 M.E.42
In the amendment of the Nayar Regulation II of 1100 M.E.
the martial tie was made as strong as possible. Accordingly divorce was
not possible on mere payment of compensation but it could be allowed
only when the fact was proved in a civil court except in cases where the
parties mutually agreed to dissolve the marriage. In a makkathayam
family it was absolutely necessary that the martial tie should be strong
unlike under marumakkathayam. This provision was added by the
legislative council. The bill was in favour of monogamy and limited
divorce for specific reasons and through the decree of a regular civil
court.43
____________________________________________________________
41. Ibid.
42. Report of marumakkathayam committee, p. 97.
43. The Regulation and Proclamations of Travancore, Vol. V, p. 650.
147
The Nayar Regulation of 1088 M.E. and its amendment of
1100 M.E. brought for reaching changes in the social and economic life of
the community. The Nayar community had permitted polygamy which
spoiled the morality of the community. By the Regulation of 1088 M.E.
polygamy was made unlawful and monogamy was enforced prevention of
bigamy strengthened the family life and saved the children from the
bastardship.44
Divorce was restricted and rules were framed for
detornivies the amount of compensation and it compensation was in
sufficient provision was made for appeals to the high court of Travancore.
The out standing features of the Nayar Resolution of 1100 M.E. were two
viz. (1) Rights of inheritance incases of non-Nayars marrying Nayar
females. (2) Provision for partition of tharavad properties on the
individualistic basis. Till the Nayar Regulation of 1100 M.E. the Nayar
females were treated by the Brahmins as just objects of pleasures. Non-
Nayar marriages with Nayar females were viewed as morganatic
marriages. The children could not inherit properties of non-Nayar fathers.
The Nayar son of a Brahmin was not permitted to give a drop of water to
his dying father or touch his body at the time of cremation. He had no
right to offer the funeral cake. That system was put an end to through the
Nayar Regulation.45
The Nayar Regulation established that the children of
____________________________________________________________
44. Travancore Law Reports, 1917, p. 66.
45. Ibid., p. 74.
148
a non-Nayar by a Nayar wife should have equal rights with the rights and
privileges of other Nayar children. The wife and children were made the
sole legal heir to all the husband self acquired property.
Regulation II of 1100 M.E. abolished the matrilineal joint
family system and established an individualistic society called
makkathayam. Under the system every adult member of a tharavad
became entitled to claim his or her share of the properties of the tharavad.
In the new system the abolition of the Karanavan had been abolished as he
became only a figure head.46
The Nayar Regulation of 1925 was turning point in the social
system of the Nayars community in South Travancore. Like wise with the
amendment of the Nayar Regulation in 1925 the autocracy of the
karanavans of the Nayar tharavads came to an end. According to the
Nayar Regulation, Brahmin who married Nayar women were bound to
give their property to their Nayar wives and children. The effect of the
new religion was to allow thousands of Nayars to take their share of the
tharavad‘s assests and leave the joint family.47
The Nayar Regulation
became a model to the other matrilineal communities like the Ezhavas,
Nanjilnad Vellalas and Krishnavakas. The Nayar Regulation was the most
____________________________________________________________
46. Ibid.
47. Madras Mail, 11 June 1920, p. 6.
149
important social legislation of 20th
century. It gave another shock to the
Brahmins over the Nayar community. The Nayar Regulation were an
outcome of the agitation and representations made by the Nayar social
leaders as well as voluntary social organisations like the Nayar Service
Society and the Keraliya Nayar Smajam.
Vivaham (Older Form)
Presently the Nayars do not practice either of the three forms
of marriages described earlier but perform Vivaham (Marriage) recognized
by the Hindu Marriage act of 1955. It is ceremonially the shortest in
comparison to its counterparts from other Indian castes and regions. The
marriage ceremony among Nayars has changed considerably over the past
two hundred years. Originally, the process started with the examination of
the horoscopes of the bride and bridegroom to see if their respective stars
agree astrologically. This is still done today in some conservative Nayar
families.48
If the stars do not match, families may go so far as to cancel
the marriage and seek another prospective bride or groom. If the
astrological predictions are favourable, further examination is undertaken
to appoint an auspicious date and time for the ceremony. During the
celebration, there would be a presentation of danom (wealth or alms) to
____________________________________________________________
48. Fuller, C.J., The Nayars today, Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp. 99-100.
150
Brahmins, and a sadhya (feast). The bride and bridegroom would meet in
the central room of the house, rice would be sprinkled on their heads.
This was the essence of a basic Nayar marriage about two hundred years
ago. In addition to these general ceremonies, there are local variations.
In North Malabar (Northern Kerala), there is a Podamuri or
Vastradanam ceremony.49
In this ceremony, the initial examination of
horoscopes takes place at the house of the bride in the presence of the
bride's and bridegroom's families. The astrologer writes his calculations
and opinion on a piece of palmyra leaf and hands it over to the
bridegroom's relations. If the horoscopes match, a day is fixed for the
ceremony. This date is also written down and handed to the bride's
Karnavar and to the bridegroom's relations. The astrologer and the
bridegroom's party are then invited to a feast in the bride's house. The
astrologer also receives gifts in the form of money or cloth.
Three to four days prior to the wedding date, the bridegroom
visits his Karnavars and caste-elders to receive permission to leave for the
wedding. The bridegroom presents them with betel leaves and areca nuts
and obtains formal sanction for the wedding. The bridegroom then
proceeds, accompanied by a number of his friends to the house of his
bride.50
He is received at the gate of the house by the bride's relations and
____________________________________________________________
49. Faw Cett, F., Nayars of Malabar, New Delhi, 1985, p. 234.
50. Ibid.
151
is led with his friends, seats provided in the thekina (southern hall) of the
house. The bridegroom distributes gifts to all the Brahmins present there.
After this, the whole party is invited to take part in another sadhya. The
astrologer then announces the auspicious hour that has been fixed and
leaves after receiving his dues. The bridegroom is then taken by one of his
friends to the padinitta (principal/western room of the house, where
religious ceremonies are conducted).
New clothes, betel leaves and areca nuts brought by the
bridegroom's party are placed in this room.51
The room is decorated and
turned into a bedroom for the occasion. In this room are placed a number
of lamps as well as the ashtamangaliyam (eight articles symbolizing
mangaliyam or marriage). These are rice, paddy, the tender leaves of the
coconut tree, an arrow, a looking glass, a well-washed cloth, a burning fire,
and a small rounded wooden box called a cheppu. The bridegroom with his
groomsman enters the room through the eastern door, while the bride,
dressed in beautiful clothes and jewelry, enters the room through the
western door accompanied by her aunt or another elderly lady of the
family. The bride stands facing east with the ashtamangalyam and lamps
in front of her. The groomsman hands over to the bridegroom a few pieces
of the new cloth and the bridegroom puts them into the hands of the bride.
____________________________________________________________
51. Faw Cett, F., op.cit., p. 232.
152
After this, the lady who accompanied the bride sprinkles rice over the lit
lamps and over the heads and shoulders of the bride and bridegroom. The
bridegroom then leaves the room to go to the thekina to present his elders
and friends with cakes, betel leaves and areca nuts. After the guests have
left, the bride and bridegroom retire to the bedroom. Next morning, the
vettilakettu or salkaram ceremony is conducted and the bridegroom's
female relations take the bride to the husband's house, where a feast is held
in honour of the occasion. After marriage, the bride remains in her
tharavaadu, and her husband will often visit her, while remaining a
member of his own tharavaadu. The children, of course, will belong to
their mother's tharavaadu in accordance with the marumakkathaayam
system.52
Vivaham (Newer Form)
These days, a number of the individual ceremonies have been
abandoned or condensed. However, one can still see elements of the older
ceremonies in the new ones. Families may observe all or part of the
following ceremonies. The first ceremony is the Vivaha Nischayam or
simply Nischayam. In this ceremony, an astrologer is consulted to set an
auspicious date for the wedding. Horoscopes may or may not be compared
____________________________________________________________
52. Faw Cett, F., op.cit., p. 233.
153
depending on the wish of the individual or their families.53
After both
families' consent to the marriage, the couple visits the bride's home. This
meeting may be a simple affair, or a large celebration. During the
celebration, there may be a mothiram mattal (ring exchange) ceremony.
This ceremony may also be conducted later, during the actual vivaham
ceremony. If it is done at bride's house, it is usually done around a lit nila
vilakku (brass oil lamp).
On the evening before the wedding the families of both the
bride and the groom, gather in their respective homes to bless them. On the
day of the wedding, the bride and the groom will separately visit a temple
near their homes.54
The temple can belong to any God except Lord
Ayyappan or Lord Hanuman as they are bachelors. The bride's parents
carry the mangalyasutram or taali, a necklace that is a symbol of eternal
union, to be blessed by the priests. While returning home, the bride and
groom touch the feet of the elders of the family and receive blessings. This
is called Namaskaaram.
The actual wedding may take place in a kalyana mandapam (a
hall rented for the occasion), temple, or hotel. The bride's family receives
the groom's family at the entrance of the venue to the tune of nadaswarams
(long wind-instruments) and the beats of the thayli (large drums beaten
____________________________________________________________
53. Ibid., p. 234.
54. Velu Pillai, T.K., Travancore State Manual, Trivandrum, 1940, pp. 415, 415.
154
with curved sticks). The groom stands on a wooden plank while the bride's
younger brother washes his feet. The bride's aunts perform aarti for the
groom with a thaali (platter), on which wicks made of twisted cotton are
arranged. The groom is then escorted to the mandapam (platform
constructed to perform the wedding rites) by two rows of young girls.
One girl carries the changala vatta (sacred oil lamp), while another carries
the ashtamangaliyam. The girls following the first two, carry the taala
phuli (platters of rice, turmeric, and flowers on which oil lamps made of
coconut shells are placed). With his parents on either side, the groom
follows the girls around the mandapam and seats himself on the right
side of the canopy, which is decorated by flowers, fabric, palm fronds,
and banana stalks. The bride is then escorted by her aunt to the
mandapam to the sound of the nadaswarams and thaylis. All those who are
present on the mandapam stand when the bride arrives. She stands
facing the east, with the groom facing her. At the auspicious moment
set by the astrologer for the muhurtham (the most auspicious time), the
groom ties the thali around the bride's neck to the beating of drums. He is
assisted by the bride's uncle because on no account should the thaali be
allowed to fall. In some Nayar communities, the traditional thaali is a
gold pendant strung on a yellow thread.55
The bride has to wear this for
____________________________________________________________
55. Faw Cett, F., op.cit., p. 235.
155
three days after the wedding ceremony. After the three days have
passed, the thread is replaced by a golden chain.
After tying the thaali, the groom gifts the bride a sari and a
blouse on a platter. This signifies that he will now assume the
responsibility of providing for her. The groom's mother also gifts the bride
with some jewelry at this time. The couple then exchange garlands
accepting each other as life partners. The bride's father then places the
bride's hand in the groom's, thus handing over his daughter to the groom in
holy matrimony. The couple is then escorted to a room by their older
relatives, who bless them. After the marriage ceremony, the bride gets a
send-off from her house. The couple leaves for the groom's house
escorted by a few people from the bride's family. The groom's mother and
older female relatives perform aarti with an oil lamp (which rests on a
platter heaped with rice mixed with turmeric) and receive them at the
entrance. Both bride and groom enter the house, right foot forward. The
bride is then required to kick over a large pot containing rice, symbolizing
prosperity. After the wedding ceremony a wedding reception may be
performed if the families so wish.
Despite the claims of Brahmin ownership in Kerala up to the
coming of Europeans had most of the kingdoms belonging to the Nayars.56
____________________________________________________________
56. Nagam Aiya, V., op.cit., Vol. II., p. 328.
156
Some with visible names like the Kartas and Kaimals, though some of
them adopted the new Chaturvarnya title of Kshatriyas. Only a few states
in later periods were of the Brahmins like Edappally, Piravam and
Chempakassery. Piravam, incidentally, was the one which took in large
populations of Jews and Syrian Christians and still have the historic
remains.57
The majority Nayar kings and nobility existed side by side
with a concocted history like the infamous ‗Keralotpathi‘ which states that
Kerala was formed by Parasurama and donated to them, hence Kerala
belonged to Brahmins. These ‗Sudras‘ were brought to do menial jobs for
them. Veracity of this claim, said to be concocted as recently as the 18th
century, was effectively questioned, many of the old practices continuing
to this day only very recently.
Available historic proof about the 600 ‗Tharas‘ under Nayar
chieftains, of the post-Sangam periods are rarely discussed.58
Neither the
golden age of Kerala, when world travelers like Marco Polo called
Malabar, Kerala, the ‗richest and noblest‘ country in the world. Caste
oppressions by the upper castes, outrageous practices of Brahmins‘ marital
relationships with Nayar women, ‗Sambantham‘, though it was a marginal
practice spread over a short period, are however of repeated pieces of
____________________________________________________________
57. Sreedhara Menon, A., op.cit., p. 86.
58. Ibid., p.83.
157
history.59
The colonial missionary lead attacks on culture and history of
Kerala swept away the self esteem of the Malayali, mainly the Nayar
nobility. The Christian segment helped to spread this later with their
media. Though the contributions of Brahminical phase can not be lost
sight of, caste divisions and priestly monopoly in faith remains intense
and are melting away only gradually. Terminology of Sudras, servile
classes of the caste pyramid, attributed to the Nayars remained by and
large unchallenged. Inhuman treatment of the lower castes also remained
in practice. Nayar community alone, among all the castes, continued
to follow the compulsive Brahminical dictum with regard to religion and
rituals with out question.60
Nayars, a martial community has also lost almost all its
martial arts and the traits passing as it did through the Brahminical and
later European domination, where there were deliberate efforts to contain
them. As Chattambi Swamigal tells, the Dravidian nobility was cleverly
manipulated in to subjugation, much later another phase of European
colonisation further eroding the Nayars. Land, their mainstay was lost,
the martial spirit was long gone and the barring exceptions refused,
proud as they were, to take on new pursuits. Kerala Hindu society that the
____________________________________________________________
59. Nagam Aiya, op.cit., Vol. II, p. 364.
60. Robin Jeffrey, The Decline of Nayar Dominance, New Delhi, 1976, pp. 97-99.
158
missionary phase helped to divide remained in fighting and the animosity
created among the various castes with exaggerated stories of oppression
almost neutralized the leader community of Nayars. Eventually creating a
scene of total anarchy, the naturally endowed place saw total destruction.
Kerala once leading the world now becoming the world capital of
suicides. Once nature‘s own land has become god‘s own, but whose god is
that is what matters.61
Changes in the Economy
After the colonial loot of resources and attacks on native
culture the state had another shock in the post-independence phase. With
its international connections, major changes occurred in the economy.62
Those linked to the global economy controlled from Europe, mainly the
Christians, and Muslim segments with their links to oil rich West Asia of
the population, received large amounts of international capital when those
without it starved of capital. Cost of life spiraled and the local incomes
paled in to oblivion. Those with capital and vote bank politics were also
able to stake control of the state‘s resources and used it for their own
community good. In the flood of international capital the only saleable
asset the others had was land and the sale of land to these rich groups had
____________________________________________________________
61. Galletti, A., et al., The Dutch in Malabar (Dutch Records No. 13), Madras
Govt. Press, 1911.
62. Nagam Aiya, V., op.cit., Vol. II, p. 365.
159
reached alarming proportions. It had displaced the Hindus, large numbers
of Nayar families, who were landless, and they became landless laborers.63
Uprooted large populations were migrating outside the state. The mindset
of encroachment among the Syrian Christian segment, was that once they
had been refugees, even ate in the tribal belts and the hapless tribals were
thrown out of their small holdings. With their clout in government the
encroachers made this injustice legitimate. Agriculture, the mainstay of
Kerala, traditional sectors like coir making was collapsed and only the
islands of Christian Muslim rich remained in Kerala. With the neo-rich
arrogance they are now dictating terms to all others.
Unionism
The post-colonial Nayars, only beginning to organize, are
required to compete with organised and moneyed communities like
Christians and Muslims who have taken undue advantages at the cost of
the others. Missionary spread stories of caste oppression, alienated the
Kerala communities co-existing for centuries and made them enemies of
each other. Capital starved and having lost their other footholds like farm
lands, the Nayar community has very high rates on unemployment and
are getting extremely marginalised.64
There are also psycho-spiritual
____________________________________________________________
63. Padmanabha Menon, K.P., op.cit., p.89.
64. Krishna Iyer L.A., op.cit, p.93.
160
challenges of faith especially in the context of post-atheist communist
phase as a large number of Nayars took to communism.65
There is a
vacuum of faith and confusion about what to do next. There is enormous
human suffering and some are converting to Christianity. Return of the old
dogmatic religion is another challenge. With out organizing themselves
there is no choice for the Nayar community and it is going to be a stiff
fight nevertheless. The other Hindu segments are also equally in trouble
though such debates are not being tolerated in Kerala Hindu society.
Kerala‘s nature and ecosystem are devastated. Christianized Kerala society
has lost its symbiotic cultural traits.
It is necessary to have a combined all inclusive action plan to
restore confidence in the community. The man made sufferings in the state
should be wiped out. There have been efforts through history of the Nayars
trying to unite the latest being under the umbrella of the Nayar Service
Society. The NSS did yeoman service in the community in organizing
people and setting up modern western educational institutions. It now has
a statewide organizational structure though it was sub-optimally used
earlier. It is a great tribute to the Nayar community that it has withstood
centuries of onslaught and kept up its morale where a new beginning has
to be made. As social beings required to co-exist with other communities,
____________________________________________________________
65. Sreedhara Menon, A, op.cit., p. 86.
161
coming to terms with history, it is essential that the community redefines
its role in the present context, Once again taking the lead in bringing
justice. And there is no doubt that the various schools of thought like
Brahminism and the Vedic religion, Christianity and Islam, even
Communism for that matter, have enriched the community in myriad ways.
It is also true that the genesis of the Nayar community itself is complex,
having been a nobility it must have taken in many peoples and races
through time.66
Historians quote that people are trying to claim that they
are Nayars and many must have assimilated. Titles like Pillai and Menon
were also designations of officers at certain points of time. The new
challenge is to redefine the community goals, decide whom to associate
with and to what degree, with a sense of confidence and enlightened self
interest.
____________________________________________________________
66. Panikkar, K.M., op.cit., p. 409.