NAMPOOTHIRIES PART 8 12 THONNOORUKAAR (THE NINETIES)
InAD 830 (Kali 3931), migrated, 90 Braahmanan families from Thulunaad (South-WestKarnataka) moved to Kolathunaad (North Kerala). Though the king did not acceptthem, the Raajamaatha(king’s mother) gave asylum to them. Theyare called “Thonnoorukaar” (the ninety families) and also as “Naalu Desikal”(from four Desams), “Otta Grihakkaar” (from one family), or “Bhinnathanmaar”(the ones with a difference), and used to be considered (not any more) slightly lower in status thanthe Saagara Dwijans. All of them were Yajurvedis. Someof the families moved to the Thiruvithaamkoor (South Kerala) area, mostly in Thiruvalla, duringTippu’s invasion. One version has it that they belongedto Vasishthha Gothram and Boudhaayana Soothram. But according to an olddocument they variously belong to Kaasyapan, Viswaamithran, Aangirasan andVasishthhan Gothrams. Inthe North Kerala, they are said to have originally belonged to Kodakkaat,Aalakkaad, Kaithappram and Kaaraad of Perunthanniyoor Desam in PerinchelloorGraamam (near Taliparamba in the present Kannur District). In Thiruvalla,Kaarakkal Neelamana, Thukalasseri Arayakkeezhu, Muthoottu Muttathu Mathham,Thukalasseri Puthiyedathu Marangaattu and Peringol Kallampally belong to this“Thonnoorukaar”. 13 Thukalasseri Bhattathiris ThukalasseriBhattathiris have Thanthram (head priesthood) in several CentralThiruvithaamkoor temples.NImportant Illams (also Grihams) among them areParappoor, Kuzhikkaatt and Mulavana. The first two are believed to havereceived their assigmnent directly from Lord Parasuraaman. Their origin is traced to the land ofthe Cholas, whence they migrated first to the North Malabar (NorthKerala) and then to Irinjalakuda (in Central Kerala). Thereafter, 64 familiesmoved to Thiruvithaamkoor, of which 28 belonging to the afore-said threeGrihams, settled in Thukalasseri of Thiruvalla Taluk during c.(circa = about)the 13th century. Some of the Illams in KuzhikkaattGriham (the names actually end in the Griham name) are : 1.Tharayil, 2. Thundiyil, 3. Tharamel, 4, Chonatt, 5. Cheruvalli, 6. Thekkedath,and 7. Vadakkedath. Of these, 2, 5 and 7 are extinct (or merged with others,“Anyam Ninnu”). Kundur and Marathur were in Irinjalakuda. Thepriest (“Othikkan”) of the Thukalasseri Bhattathiris was Karuvaatt Namboodirinear Pattambi in Palakkad district. One Thukalasseri Mulavana Bhattathiri wasan Agnihothri of Thiruvalla Graamam. Source:P Unnikrishnan Nair, Niranasseril, P.O.: Kavumbhagam, Thiruvalla - 689 102,Phone : 0473-604022 14 SOCIETALTRANSITION IN THE 20TH CENTURY Thoughmost Namboothiris practised Vedic culture in the beginning of the twentiethcentury, the whole community had to face several setbacks. One of the reasonsfor the setbacks is the marriage practice among Namboothiris, popularly called“Sambandham” or a casual marriage alliance with girls belonging to othercastes. Onlymarriages within Namboothiri castes, performe through rituals in thetraditional style were considered as marriages. Sambandham is not supported byblessings from individual gods, through Mantrams and advices to the bride,through “veli othu”, a part of Rigveda. TheNamboothiri believed that the girl, during infancy, childhood and youth, isunder the wings of gods Soman, Gandharvan and Agni respectively.God Viswavasa protects her virginity. Hence the bridegroom has to thankViswavasa for protecting her till marriage andthen marry her in the presence of Agni. This is whySambandham is just a casual relationship for Namboothiris. Until1933, only the eldest brother was entitled to marry within the Namboothiricaste. His younger brothers weresupposed to practice pure “Brahmacharyam” by being unmarried and todedicate themselves to preserve Vedams and rituals. Theeldest brother was supposed to marry for building up future generations. Theyounger sons were meant for inheriting the Vedic traditions from theirancestors and passing it on to their future generations (the eldest brotheralso had a major role in preserving the Vedic tradition) Apart from this, those youngerbrothers, who opted to marry within the caste were excommunicated (Bhrastu)from the family. Byputting such pressures, the elders in the community might have thought that,the younger brothers would concentrate on their traditional job of practicingbachelorhood, preserving and transmitting Vedams. Exceptfor a few intelligent and studious ones, most younger brothers turned to morelucrative and worldly affairs like Sambandham. Other communities, especially Nayars and Kshathriyas encouragedNamboothiris to have Sambandham with girls in their communities. The objectivebehind this encouragement was to “purify” their future generations with theNamboothiri blood and also to elevate their families to higher levels in thesociety due to a Namboothiri relationship. It was a fact that Namboothiris could not just resist suchattractions in terms of money, sex and leisurely life-style. Namboothiristhus married Kshathriya (Kovilakams, royal families), Nayar, Warrier, andPisharoti girls and the children from such marriage alliances belonged to thematrilineal (Marumakkathaayam) lineage of their mothers. This, interestingly, led to situations like a Nayar son of aNamboothiri could not eat or bathe with his father, or a Namboothiri could noteat food prepared by his Nayar wife. NamboothiriSpinsters remained abandoned in the community. NamboothiriYogakshema Mahaasabha ( Click here ), a revolutionary group of Namboothiris andfounded in 1908, took a decision in 1919 and agitated for marriage of allNamboothiris within the community. Sabhadeclared the marriages of younger brothers from within the community asofficial, irrespective of whether the elder brothers were married or not. Thisrevolutionary meeting was held in “Bharatheebhooshanam” at Thrissur on 25thMedam 1094 (1919 A.D.). Theaim was embodied in the Madras Namboothiri Act of 1933. In the same year, theMadras Marumakkathaayam Act was passed, by whichSambandham was considered as a regular marriage, conferring on the children thesame rights of inheritance and property as held by children whose parents wereboth Namboothiris. Thedeclaration and these Acts led to a sudden decline in the number of Sambandhammarriages, and this unethical practice ended shortly (in about ten years).Following these acts, Namboothiri land was increasingly partitioned andproperty dispersed. Thestoppage of Sambandham led to a liberation of Namboothiri wives and girls. Theywere the major sufferers due to unavailability of Namboothiri boys for marriagebecause of the practices of polygamy and parallel Sambandhams by elder sons. Dueto the dispersal of properties, financially sound Namboothiri families becamemiddle class while middle class families became poor. Financiallypoor families really struggled to cope up with the new environment. As a result, most Namboothiri youthshad to leave their Vedic education and practice and switch over to modern(formal) education and profession. Intelligenceand a simple life-style were the only tools the youths inherited, except a fewfrom financially upper middle class families. The Thrissur Brahmaswam Madhom, which was originally founded in theseventh century to teach Rigvedam, offered free food and stay to these studiousboys. Mostof these boys later became executives and professionals and took their familiesfinancially back to middle or upper middle class, while a minority of themmiserably failed in formal education also. Some barelymanaged with income from priesthood in temples. The1963 Kerala Land Reforms Act and the 1970 amendment of it added oil to flame.Under the original Act, cultivating tenants were made eligible to purchase theright, title and interest from the landlord. They could exercise this right byapplying to a land tribunal. Except the properties of a few landlords whoanticipated such an Act, the leased properties ofNamboothiris were lost to tenants, and this further reduced the income ofNamboothiris. The1970 amendment of the Act clarified that this procedure was applicable if theowner of the land was a religious, charitable or educational institution. The net result was that most templesalso lost their income and so did the poor and temple-dependent Namboothiris. Due to such uncertainties and sudden decline of income frompriesthood, most Namboothiri youngsters lost interest in Vedic culture andritual performances. Buta very few members of equally small number of families stood firm against allsuch tides throughout the twentieth century, and finally ended up as thetorch-bearers of Vedic Namboothiri culture. Prominentamong them are the families of Cherumukku Vaidikan and Thekkat Vaidikan (bothof Sukapuram Graamam). Some of the recently expired Vedic experts includeErkkara Raman Namboodiri and Naraas Somayaaji. A very few families still keepthe tradition of “Agnihothram”. Pioneer among them is the Maarath Kavapra Manaat Edapal in Malapuram district. The Saamavedi doyen family NellikkattilMammannu Mana has a rare achievement that its three successive generations, allchristened Neelakandhan, have performed Athiraatram in the 20thcentury; in 1901, 1918 and in 1956. According to Erkkara Raman Namboodiri asquoted by Frits Staal, more than 120 Agnishtoma (somayaagam) and fiveAtiratra-agnicaya (Athiraathram) have been performed between 1911 and 1970. The last Athiraathram was performed in Paanjaal (near Thrissur) in 1975.Athiraathram was performed 18 times during the last 125 years and six timesduring the last 75 years. Edited by: P.Vinod Bhattathiripad Reference : “Agni” by Frits Staal, AsianHumanities Press, Berkeley, Calif., USA, 1983. Some of the ideas in the abovearticle were directly taken from this book. I WILL CONTINUE IN NEXT POSTING -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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