Legends of the PI (Palghat Iyer)
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 or Palghat 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. This article will then go on to
spend some time on the stone inscription at Kalpatti.
The commonly accepted reasons for the westerly migration follows
the events at Madurai and its environs as explained in my article about Malikkafur
Let me once again borrow words from Tamil Tribune. 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. He sought help from the far off northern
ruler 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, 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 Palghat. This route is remarkable as the line of migration of the Tanjore
Brahmin to Palghat through Pollachi. Normally they would have
congregated around temples. Nevertheless, the systems of Cheranaad were
different since only Nambuthiris were allowed to perform religious rites in
temples. Being learned and lettered, these Brahmins settled to perform other
duties in the temples sometimes competing with Ambalavasis and also moved on to
support the bureaucracies of smaller regional kings as astrologers,
accountants, scribes, advisers etc. It is also stated that continuous drought
over many years in the Kaveri Delta area also triggered migration of Tanjore
Brahmins to Kerala. In some cases, as you will see, they went on to build and
conduct their vedic rites in their own temples. 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 Palghat.
Narayan Murthi on his website states the following - Our own Josier family came
from Kandramanickam Village, in Trichy District, and we are identified as
Kandramanickam Brahacharanam. Yes, people also came in groups from Madurai,
Erode areas, Tiruvannamalai (the whole of Nurani is from there and all are
Brahacharanam). Pallipuram and Tirunallayi people came from around Conjeevaram
and Sreerangam and brought with them the Vaishnavaite influence on their
rituals and practices. They wear the Namam, have mostly Vaishnavaite names and
pay obeisance to the Jeer at Srirangam and not to the Sankaracharyas.
But let us also look at the story of the Palghat Raja’s which I recounted some years earlier. and the account of Stuart Blackburn quoting an old man whom he met - Sometime
in the 1500s when Palghat was a small principality under the Cochin Raja, only
Nambudiris lived here. Then a young prince of the Palghat ruling family, I
think he was named Sekhari Varma, fell in love with a tribal girl. The Cochin
Raja opposed this marriage, but the prince refused to budge and married the
girl. Suddenly all the Nambudiris left and the prince sent to Tamil Nadu for
Brahmins to conduct temple rites. These Pattars [Tamil Brahmins] had been
coming to an annual Vedic scholar’s convention at Tirunavaya [near Pattambi]
and so they knew the area. So they decided to settle in Palghat. Then the
tribal queen turned all the Bhagavatis into tribal goddesses—Emur Bhagavati,
Min Bhagavati, Manapully Bhagavati. The Pattars came from Tanjore, Madurai, and
Kancipuram, and even now you can see this history in the names of their
agraharams [settlements], for instance Chokanathapuram, after Siva's name at
Madurai. He also explains that Tamil Brahmins in Palghat, for example, celebrate
Rama's birthday in association with Valmiki's Sanskrit epic or Ezhuttachan's
Malayalam text but not Kampan's.
Madhava Menon in his Handbook of Kerala cites the instance of the
boycott of the Palghat Raja by the Nambutiris of Palghat in support of the
Zamorin when the Palghat Raja asked Hyder Ali help in getting the Zamorin off
his back. The Palghat Raja in retaliation brought in Tamil Brahmins and settled
them in 64 settlements around Palghat, granting them lands and privileges and
allowing them to perform rights in Palghat temples. But Logan goes on to
explain further the connection established even earlier between the Palghat
Raja and the Pattars - One account states that they (Palghat Rajas or Achans)
are descendants of one of the Pandyan Kings of Madura, However this may be, the
family has for some reason or other lost caste. There are various stories
current as to how this happened, and a mis-alliance with a woman of the Malabar
caste on the part of the reigning chief is the generally credited origin of the
fact. It appears to have taken place previously to the first influx of East
Coast Brahmins (Pattar) into Palghat, for water, which, from the hands of the
polluted Raja, would have conveyed pollution to the recipient, was not used in
conferring grants of land to the Pattar and flour, a non-polluting substance,
it is said, was used instead. Land grants were thus made; it is said, to 96
Pattar villages or agraharams in Palghat.
Nevertheless, the lands where they settled in became their Karma bhumi
as against the east coast 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. Nagam Aiyya in his TSM explains that this is the
reason why they prefer to die in the Punya bhumi and not in Kerala lest they be
born an ass in their next birth!! (That finally explained to me why second and
third generation PI’s or Pattars still try to maintain that they are Tamilians
and not Malayalis – I always used to think the insistence was due to linguistic
ties).
So much for the migration theories, but the Palghat Brahmin
community produced many a great bereaucrat, many a great cook, many a great film
personality and many famous administrators and secretaries, not to mention
musical stalwarts, be it film music or Carnatic music!! So they did take their
karma very seriously, as you can see. I admire them a lot.
Now let us get to the Kalpathi stone inscription and Prof SV
Venkateshwara’s conclusions. I have not been to this temple myself for a long
tinme and I understand most of the inscription is gone, but for those
interested, it will be reproduced here again from Prof Venkateshwara’s essay.
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. Towards the end of the year, the PI’s come back on vacation with trainloads of relatives to partake in the Ratholsavam or the chariot festival. The Kalpathy car festival is one of the biggest festivals of Malabar and a week-long Carnatic music festival, in which leading musicians perform, precedes the car festival.
Kalpathy and the other 18 Agraharams in the town are usually
spruced up for the festivities. The temples and the houses in the Agraharams
are all decked up and it is usually an occasion for family reunion. People who
have continued their modern day migrations, in search of jobs and livelihood
return for the Kalpathy Ratholsavam, which marks the beginning of the
six-month-long car festivals in the temples of the 98 Agraharams in the
district.
Kalpathy also got into the news for wrong reasons during the
self-respect movement period 1924-26 when caste rivalries took place in South
India. An Ezhava police office was supposedly deputed in 1924 to oversee the
chariot festival, and the Brahmins of the agraharam took offence. They
contended that the Kalpathi streets are not the King's highway but private
property. The Arya Samajists got riled up and tried to march through the
streets. Arthur Knapp the home member was asked to enquire into the matter. The
arya samajists complained that if Christians and Moslems could enter such
villages, they as Hindus could.Soon Swami Shraddanand arrived. When a breach of
peace was anticipated, the Madras government served prohibitory orders on the
Samajists during the event. In 1925, some violence occurred when another
attempt was made, but eventually the Samaj movement seems to have fizzled out. But then again, look at the history - The
community itself came to Palghat thanks in part to the event when the king married a
lower caste person! Interesting
turn of events right?
Anyway let’s get back to the historic front and the stone
inscription. The stone inscription in front of the Kalpathy Shiva Temple tells the
connection between the temple, its upkeep by the local king lttikombi Achan. Now
we will spend some time on the inscription itself and its importance in
history. Fortunately the 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 subject-matter of the inscription is the grant to the temple
(of Visvanitha-Svamin) of land, income, and precious metal and utensils, and
the constitution of ‘marumakan" Ittikombi and (his) younger brother
(anantiravan) as trustees thereof. The inscription seems to have been cut at
the bidding of Rayiran Kandatt Pangi under orders from his master, who was
apparently the then Raja of Palghat (Rayiran perhaps denotes the position or
title of a scribe). The name of the donor is not given in the inscription. He
may have been an elderly member of the Palghat Raja's family, judging from the
references to Ittikombi as marumaka and to mele karanavar. The latter epithet
may refer to the Raja himself.
The inscription represents the manas receiving 1320 panams (coins)
and bound to give 132 panams every year as interest to the temple. The context
here shows that a rate of 10 per cent was charged at interest payable every
year on the 10 panams given to each of the Brahman house. We have here a very
interesting instance of the way in which endowments to temples were made and
worked, a lumpsum was invested with every householder, who was bound by the terms
of the contract to pay the interest on that sum every year to the authorities
of the temple on whose behalf the investment was made. The contract held good
in perpetuity; but the obligation implied in was not personal, but territorial.
Thus, the subject matter of the inscription is the grant to the deity Viswanatha Swamin of the Kalpatti temple of so much property real and moveable and the constitution of members of the Ittikombi section of the Palghat Raja’s family as trustees thereof.
When you study the essay in more detail or try to understand the exemplary study done by Prof Venkateshwara of Kumbhakonam, you wonder at the way these experts get to the bottom of the story by the study of words and script. I have deliberately not gone into those details for fear that such aspects would scare away the interested readers I still have in the study of Malabar’s history. But if somebody is seriously interested, you know whom to contact.
A few words on the Pattars of Calicut and Travancore are also
added for completeness. According to Narayana Murthy, some migrants did climb up the Cumbum Hills crossing over Munnar,
Peermede etc. and settled in Kottayam, Haripad, Vaikom, Ambalapuzha etc. The
Agraharams south of Trivandrum such as Nagerkoil, Vadiveswaram, Sucheendram
etc, already existed in the past, as Chola territory.
But how can I forget the Pattars of Tali and the fantastic Lakshmi
store which I always visit while in Calicut? The mixture, the sweets and
pickles, not to mention, the vadakams and so on are delicious. Well, perhaps
they migrated during the periods when the Zamorins had issues with the
Nambuthiris over the Tali Siva temple which I wrote earlier (refer the Revathi Pattathanam
article) and the Kolathiri prince. Banning Nambuthiri’s from his court, he had
invited Brahmin scholars from Tamil Nadu to take their place. These Tamil
Brahmins settled around the Tali Siva temple. According to eminent historians,
they arrived in Kozhikode as dependents of the chieftains, working as cooks,
cloth merchants and moneylenders. Some other day, when I have collected more
information on them, I will narrate their story too, perhaps while introducing the
stalwart Manjeri Rama Iyer.
References
Epigraphica Indica. v.15 1919-1920, The Kalpatti Stone
Inscription – Prof SV Venkateshwara MA, Kumbhakonam
Historic alleys – Malik Kafur in Malabar
Historic alleys – Revathi Pattathanam
Historic alleys – Royalty of Palghat
A video on kalpathy
Inside the drama house- Stuart Blackburn
New article - The Kalpathi Furor - 1924, 25 incidents at the Agraharam
120 comments:
I always wanted to know the history of Palakkad Iyers in detail; All that I knew was that they migrated from somewhere in Tamilnadu; never knew why, when, the story behind Kalpathy. Your post is so detailed and informative that I would have paid to read such a post.
thanks Vivek.
glad you enjoyed it..there is one angle I am yet to analyse, the saivite movement in Madurai, the antagonism with the vasihnavites and if it had any effect
very interesting :) i have Kerala Iyer friends from Palghat ,Ambalapuzha and also recent arrivals to Trivandrum from Tenkasi .
thanks soorya narayan
nice to hear from you, glad you liked this..keep in touch
Nice article, explained much in detail.. Am in the process of collecting data on Palakkad agraharams, festivals, scholars, musicians,personalities etc. Will need your valuable support.
Gopal
gopalji65@gmail.com
Excellent article explained much in detail. Am in the process of collecting article on Palkkad agraharams, festivals, musicians, sanskrit scholars etc.
will need your help in this regard.
best regards,
Gopal
gopalji65@gmail.ocm
thanks goplaji...
no problems, let me know what you need and thanks for the comment
Thanks a lot for an excellent article. I have been looking for information on Palakkad Iyer Migration, but more rooted in historical fact than legends. Would be obliged if can you share with me the detailed study of Prof Venkateswara and any other historical info you have.
So one clear dateable fact is that around 1420s, there were PI agraharams already established. There is also a theory that when the Palakkad king disputed with Zamorin in 1750s and asked for Hyder Ali's help, the Zamorin and his Nambuthiris boycotted him and hence the Palakkad king invited Brahmin families from Tamilnad. How plausible is this. Is there any historical evidence for this?
My ancestors belonged to Koduvayur and the Ramanathapuram agraharam. Wife is from Tali. Please do share knowledge about the history of these agraharams.
Thanks
Kartik
Thanks Kartik - yes, I have covered this in the 8th para. Yet another wave if you ask me. Perhaps more of the experienced poojari category.
I will get back to Koduvayur one of these days, as I used to live there. Do you mean Tali in Calicut?
My ancestors belonged to Noorni Palghat. My Father and his eldest brother have passed away. My periappa is alive and I had requested him to write about Palghat Iyers, which he has done in malayalam and sent to me. If I have your permission I would like to post it on this page. Its lengnthy but a very iteresting narrative.
Thanks Muthu..
yes pls go ahead, it will add color to the narratives...
As an amateur anthropologist,, interested in our migration, I had a theory that Haripad etc were bastions of brahmins who came through the Shencottah pass, and therefore the people there were referred to by Palakadans as "Pandi kara".
thanks suresh
migration always brought in new ideas, new blood and we see that even today. always for the good...
thanks rachaelveedec....
glad to note the input..after all, it is always important to understand one's origins...
Maddy,
This post is so close to heart. My father was born in Pattambi and brought up in Noorni. My mother was from Trichur; however, I was born and brought up in Bombay. I recall my parents told us stories that included names of so many places and events you have referred to in this post.
One time my father took me to Tiruvennamalai temple and told me we are ancestrally from that place. I felt no connection to that place, but the Brahmin priests in the temple who performed the pooja and owned the curio shops seemed so close to me in temperament and mannerism. I would have acted exactly the same had the roles been reversed. Interesting how the culture gets transmitted down the generations.
You have made my day. Thank you so much for this post. Keep up the good work.
Ramu
A real wonderful article on palaghat iyer.. Myself being a palaghat iyer i was clueless where actually i belong to. To add to my woes coming from a defense family i have always travel to most of the other place of our country, but used to come to palaghat for holidays..Not that i regret knowing the other part of my country, i always missed about my roots.thanks for apprising me on palaght Iyer real roots.hope to read more article from you.
Any clue as to the origins of PIs from Mathur Gramam. My ancestors are from there and after reading this article I would love to know their origin as well.
Very informative blog and blogpost.
Can you share any clues about the PIs staying in Mathur gramam. My ancestors are from there and I would love to know their actual origin.
You are maintaining an excellent blog. Appreciate it.
thanks ramu..
as i said to another Palakkadan, the idiosyncrasies of palakkadans are best understood by people of the region...there will be more stories on Palghat coming up...
Thanks Girish...
I am not sure I can help you with the request right now, but when I am in Palghat next I will check and get back
thanks vinit..
oh you have a lot of interesting people with roots from palghat and if you follow films you'd be surprised..
vidya balan, priyamani, sankar mahadevan, trisha, sudha chandran...the list goes on..
Music stalwarts there are many and from above , we see there are many in the film industry, cooks as everyone says, there were many cooks from mangalore, and film actors from sriram gam as well. Shri T.N. Seshan once remarked in a public talk in Bangalore , claiming we were cooks ,politicians ,musicians and crooks. He was big on politics are there anymore to say and remember ? Nice work Maddy . Enjoyed reading and looking forward if unare still doing more posts on Palghat I years. One of my parent from chittur and I read they have moved from tricky. Through polls hi. My grandfather says his ancestors were from thirupathy.? I will research for my dad's place and let u know if the past research adds with whatever he can say about his families many thanks
The article is very interesting and informative about the history of Palghat iyers. When I met the Brahmin families of Pallippuram I took an impression that they were Aiangars as all of them wear NAAMAM on the Forehead. Later I spoke to some of them and they confirmed that they are Brahmins from Pallippuram gramam.
Please post more articles.
Regards,
Venki Hariharan
Interesting article! Again yet another aspect which I've heard about. I am not sure of it's authenticity is that there was a big incident involving a Namboodiri Woman, "Kuriyedath Thathri", who had illicit affairs with several prominent members of the Namboodiri Community and this led to there being a SmarthaVicharam, wherein the outcaste lady is questioned for several days together and all involved members were banished from the community. This led to a severe damage to the Namboodiri community as a whole and led to much reform and social movements, like Yoga Kshema Sabha, which later fell apart as the Communist revolution began. During this period since it was found that several of the distinguished members of the Namboodiri community who were supposed to conduct the Smarthavicharam, were themselves tainted, the help of Tamil Brahmins was taken to help complete this ceremony and that it is during this period of change, that Tamil Iyers more or less gained an equal footing among the Kerala Brahmin community.
I must thank my wife smt rohini for forwarding the write up to me.though I belong to thali of Calicut I visit the place once in an year to pray in valayanad temple,our family deity.your article particularly on kandarmanickam brahacharanam,to which subsect I belong is very informative.
Looking forward to more such informative write ups
Vichu,coimbatore
Srijith
take a look at this old article of mine, for details
http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2009/07/kuriyedathu-thathriyude-smartavicharam.html
Thanx for this.The other day my brother asked me about the migration.I asked him to look at Kuladevatha.Our Kuladeavatha is Maragathavalli Amman of Kalladakurichi.So roots are there.But my dad is from Irinjalakuda and mom from Mankavu,Clt.Tvm Brahmins were brought by the Raja when Padmanabhaswamy temple was made,according to Sotry of the temple,written by Aswathi Thirunal.
Maddy. Thanks from one Palghat Iyer to another !!. so many intricacies of migration which I have been hearing by word of mouth, tempts to ask for more. My father was from Ramanathapuram village and Mother from Taliparamba. I wonder the interweaving of Brahmin communities even in those early days when communication and transport was difficult, was nothing short of marvel. Please give us more information.
R.S.Vaidyanathan.
Thanks ramachandran..
that means that your mothers side had somebody working for the zamorin in padinjare kovilakam!! interesting
thanks nandu
i do have some palghat posts in this blog, just do a search and you will get them, i will also be doing one on kongan pada soon
Thanks Venki H.
that is interesting, I have not really come across any iyengar villages in Palghat. have to check it out. Yes, there were stray families, but not a whole agraharam..
Thansk Vaiydyanathan..
Actualy I am a Nair from palghat..
Nevertheless, the reasons for the migration in Kerala between the iyers is due to old village connections and also due to the fact that pattars were the original messengers between the kings/naduvazhis acorss kerala, as they were able to travel unmmolested in troubled times. They were the first harkaras of kerala...
A little bit about harkaras here,
http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2010/01/dak-harkaka.html
My mother's father,Venkatarama Sastrigal was a scholar in Revathi Pattathanam.The role of pattar as messenger is true:It was the duty of a Tamil Brahmin to tell the public that the woman has bn excomminicated,after smartha vicharam
It is so good to know about my ancestors and the rich heritage of Iyer community. Thanks for the good research. I forwarded this blog to my parents.
Great insight into the origin of the PI community. My husband is from Palakkad and I come from Cochin - with roots in Tirunelveli district - which has been very well traced and documented (how the Tirunelveli Brahmins migrated to Cochin). I always used to tease my husband that he has clue to where he originates from and he is more Malayali than Tamizh.
thanks ramachandran and sn..
appreciate your comments
thanks rekha baala..
may i ask - when and why did the Tirunelveli Brahmans move? did they come to Travancore or elsewhere?
http://shanmatha.blogspot.com/2011/11/kochi-thekke-thalam-my-favorite-temples.html
This may help.
Hi Maddy! Thanks. I was born in Palakkad and spent several joyful summers in Vaidyanathapuram. It felt great to read about towns/purams I used to visit and play. To this day i dont know the name of the river (rivulet) that flows near Vaidyanathapuram, only calling it as Aathankarai.
I remember my grandfather saying to get off at Olavakode station and I would be confused!!
Excuse my rambling, but please do write more about Palakkad and the Iyers - I would like to know more.
Thanks once again
Hi:
Amazingly interesting. I wanted to know about Nairs and their origins in greater detail. Have you an article about them too?
Hi:
Amazingly interesting. I wanted to know about Nairs and their origins in greater detail. Have you an article about them too?
thanks manjula..
yes there is - take a look at this
http://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-origin-of-nairs.html
I find your blog very fascinating. As a Malabari, now residing in NC, I thoroughly enjoyed the content and delivery!
👍👍
-Mini
Thnaks Mini..
Plenty more at this blog and also at maddys ramblings,you will find the link at the top
rgds
its very interesting. as a research scholar in migration of tamil brahmins to kerala it is really informative for me. can i get the original documents for verification.
this topic is really informative for me. i'm a research scholar on migration of tamil brahmins to kerala.
this is really informative for me. i'm a research scholar on migration of tamil brahmins to kerala especially through bharathapuzha regions.i really think this blog really helps me a lot.
Thanks kamakshy.
please email me with details of what you need and I will try to help.Clink under profile and you can get my email id.
Hello Sir. Interesting read. Would be great if we can get some info on the Brahmin settlements in Wayanad district and the agraharams there.My maternal line is from Wayanad.
Interesting read sir. I have tried to read every available article on this. However, there seems to be not much insight into the Brahmin settlements in Wayanad. Please share if you have any details. My maternal line is from Wayanad and paternal from Palakkad.
Interesting read.My dad still alive is from Langeswaram gramam of Chittor. He has traced back his ancestory to Tanjore Brahmapuri.His Great grandpa was called Bhramapureswaran Thandaveswaran ( Bhramu iyer).My dad is called Thandaveswaran.He sold his agraharam house in Langaeshwaram 20 yrs ago.This house he said hosted seven generations.The Bhajana madam there was donated by his grandpa.To this day the Chittor ther starts from that house.The house was donated by the Raja and the ancestors served in his court.They had a lot of land or padams that were taken away during the communist revolution. I always wondered about the migration.This sure gives more food for thought.Thanks a lot.
This article is very interesting and informative. We're from Puthamkurichi (present day Venkatesapuram). My great-grandfather,Bharathan Pattar, was a cook of some repute.
The articles says that Nurani is non-Hindu name. I believe the writer does not know the history of Nurani. Nurani as a whole was a Namboothiri Illam of a large proportion with 100 children. Hence the Illam was known as Nurunni Illam. The Head of the family pleased with the migrant brahmins who belong to Thanjavur settled them in the illam land. Subsequently the settlers built their own temples in the land. The main temple has a consecration for the Illam Namboothiri. All Nuranians worship the Illam Namboothiri first before pray at the main dieties. Nurunni subsequently got corrupted into Nurani.
Thanks Sundaram
Your comment started a little our of context as I said - Noorni as a 'word' is also considered to be non-Hindu. Noorunni is another matter. Thanks for the input and you are right, i am not aware of Noorni history in particular.
But then again, a little thought will make the myth (not history) sound improbable. In a nambuthiri illam only the eldest nampoothiri marries and only his children live in the illam, as far as I know. For a hundred children - unni's to be contemporary ...hmmm food for thought... Let me check with the namputhiri experts.
My Dear Sri Maddy,
I don't think word Noorni coined with a non-Hindu name. 'Noorani' as a word relates to a muslim surname. Incidently inhabitants on the edge of the village are muslims and co-exist in peace, may be from the time of Tippu Sultan. It is possible that their ancestors may have forcebly got converted to Islam during Tippu Sultan's "Padayottam Period". I don't have any proof to enlighten the fact.
Yet another tam brahm who is curious to know her ancestry. My paternal grandfather migrated to kochi from Chittoor and that is all that I know. Even my father does not have any info on our roots other than the name of our kuladevatha which is Madappalli Madonna in Palakkad. My paternal grandmother is from thripunithura and I highly suspect that her ancestral migration was more recent than my father's side and has several prominent musicians like T V Gopalakrishnan and T V Ramani. Coming to my mother's side, she is more malayali than tamil and only knows that her paternal grandmother was from a very wealthy family from Veembil , Trichur. I would love to know where my ancestors came from.
I am yet another tam brahm interested in knowing my ancestory. It is quite unfortunate at there are no written records to give us some idea about our roots. My paternal grandfather moved to Kochi from Chittor, in Palakkad and all that my father knows is that our kula daivam is Madappalli Kavu. My paternal grandmother was from thripunithura and we have done renowned musicians on her side. I highly suspect that he ancestral migration was more recent as I remember my mom complaining about her mother in laws cooking.:) My mom hails from velappaya a small village in Trichur and is more malayali than tamil.The only thing she knows about her side of family is that her paternal grandmother was from Veembil, Trichur and that she was from a wealthy family :
can you furnish the history of Mukkai siva temple in detail.
Parameswran K N
Mattumantha
Great work.As a Tirunelveli District man from Shencottah of old Travancore Cochin Samastanam I liked the article very much.Congrats.
Very well researched article and thanks a lot for your efforts. I used to have sketchy and vague ideas on whether we belonged to ancestors from Kumbakonam or elsewhere and i was told from my name it is clear we were from Kumbakonam.As you are well aware sons are named after grandparents from both sides.I mam glad you too are an Electrical Engineer. Myself also from REC Warangal 1968 batch.
Swaminathan
thanks Parvathy, Parameswaran, jayashree and swaminathan..
Glad to hear from you all.
I will certainly add more information as and when i come across Iyer migration while delving into other research topics..
regarding temples I saw that there was a book on temples in Kerala in DC books - perhaps you can check and surely the temple at Mukkai is covered.
Malabar manual actually gives some details, and mukkai is where palayar, malayar & walayar join to create kalpathy river. Apparently lord Rama created it at the insistence of Lakshmana since Ganges water was not available when they were in these parts during the exile..
See also my post on Surpanaka.
http://maddy06.blogspot.com/2011/04/surpanakha-story-of-woman-scorned.html
i also saw that the Wikipedia Kerala Iyers article has borrowed parts of this post verbatim without any attribution..
Interesting, I also live at Chapel Hill, NC and would like to meet you.
My name is P N V Krishnan,a pattar from Kerala.Pl email me your contact details
pnvster@gmail.com
regards
Thank YOU mr maddy.
I have always wanted to know about my roots and this article is the best i have read so far.pls continue writing such articles.
ps:even i am from kozhikode
namaskaram sir. This is kamakshy once again. i tried to contact u over email but couldn't find.sir,is there any email id to contact you.
thanks giridhar..
thanks kamakshy
it is umanmadhan@gmail.com
Sir,
I happened to read your article more by chance as i wished to know more about Ramachandrapuram where a sister of a friend of mine has been advised to offer Annadhanam at perhaps an Orphanage,by an Astrologer of repute from Noorani.
I am spellbound by the coverage which is authentic and empirical.As a person who writes on selected temples i feel belittled by your writing.
Keep up the excellent work sir.May Lord Kasi Viswanathar and Goddess Visalakshi give you the strength to do so.
With humble regards,
d ravi shankar
PS
Please do visit my blog 'Garbagriha Darishanam.blogspot.in.if you find time.
Namaskaram,
I hail from Kalpathy area and am trying to find the origin of villages in Palakkad as each of them has a base connected to somewhere in Tamilnadu. I tried to talk to many people, but none of them could provide me with clear details. Please share if you have them and it is highly appreciated. brgds Gopal
Excellent. Well written and presumably well researched as well! Thank you.
Krishna Prasad
Interesting read.Thanks for the article. Would be great if we can get some information on the Brahmin settlements in Wayanad district especially payingattiri agraharam.My paternal line is from Kizhakkanchery palakkad.
Rajeswary
Interesting read. Thanjs for the article.Would be great if we can get some info on the Brahmin settlements in Wayanad district and the agraharams there(payingattiri).My paternal line is from Kizhakkanchery palakkad.
Thanks dr ravi Shankar
I will certainly study your blog and glad that you enjoyed reading this article
thanks Gopalji, KP and Rajeswari..
Nice to hear that you liked this..
I will check on the Wyanad Iyers and revert if I find more information.
Typically all major temples had a community of Tamil Iyers associated with it.
been a fan of your blogs- mostly for the history posts; some years back i traced back to 5 generations of my family. My grandfather's father came from pallavoor ; he came to wayanad to work and then later developed his own coffee plantation. Later he was joined in wayanad by his my grandfather and his brother. When it came to my fathers generation - for education reasons and also due to lack of medicial facilities in wayanad - they shifted to calicut.
A very interesting read.
Interesting to read about PI's. Well researched and written and a million thanks for enlightening many of us on this!!
My great grandfather was based in Mundamukha village near Shoranur and was an Adhikari in 1870-1900 period. Maybe the British also hired Tam Brahms to take on such roles in the government / administration those days. My grandfather migrated from his village to Kalpathy and settled down there.
I agree there must have been waves of migration over the centuries starting from the 1420's for various reasons.
More such research will throw valuable light on the PI's who are now scattered all across India and the globe.
It would be interesting to know from where Brahmins came to Tamil Nadu. From Central Asia or European Steppes. If we are able to solve it, we can be happy. The article is very detailed. It is one of the best on the subject. Many will quote from this now. Sure. Take care Shri Maddy.
Hari, Chennai
Thank you Maddy for the wonderful article on Palghat Iyers. Please password protect the whole website and allow access only to authentic Palghat brahmins.My self a palghat brahmin from Tali , Calicut. My ancesters are very much from palghat and had / even now having property in Palghat district. Most Iyer people I know of in Tali are also having Palghat ancestry. Most people migrated during the british times in search of jobs from Palghat , when Calicut was under Malabar Presidency.
In general I find Palghat iyers get easily bullied and visiting the following web site will be helpful to learn about work space bullying and the way we can defend from it. http://bullyonline.org/index.php. Calling some one by name as "Pattar" is a bullying and needs to be defended . Either malyali people have to call us Bhattar , our real sur name, or don't call any thing.
Shyam
Excellent post Maddy. I have known about Kerala Brahmins migrating from Tamil Nadu, but not so deep. I think more awareness needs to created amongst today's youth, who migrate from these agraharams to big cities in search of education and jobs, about their own history. This would make them proud of their land and maybe in future want them to settle down there. I myself am a Palakkad Iyer from Kalpathy settled in Mumbai and very proud today to know about my ancestors. Being a regular visitor of Palakkad, from next time onwards, my interests would be more religious and being thankful to my forefathers.
Very informative blog...really. PI have come a long way..
As a person interested in history and different communities this blog and the reactions of connected people was interesting to read. As for Mr Hari's question on where from Tamil brahmins came from to Tamilnadu it would be pertinent to draw conclusions from Aryan Dravidian theory. Aryans who migrated from central Asia and Europe created Varnasrams of four castes and brahmins being one of them, could have moved southwards by invitations from kings or for other reasons and settled in Tamilnadu and assimilated with locals.This theory sounds plausible. Any other views ?
Somasundaram
Bangalore
Thanks for the write up. I am from Chathapuram. But I understand we are originally from Govindarajapuram. I am trying to find out the place in TN from where we may have migrated to Govindarajapuram. Can we discuss this sometime? Thanks.
Dear Sir and all,
Recently i had a opportunity to read a poem from "Periya puranam" (through wikipedia) which mentions priests of Chindambaram moved to kerala.
Thillai vaazh anthanar thammai venda avarum sembiyar tham thollai Needum kula sirandhor kkanri mudi soottom enru nalkaaraki cheralathan than malai naatanaya nannuvaar'
“Inorder that he who conquered the world(kootruvar) may not be bereft of a royal crown he requested the crowning services of the ancient three thousand servitor priests at Chidambaram(thillai). Thereupon the priests refused the same saying that they are entitled to perform the ceremony only to the most deserving of the ancient clan of sembiyars(cholas). Having said this , they quit their dwelling to reach the hill country(kerala) of the ancient tamil chera king.”.
This Chidambaram Connection makes lots of sense. Our understanding is also that we came from Chidambaram. Is there a way to find out more details of which place in Chidambaram like village name etc. CK Mohan
Thank you so much for this wonderful article. in fact i am also from palakkad(but not a palakkad iyer)and i am being residing in an iyer neighbourhood. obviously i have so many friends, classmates and colleagues who belong to iyer community. it's wonderful to read about our people's history and background and also very much informative.. actually i was searching for an apt project topic regarding my UG program. and now i am damn sure that i am going to do it on this subject, about our kerala iyer community.. thank you so much and eagerly waiting for new articles..
As I had posted earlier, we are currently from Chathapuram but originally from Govindarajapuram, it seems. I have been researching on our ancestors and our links to Tamil Nadu village. Anyone can throw any light would be extremely useful. Anoop C can we discuss your research sometime?
CK Mohan
Sure mr. KRISHNAN MOHAN.. its my pleasure..
Sixteen years back, I wrote about 100 pages about Palakkad iyers(I preferred to call them Kerala iyers) and started a web site called www.keralaiyers.com.I hope it still exists
What about edathara chandeashekarapuram?
Why it is not covered in Agraharams mentioned above?
Many thanks for helping one to trace ones roots. Such connections will help one to respect our practices and not follow the west blindly. It will also help bring the younger generation to understand and respect the value of traditional practices. Brahmin community is notorious for disrespect to their own culture, traditions simply because we didn't know our roots and the historical evolution of what we are told to do by elders and vadhyars but we resist or do for just mechanical compliance. We should recognize our own values and such attempts will catalyse the same
This is really an interesting read. Would really appreciate if you can put some lights on Brahmin settlements in Kannur/Cannanore district. My paternal roots are from Kannur.
Very informative. Could you pl throw light on history of Thiruvananthapuram Iyers...
I have something to share...
While going through our ancestral records I came across a family chart with the following inscription:
SRI SURYANARAYANAN (1752 AD) was a resident of Suddhamalli in Choladesa in Tanjore District. After his death, and under circumstances not known, his widow SMT THYLAMBAL and her two sons DEVARAJAN (1772 AD) and RAGHURAMAN (1774 AD) migrated to Irinjalakuda near Trichur where they settled down under the protection of Kudal Manikkam Temple authorities. The Thekke Madom and Vadakke Madom sprang up from these two brothers respectively.
This means just about 265 years back....
A BIG SALUTE TO YOU FOR THE EFFORT.A valuable blog to know the history of Kerala.I recommend to publish a book including the articles in malayalam also.The readers of kerala waiting for such a book illustrating the local history....thanks..
Thank you all
appreciate your encouragement and kind words
Mr KV Narayanamurti has posted a comment on this article, but in the wrong blog post.
So i am re-posting it here
Respectfully submit there is much misunderstanding among people. As one from the family of the first group of migrants to Kerala in the 15th century (we are josiers) let me say that Kalpathy (Old first and New next) was the first settlement, followed by Govindarajapuram, Vydyanathapuram, Chokkanathapuram, Mukkai in that order. All these villages run parallel to the river bank, all straight with wide roads and contiguity to river bathing, like they used to enjoy on the Kaveri basin. Chathapuram, Sekharipuram, Kumarapuram, Lakshminarayanapuram, Puthiyangam, Ramanathapuram, Vdakkanthara, Nellissery, Tarakad, Pallipuram, Tirunellayi, Nurani and Tondikulam came into being at least two centuries later. Lakshmi Ammal, who donated the Bana-lingam and funds to build the Kundambalam belonged to Kalpathy and, as ordained by her, the villagers in the two Kalpathys continue to pay the interest to this day i.e. on Sivarathri day.
He adds in a second post
A lot of misunderstanding will get cleared when the well-authenticated book THE SAGA OF KALPATHY by M.K.Das (formerly Editor of The Indian Express) is released for sale. I had the opportunity to go through a proof-copy, was immensely satisfied with the logical handling of the subject and his positive comments on our current identity across the World.
Dear Maddy, thanks. Do you have any information on which village in Tamil Nadu from where people from Govindarajapuram migrated from? Will be good to find this out.
Thanks
Chathapuram Krishnan Mohan (originally from Govindarajapuram)
How much of information which we are not familiar.
Thanks for this wonderful information. You have not mentioned Chandrashekara Puram with its deity of Chandrasekhara swamy. The temple which is supposed to be 300 years old. I still have my relatives living in Kalpathy. I still carry the Initial 'C' in from of my name. Hope to visit these places some day.
Hi Shyam - just saw your comment (cropped) on Maddy's post and thanks to both of you. I have heard from my grandfather (Late R. Subramania Iyer, Headmaster in various Board High Schools in Malabar around the period 1920 -1950) about his ancestral taravad in Azchavattom, which he had relinquished to his elder brothers, as he was the youngest and most educated among them. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 84 and neither him nor any of us on this side of the family have had a chance to visit the place due to some internal issues among the Pattis of that generation, perhaps on the property etc... The place was reportedly sold by them in the late 1950s, and he was not informed about the same directly..I wonder if any connection can be established at all with any of the extended family members - the only link is my gothram (Sankriti) and the place of origin, Azchavattam..I would like to visit the place sometime in my lifetime and pay homage to all the Thatas, as I continue doing tharpanam for 3 generations of them above me during Amavasya..
Shyam
6/17/2016
Thank you Maddy for the wonderful article on Palghat Iyers. Please password protect the whole website and allow access only to authentic Palghat brahmins.My self a palghat brahmin from Tali , Calicut. My ancesters are very much from palghat and had / even now having property in Palghat district. Most Iyer people I know of in Tali are also having Palghat ancestry. Most people migrated during the british times in search of jobs from Palghat , when Calicut was under Malabar Presidency.
Shyam
It was a pleasant and informative reading and I heartily thank the contributors for these informations.I feel proud to say that both my paternal and maternal grandparents belong to tharekad village in Palghat. Whenever any new acquaintance ask my Introduction, I don't stop with my name Dr.Narayanan but continue saying "I am a Tamilian Palghat BrahminIyer and am an absolute teetotalers allthro'my life and I feel proud to belong to Palghat"
I am also in search of this information. My understanding is the central Asian migration to Gujarat and down to Tanjore.
Would love to know more on this. Thanks.
---Ramky
ramkya1@gmail.com
Very detailed and we'll researched. I have great interest in ancestry, belong to Audithyapuram, next to Pallipuram, lots of facts l know checks with Maddy's wonderful blog.
Thanks s lot for the effort, Congratulations 🌹
--Ramky
Hi Maddy,Ever wondered why Iyers in Alappuzha (Alappuzha,Mankombu,Ambalapuzha,Chengannur Taluks) and Palakkad (Palakkad,Chittur,AlathurTaluks) were huge landlords in past but never other Iyers. Because I think most Pattars in these places came from Thanjavur,Trichy and Nagapattinam where Kaveri river makes the land fertile.A study should be made on the contribution of Kerala Iyers in these places for introducing scientific methods in cultivation for Palakkad and Alappuzha districts. Please read my blog PalakkadWalks.
Hi Maddy,Ever wondered why Iyers in Alappuzha (Alappuzha,Mankombu,Ambalapuzha,Chengannur Taluks) and Palakkad (Palakkad,Chittur,AlathurTaluks) were huge landlords in past but never other Iyers. Because I think most Pattars in these places came from Thanjavur,Trichy and Nagapattinam where Kaveri river makes the land fertile.A study should be made on the contribution of Kerala Iyers in these places for introducing scientific methods in cultivation for Palakkad and Alappuzha districts. Please read my blog PalakkadWalks.
I am from Chathapuram and would like to know where our roots are from? Thanks.
Dear Maddy,
Great effort and congratulations for putting together many well researched historical facts. I think the word Agraharam is derived from "Agra"=Important/main and "Hara"=Garland, denoting the architecture and layout of the houses. As you may not all Agraharas have Shiva temple at one end.
Subbu
Thank you for such a wonderful read! As a Palghat Iyer from Chittur who has never lived in south india, this was a great source of info. I have a suggestion to make, if you can please include names of our community people who have served or are serving in the armed forces of our nation. Eg wing commander parmeshwar Iyer. Its time we gave our younger gen a prouder legacy and something to aspire to, rather than the same old tired beaten path of passing entrance exams and interviews to working and becominga corporate slave and having your identity tied to that job and the number of zeroes on your pay slip. Surely, we are capable of reaching greater heights. Cheers and God bless!
Further to my earlier comment - I meant shri Air Marshall P V Iyer
Further to my previous comment, I meant Shri Air Marshal P V iyer
Thanks Vinod..
Yeah, So much more to the PI community now, than just cooks, musicians and secretaries as it was the general case, many decades ago. Now the offspring are all well settled, highly educated and in so many great positions, but I think many have chosen to forget their origins ( they prefer to state Mumbai, Delhi & Chennai as their place of origin) This was written for those who want to know a little bit about the early settlers in Palghat.
Shyam
6/17/2016
Thank you Maddy for the wonderful article on Palghat Iyers. Please password protect the whole website and allow access only to authentic Palghat brahmins.My self a palghat brahmin from Tali , Calicut. My ancesters are very much from palghat and had / even now having property in Palghat district. Most Iyer people I know of in Tali are also having Palghat ancestry. Most people migrated during the british times in search of jobs from Palghat , when Calicut was under Malabar Presidency.
What is wrong if others try to learn about us? or we learn from them. Let's have a broad focus. Hope y'all agree.
Contribution of Tamil Iyers&Iyengars of Sanskrit speaking ancestry in the fields of administration, judiciary, politics, film industry, fine arts, literature, music, dance, media, science and technology are unparalleled. As Brahmins we must follow Vedas,so I have no interest in spreading caste pride. But as a blog writer it is my duty to research about ancestry, history etc. My father's father are Vadakalai Iyengars. His mother's family are Vadama Iyers. My mother's parents on both side are Ashtasahashram.
Dear Sir, Very enlightening blog. Had a query. There are 2 Nellai's 1 supposedly in TN called Nellai and another in Kerala called Nellayi. Would you have any background on the settlers in the Nellayi region of Kerala... Where they came from, what was their place of origin
The late Mr.TN Seshan used to tell the audience that was proud to be from Palaght a town which produced the best cooks as well as crooks! 😉
I am a proud Palakkad Brahmin & my name is N Ramesh Gopalakrishnan (N being my father's name Neelakandan alias Mahadevan). Though I was born & brought up in Coonoor (near Ooty) & had the best of education in Anglo Indian schools with both British and American English playing on my lips, I was able to visit my Kuladeivam Parakkattu Baghavathi Amman Temple (near Kavaseri) only in my late 40s. (Incidentally I am not a religiously inclined person & more of an agnostic, though I am proud to be born a Hindu Palakkad Brahmin). If our flock don't stick together the entire history will be wiped out by this so called Dravidians.
N Ramesh Gopalakrishnan
87928 09947
Ramesh, that last line in your comment was unwarranted. I don't want to get into the polemics of the Aryan Dravidian divide, so also what the genetic studies reveal.
You may be interested to know that British gave some concessions for Tamil iyers crossing to Malabar
https://rajathathablog.blogspot.com/2018/12/kerala-iyers-from-logans-malabar.html
Thanks for the detailed article Maddy! I am wondering if there are any historical sources describing the status of the Palakkad Iyers during Tipu's invasion of the Malabar. Were they also subject to conversions and other religious violence like the Nairs/Nambudiris?
I ask because there seem to be some striking similarities between the Palakkad Iyers and the Palakkad Rowthers. Genetically, Palakkad Rowthers score significant (~10%) South India Brahmin heritage (one Palakkad Rowther has recently done a 23andMe genetics test), though it is unclear if this is due to historical admixture with (converted) Nairs, Nambudiris, or Palakkad Iyers, all of who will score some amount of South Indian Brahmin ancestry.
The Palakkad Rowthers claim they migrated from Tanjore to serve as soldiers in Tipu's armies, so perhaps the genesis of this community is in the mixing of these Tamil Rowthers with Nairs, Nambudiris, or Palakkad Iyers?
Thanks RP,
I am not sure about the genetic similarities, so suggest you take a look at what I wrote about Rowthers, to trace the Rowther travails.
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-rowther-community.html
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