Kerala

By Santhosh Abraham

Keralam, Chera-alam, Keralite, Malayali, Malabar

The Kerala people are those who live in the southernmost state of Kerala in Indian subcontinent. The geographical features and position of Kerala has considerably influenced the course of its history. The name Kerala believed to have been originated from the words kera (coconut), one of the characteristic products of the western coast of India, and alam, meaning land or locality. It is also understood to have originated from chera or cheral, referring to Chera country and its ruler, one of the three principal warring regions of ancient south India. Kerala region has been mentioned as "garden of spices" in the Mesopotamian records and in foreign trade circles, the region was also known as Male or Malabar. The name is reminiscent of the word "Malanadu" which literally means "the hill country."

Kerala state lies between 8°18' and 12°48' north latitude and 74°52' and 77°24' east latitude, a narrow strip of the land hemmed in between the Western Ghats on the East side and Arabian Sea on the West side. It has a total area of 15,002 square miles and a coastline nearly 360 miles long. The territory of the state may be broadly divided into three climatically distinct regions: the rugged and cool mountainous terrain of the eastern highlands; the rolling hills of the central midlands; and the coastal plains of the western lowlands. The diversity of the physical features of the state—hills, rivers, backwaters, flora and fauna—has contributed in a corresponding diversity of climate. The high ranges have a cool and bracing climate throughout the year, while the plains are hot and humid. The average level of rainfall in the state is quite high and the region gets rainfall both from the southwest and the northeast monsoons.

According to the 2011 census, Kerala has a population of 33.3 million (approximately 3.4% of all Indian people), with a density of 859 persons per square kilometers. However, the rate of population growth in Kerala is lowest in India and is sometimes known as the "model state" because of its impressive achievements on the demographic front. The fertility and birth rates dropped steadily from 44 per thousand in 1950s to 17 per thousand in 2002. The reasons for Kerala’s rapid and extreme fertility decline have been attributed to official population policies, such as prevalence of contraception, sterilization, maternal and child health programs, rising female education levels and the state’s political involvement in social action.

Malayalam is the native language of Kerala people. (Literally, "malayalam" also means "hill region.") Malayalam is one of the 22 scheduled languages in India and was designated a classical language in India in 2013. According to Indian census 2011, there were 32,299,239 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala. The speakers of Malayalam, are however, by no means confined to Kerala and they are found in many places throughout India and abroad, particularly in the Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia, and in the United States, Canada and Australia. Malayalam, along with Tamil, Kannada and Telugu is one of four Dravidian languages with a long recorded history. Malayalam is believed to have been originated from classical Tamil, through the ages incorporating many elements from Sanskrit, until more recently when Malayalam has freely absorbed vocabulary from Pali, Prakrit, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Chinese, Arabic, Syriac, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Malayalam has many different regional and social dialects, including occupational and communal differences. Historically, several scripts were used to write Malayalam. Among these scripts were Vattezhuthu (circle letters), Kolezhuthu (line letters) and Malayanma. But it was the Grantha script (blend of Tamil and Sanskrit) that gave rise to the modern Malayalam script.

The ancient history of Kerala is largely shrouded in obscurity. According to Hindu mythology, the land of Kerala was recovered from the sea by the axe-wielding warrior-sage Parasurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Archaeologists have not yet identified any Paleolithic remains in Kerala and the state might have become inhabited only in the Neolithic. Neolithic finds include dolmens (single-chamber megalithic tombs) identified in different parts of Kerala. It is believed that Kerala’s particular assets like exotic spices, navigability of the rivers, and favorable monsoon winds might have attracted contact by the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, followed by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs and Chinese. The Kerala region has been mentioned first as land of Keralaputra in the third century BC carved rock edicts of Mauryan Empire. Keralaputras refers to the early Chera country in Kerala, an ancient Dravidian dynasty of Tamil origin. During the early centuries AD the ancient Chera country consisted of a major part of modern Kerala, and Coimbatore and Salem districts of modern Tamil Nadu. Kerala during this period remained an integral part of Tamizhakam, sharing the same language and cultural traditions.

The landing of Vasco da Gama at Calicut in 1498 marked the beginning of a new epoch of cultural contacts in the history of Kerala. Portuguese soon took control over the trade between western world and the Kerala coast that had been controlled by the Chinese and Islamic Arabs since the eleventh century. The arrival of the Portuguese on the Kerala coast marked the beginning of maritime explorations by European countries in Asian regions that soon witnessed the coming of Dutch, French and English, who established their own trade factories in the region during seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the mid-eighteenth century, Marthandavarma of Travancore ousted Dutch influence from the region, establishing the Travancore royal family’s control over the southern Kerala territories. Meanwhile, between 1766 and 1792 the rulers of Mysore, Hyder Ali and Tipú Sultán made repeated attempts to gain control over Malabar region, succeeding in gaining control over many of the local kings and Naduvazhis. The treaty of Srirangapatanam in 1792 between East India Company and Tipú Sultán brought most of northern Malabar under the control of British colonial India. By the early nineteenth century Travancore and Cochin likewise became princely states of the British Empire, maintaining local autonomy in return for a fixed annual tribute to the British.

The region of Kerala became separate geographical unit during the period of the second Chera Kingdom, also known as Perumals of Mahodayapuram from ninth century onward. The formation of the second Chera Kingdom is related to the growth of new political power for the Brahmins, who had by then been accepted by the society as the land owners and the ritual authority. This resulted in the transformation of major portions of tribal populations into peasants, developing considerable differentiation and social stratification in Kerala society. The centralized administration of second Chera kingdom came to an end by the twelfth century, and the period witnessed political fragmentation and the rise of several major and minor chieftaincies, known as Naduvazhis and Desavazhis; the most prominent among them were Venad, Kolathunad, Zamorins of Calicut, and Cochin. With no central power in the region, but rather a series of independent principalities at loggerheads with one another, Kerala on the eve of the arrival of the Portuguese offered a tragic picture of a feudal polity. However, the period from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries witnessed the expansion of agriculture and agrarian relations, an increase in trade and commerce, and the proliferation of castes and sub-castes.

Nineteenth century British oversight in Kerala witnessed many organized expressions of discontent from the impoverished local feudal kings and the general population. By early twentieth century the people of Kerala became associated with the mainstream national independence movement in India. After Indian Independence in 1947, Travancore and Cochin joined the Indian Union and, with the States Reorganization Act of 1956, the Travancore, Cochin and Malabar regions formed the present Kerala state. Two major political parties in India, the Communist Party and the Indian National Congress, along with several allies dominate modern politics in Kerala.

The ecological uniqueness and geographical peculiarities determined the pattern of settlement in the agrarian villages in Kerala. Because of the undulating terrain, small holdings of paddy fields and garden lands were not only possible but a necessity. The availability of water in almost all the fields irrespective of altitude also helped the development of individual occupation and cultivation of small plots of land throughout Kerala. These disbursed settlements should be viewed in contradistinction to the nucleated settlements of neighboring Tamilnadu or Karnataka, where village houses are occur in clusters in one area and cultivated lands are situated in another. In the modern period as well, the settlement pattern in Kerala differs from other Indian regions. There are no great disparities between urban and rural areas, Brahmin and non-Brahmin settlements, or Hindu, Muslim and Christian settlements in Kerala. Moreover, infrastructure available to the general population does not vary much between rural and urban, especially in the case of access to educational and health care facilities. One distinction is that fishing communities are located in coastal areas while tribesmen have their settlements in the highlands. Besides agriculture, people in both rural and urban settlements in Kerala engage in several other occupations, including wage and salaried employment.

Paddy cultivation is the major economic activity in Kerala, and the main subsistence food of the people is rice. In addition, there are different fruit trees like mango, jackfruit, tamarind, etc., and a wide variety of root and leafy vegetable plants. This does not mean that commercial crops were not important. Historically the economy of Kerala was rich with extensive cultivation of coconut, areca (or betel) nut, pepper, ginger and cardamom. It was these major, distinctive agricultural products of Kerala that made the region a prominent place on the commercial map of ancient and modern Indian Ocean and world trade. Although the traditional agrarian economy was largely subsistence oriented, there was surplus production and most of the agricultural activities were carried out in such a way as to attract traders and merchants from local and overseas areas.

Kerala has a rich heritage of handicraft industries with unique patterns, designs and structures. One of earliest industrial arts was metal casting, in which idols of deities were made out of copper, bronze and brass; evidence of this craft are found in the various temples and traditional homes of contemporary Kerala. In addition to the religious objects, metal lamps and utensils were also part of this rich tradition. While the metal work was considered as unique and sophisticated, wood craft is connected with daily life and used in common construction techniques for houses, temples and other monuments in Kerala. Wood carvings and accessories continue to attract attention of people from outside of as well as within Kerala. Furthermore, Kerala has the rich tradition of making beautiful handicrafts in stone, coir, cane, ivory, bamboo, palm leaves, seashell, coconut shell, clay, textiles, gold and silver. The jewelry of Kerala is noted for its artistic perfection. Designs were developed according to religion and caste preferences.

The Kerala region and Malabar coast was always an important trading destination, mostly for its spices—including pepper and cardamom—from ancient times through the periods of Arab and European contact. In addition to spices, copra (dried coconut), rice, cashew nuts, teak and mahogany, metal and wood handicrafts, and clothing of various kinds were always in high demand as trading objects. Most of these products continue to attract foreign and national interest, and the Kerala state today exports cashew nuts, pepper, ginger, cardamom, textiles, paper, coir and rubber products, fruit, and organic fertilizers.

As in other regions of India, traditional Kerala society developed a division of labor according to caste and class distinctions. Brahmins were respected and given important positions in the temple and village councils. Brahmins and Nayars (or Nairs) formed important landlord social classes. Most of the actual agricultural as well as industrial labor was performed by the lower class communities. Women’s labor was never elevated to the status of formal work; it was marginalized and relegated to family and domestic contexts.

Traditionally, the ruling authorities followed the practice of land grants to temples and Brahmins. As a result of those grants, land was mostly controlled by Brahmin landlords or janmis, a privilege recognized as janmam rights. Janmis used to lease out land to tenants by receiving a kanam, an amount of money as security. The kanam holders were mostly Nayars and they used to sublease the land through pattom and other subordinate kinds of tenure to the lower communities. In this manner, while Brahmins held janmam rights, intermediaries acquired controlling rights. There are uncommon cases of Brahmin janmis directly leasing lands to lower classes, establishing an authoritative and reciprocal janmi-tenant relationship in Kerala. The conquest of Kerala regions by the British resulted in changes in land tenure patterns and relations in the region. The British interpreted janmam rights as equivalent to absolute ownership rights and gave the landlords legal sanction to extract large shares of the produce through forcible expropriation from the tenants. Since the independence of India, there have been state-initiated land reforms in Kerala. Land reforms by the government in Kerala was not only for the landless and the poor to have a new piece of land to cultivate or an increase in their family income, but also to acquire ownership rights for the farmstead where they have been living for a long time. Land reforms aimed to redistribute land and ensure land equity to all respective recipients. However, there is evidence that not all benefits of post-colonial land reforms have materialized, due to many constraints and hurdles during the implementation process. The poor, the landless and the powerless still did not have sufficient land to cultivate and increase their standard of living due to legal loopholes.

Until recent times, kinship in Kerala society was characterized by the marumakkathayam or matrilineal system of inheritance. It involved inheritance and succession through the sisters’ children in the female line. The practice was widely followed by Brahmins and Nayars, whereas the lower caste communities like the Ezhavas, Pulayas, and hill tribes followed a mixture of makkathayam (through sons) and marumakkathayam systems. Non-Hindu communities like the Christians and Muslims have generally followed makkathayam law of inheritance, although a section of the Muslims followed marumakkathayam.

Taravad or joint family was an important element in traditional marumakkathayam system. The main residents in a taravad included female members, their children and brothers. Female member’s husbands, her brother’s wives and children were not regarded as under her taravad. At the same time, however, distant female relatives and children belonging to the family were considered as taravad members. A taravad was comprised of multiple members and when the number increased, tavazhis are formed based on the mother-children relationship. Generally taravad property was the common property of the members in a taravad. The consent of all the members was essential to divide the property. Thus, under the marumakkathayam system of inheritance, descent, succession to the property, etc. were traced through the female line. The mother formed the center of descent and kinship. In contrast, in patrilineal systems the children born to a couple were regarded as members of father’s family. Male members, their children and their wives were regarded as the members of father’s or husband’s family. Late in twentieth century the last vestiges of the matrilineal system of inheritance propping up the taravads were terminated in Kerala by legislative act.

In the marumakkthayam system, depending on the age and rank of the immediate family members as well as other kin, there were different terms used to show respect and even older nonrelatives were addressed similarly to indicate respect. The most senior male member in a taravad system was called the karanavar. The property mainly rested on the female members, but the karanavar supervised the property and was responsible for protecting it. In the absence of karanavar, the most senior female member of the taravad handled the family affairs. The system of marumakkathayam was increasingly seen as an undesirable remnant of a feudal past, and discontented groups sought to bring reform in twentieth century. However, many of the kinship terminologies continue to exist within the major portion of Kerala society in the modern period.

Sambandham was a form of marriage followed by the matrilineal communities in Kerala. It refers to an alliance between man and a woman under which, in accordance with the custom of their community, they cohabit or intend to cohabit as husband and wife. Alternate names like pudavamuri, pudavakodukkal, mangalam, etc. were also used to denote sambandham. Interestingly, it was not seen as a "sacred contract" but as a "purely fugitive alliance, terminable at will." The bond between brother and sister was considered more sacrosanct than that between husband and wife. Sambandhams permitted remarkable interaction among Kerala’s higher castes. Among Brahmins only the eldest son was permitted to take a Brahmin wife and all other men had to seek sambandhams from the high-caste matrilineal communities. This meant that Brahmin property was protected, as the issue of these younger men belonged to their mothers’ families with no claims on their patrimony; for the women, in turn, alliances with a superior caste amplified prestige. From the early twentieth century onwards, sambandham was not recognized under legal system, with formal marriage installed, as well as recognized inheritance rights along the lines of a patriarchal system.

Since that time, the predominant mode of marriage in Kerala society has been "arranged marriage." The union is decided upon customarily by the parents and other family members who assist a boy or girl in finding a suitable life-partner with whom they have had no real emotional love bond prior to the marriage. Most often, marriages are arranged within the same caste or religion. There are exceptions involving inter-caste marriage, and even inter-racial marriage. Higher education, increased material prosperity, better employment opportunities and more financial independence for women, along with awareness of gender equality and personal freedom, a modern understanding of human sexuality, and familiarity with other cultures (especially through the media, etc.), have sown the seeds of a "relationship revolution" in Kerala society in recent years.

The one aspect of Kerala society that has undergone a dramatic change is the family. The joint family, which had its basis in the agricultural economy, has all but disappeared. Nearly, eighty-five percent of Kerala’s families now are nuclear families. In addition, there is the emergence of single parent families; this stands at roughly five percent. With the growth of nuclear families, much of the social support afforded by joint family membership has disappeared. As a result, the family, as well as the individual, has become more isolated.

The joint family of earlier times in Kerala followed the practice of matrilineal system of inheritance. In modern times, the property of the nuclear household has been largely passed on to biological children, mostly along patriarchal lines.

Traditionally, there were restrictions on socialization in joint families. Children in the households were given selective education, as male children had the advantage of learning more by moving away from the family while female children were not allowed to go outside. In the modern family system, education of children became an important aspiration, with gender distinctions no longer considered in the mainstream of Kerala social life.

Traditional Kerala society was organized according to caste lines. While the upper classes like Nambudiri (Namputiri) Brahmins and Nayars enjoyed higher social status, relatively subordinate positions were occupied by the lower class communities. Most of the functions, activities and occupations in traditional society were regulated and controlled through caste norms and customary practices. Since Indian independence and the formation of Kerala state, the caste system has undergone several changes; the new spirit of self-criticism and a growing social consciousness are driving additional changes.

Though traditional Kerala society was politically controlled by local magnates and ruling dynasties, a village based administrative and judicial system regulated most of the daily affairs of the people. Most often, caste differences and preferences were interpreted and decided by the village assembly of elders (panchayat). In the modern era also, family units are largely tied to the village panchayat system and political participation is largely realized through the bottom levels: through panchayats, and in local units connected through the districts of Kerala to the central political parties. Caste and religious dimensions are also prevalent in the formation of political organizations, from the local to the state level.

Social control is mostly administered in Kerala society through the family and through local religious organizations. Hindus, Muslims and Christians align themselves more according to their religious denominations than along caste lines, and their behavior and social participation is largely regulated through the religious elders and prominent members in a community. Running parallel is a political system of administration and regulation system of politics often meshed with these religious systems.

Unlike other parts of India, conflicts along caste lines are largely absent in modern Kerala. However, conflicts occur quite often among the political parties, and most often are handled by the police and the judicial system. When tensions develop in families over inheritance, and within communities over public behavior or because of caste or religious differences, panchayat members or religious elders usually settle the matter.

Though predominantly Hindu, there are followers of many other religions in Kerala, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Jews. According to the 2011 Census of India, 54.73% of Kerala's residents are Hindu, 26.56% are Muslim, 18.38% are Christian, and the remaining 0.32% follow another or no religion. Hindus mostly attend temples and different cults: Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, Bhagavathi (a form of Shakthi) are popular in Kerala. Kerala Muslims are generally referred to as Mappilas, and most belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. Christianity became an important religion after the arrival of Portuguese in Kerala, and Syrian Christians are the largest Christian community.

The religious life of Hindus, Muslims and Christians in Kerala are largely centered on temples, mosques and churches. Hindu pujaris and sages, Muslim imams and maulavis (mawlawis) and Christian bishops, priests and nuns are the most important figures influencing and motivating the believers in each religion.

Almost all Hindu, Muslim and Christian festivals and ceremonies are celebrated with equal enthusiasm and charm. Onam is a major Hindu festival, celebrated with great energy. It is the only celebration that is observed irrespective of religion in Kerala. Onam is celebrated to mark the homecoming of mythological King Mahabali, who is believed to have ruled Kerala during ancient times. The period of his rule is said to have been the golden era of Kerala, when people lived happily, with love, harmony and prosperity. Apart from Onam, festivals such as Vishu, Shivarathri, Theyyam and Pongala ceremonies are also celebrates in Kerala. Kerala society also observes Christian and Muslim festivals like Christmas, Easter and Ramadan. There are many pilgrimage sites in Kerala, including Sabarimala and the St. Thomas Church in Malayattoor.

Kerala has, through the centuries, developed several art forms of religious and quasi-religious character. Koodiyattom, Ottam Thullal, Chakiarkuthu, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali are the most famous dance and performance art forms in Kerala. While many of these are not practiced commonly today, temple festivals and stage shows continue to provide occasions for artists to perform. Several kinds of musical instruments are also involved in these performances. Though almost extinct, an important classical art form, Chavittunatakam, is often considered as Christian alternative to Kathakali. Distinct from these, Kalaripayattu is an important martial art style peculiar to Kerala.

Kerala has a long history of indigenous medical traditions encompassed by the term "Vaidyam." The practitioners of Vaidyam, called Vaidyans, were learned practitioners of one or more of the traditions, such as Visha Vaidyam (snake bite healing) or Bala Vaidyam (healing for children’s ailments). After the sixth to seventh century arrival in Kerala of the Sanskrit textual tradition of Ayurveda—particularly its canonical Ashtangahrudaya dealing with the eight branches of therapy—Vaidyam became combined with Ayurvedic medical practices, resulting in a new medical culture of Ashtavaidya. Practitioners of Ashtavaidya proficient in all the eight branches were known as Ashtangavaidyans. Initially, there were eighteen families designated as Ashtavaidyans, but gradually the number of Vaidya families decreased and today only a handful of Ashtavaidyans are trained in this ancestral system in Kerala.

Ayurveda began to lose much of its popularity with the coming of the western medical system and its hospitals in the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, an attempt at reconstituting the Vaidyam traditions took place under colonialism, and Kerala Ayurveda, with its focus on institutionalization and modernization, became the legitimate Ayurvedic practice in Kerala. Today, most of hospitals and dispensaries in Kerala follow western medical practices. In addition, Kerala society shows interest in other medical practices like Homeopathy, Unani and Siddha, with no evident conflict or contradiction seen between each of the alternatives.

Hindu death rituals in all traditions follow a fairly uniform pattern drawn from the Vedas, with variations according to sect, caste, and family tradition. Hindus mostly believe in the transmigration of souls from one earthly body to another. Hindus in Kerala generally follow the common traditions for death ceremonies, and cremations are conducted most commonly, to release the individual soul from its physical body after death. After cremation, the practice of preserving the ashes of the deceased in the southern courtyard of the house within a specially-constructed stone platform is also common. The cold, collected ash from the cremation is later consecrated to the nearest river or sea. One year after the death, the family will observe a memorial event called sraddha, that pays homage to the deceased.

Muslims generally believe that the present life is a trial in preparation for the next realm of existence. Islamic doctrine holds that human existence continues after the death of the human body in the form of spiritual and physical resurrection. When a Muslim dies, he or she is washed and wrapped in a clean, white cloth (usually by a family member) and buried after a special prayer, preferably the same day.

Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and individual Christians, but the vast majority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, in which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers, and freedom from suffering and sin. Kerala Christians adhere to this belief, and the diseased body is buried with specifically Christian ecclesiastical rites; typically, in consecrated ground. The family will observe "remembrance memorials" both 41 days and one year after death.

This culture summary was written by Santhosh Abraham in April 2016.

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