Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol. 5 of 7

by Edgar Thurston

When addressing each other, Nambūtiris use the names of their respective illams or manas. When a Nambūtiri is talking with a Nāyar, or indeed with one of any other caste, the manner in which the conversation must be carried on, strictly according to custom, is such that the Nambūtiri’s superiority is apparent at every turn. Thus, a Nāyar, addressing a Nambūtiri, must speak of himself as foot-servant. If he mentions his rice, he must not call it rice, but his gritty rice. Rupees must be called his copper coins, not his rupees. He must call his house his dung-pit. He must speak of the Nambūtiri’s rice as his raw rice, his coppers as rupees, and his house as his illam or mana. The Nāyar must not call his cloth a cloth, but an old cloth or a spider’s web. But the Nambūtiri’s cloth is to be called his daily white cloth, or his superior cloth. The Nāyar, speaking of his bathing, says that he drenches himself with water, whereas the Nambūtiri sports in the water when he bathes. Should he speak of eating or drinking, the Nāyar must say of himself that he takes food, or treats himself to the water in which rice has been washed. But, should he speak of the Nambūtiri eating, he must say that he tastes ambrosia. The Nāyar calls his sleeping lying flat, and the Nambūtiri’s closing his eyes, or resting like a Rāja. The Nāyar must speak of his own death as the falling of a forest, but of the Nambūtiri’s as entering fire. The Nambūtiri is not shaved by the barber; his hairs are cut. He is not angry, but merely dissatisfied. He does not clean his teeth as the Nāyar; he cleans his superior pearls. Nor does he laugh; he displays his superior pearls.

Concerning the recreations and pastimes of the Nambūtiris, Mr. Subramani Aiyar writes as follows. “During the intervals of Vēdic or Purānic recitations, the Nambūtiri engages himself in chaturangam or chess. When the players are equally matched, a game may last five, six, or even seven days. Another amusement, which the Nambūtiris take a great interest in, is the Yatrakali, which is said to be a corruption of Sastrakali, a performance relating to weapons. This is a unique institution, kept up by a section of the Nambūtiris, who are believed to represent the Brāhmanical army of Parasu Rāma. When, at a ceremony in the Travancore royal household, a Yatrakali is performed, the parties have to be received at the entrance of the Mahārāja’s palace in state, sword in hand. The dress and songs are peculiar. In its import, the performance seems to combine the propitiation of Siva and Parvati in the manner indicated in a tradition at Trikkariyūr with exorcism and skill in swordsmanship. It is generally believed that, in ancient days, the Brāhmans themselves ruled Kērala. When they found it necessary to have a separate king, one Attakat Nambūtiri was deputed, with a few other Brāhmans, to go and obtain a ruler from the adjoining Chēra territory. The only pass in those days, connecting Malabar and Coimbatore, was that which is now known as Nerumangalam. When the Nambūtiris were returning through this pass with the ruler whom they had secured from the Chēra King, a strange light was observed on the adjacent hills. Two young Brāhmans of Chengngamanat village, on proceeding towards the hill to investigate the source thereof, found to their amazement that it was none other than Srī Bhagavati, the consort of Siva, who enjoined them to go, viâ Trikkariyūr, to Kodungngnallūr, the capital of the Perumāls. Seeing that the sight of Bhagavati foretold prosperity, the king called the range of hills Nerumangalam or true bliss, and made an endowment of all the surrounding land to the Brāhman village of Chengngamanat, the members of which had the good fortune to see the goddess face to face. When they entered the temple of Trikkariyūr, a voice was heard to exclaim “Chēra Perumāl,” which meant that into that town, where Parasu Rāma was believed to be dwelling, no Perumāl (king) should ever enter—a traditional injunction still respected by the Malabar Kshatriyas. At this place, the sixth Perumāl who, according to a tradition, had a pronounced predilection for the Bouddha religion (Islamism or Buddhism, we cannot say), called a meeting of the Brāhmans, and told them that a religious discussion should be held between them and the Bouddhas, in view to deciding their relative superiority. The presiding deity of the local Saiva shrine was then propitiated by the Brāhmans, to enable them to come out victorious from the trial. A Gangama saint appeared before them, and taught them a hymn called nālupadam (four feet or parts of a slōka) which the Nambūtiris say is extracted from the Samavēda. The saint further advised them to take out a lamp from within the temple, which according to tradition had existed from the time of Srī Rāma, to a room built on the western ghāt of the temple tank, and pray to Siva in terms of the hymn. While this was continued for forty-one days, six Brāhmans, with Mayura Bhatta at their head, arrived from the east coast to the succour of the Nambūtiris. With the help of these Brāhmans, the Nambūtiris kept up a protracted discussion with the Bouddhas. Wishing to bring it to a close, the Perumāl thought of applying a practical test. He enclosed a snake within a pot, and asked the disputants to declare its contents. The Bouddhas came out first with the correct answer, while the Brāhmans followed by saying that it was a lotus flower. The Perumāl was, of course, pleased with the Bouddhas; but, when the pot was opened, it was found to contain a lotus flower instead of a snake. The Bouddhas felt themselves defeated, and ever afterwards the nālupadam hymn has been sung by the Nambūtiris with a view to securing a variety of objects, every one of which they expect to obtain by this means. It is also said that, when the Brāhmans were propitiating Siva at Trikkariyūr, diverse spirits and angels were found amusing Parvati with their quips and cranks. A voice from heaven was then heard to say that such frolics should thereafter form part of the worship of Siva.

“Engaged in these socio-religious performances are eighteen sanghas or associations. The chief office-bearers are the Vakyavritti who is the chief person, and must be an Ottu Nambūtiri or a Nambūtiri with full Vēdic knowledge; the Parishakkaran who holds charge of the Yatrakali paraphernalia; and the guru or instructor. The chief household divinities of these soldier Nambūtiris are Bhadrakāli, Sasta, and Subrahmanya. On the evening of the Yatrakali day, these Brāhmans assemble round the lamp, and recite the nālupadam and a few hymns in praise of their household divinities, and especially of Siva, the saviour who manifested himself at Trikkariyūr. On the night of the performance they are entertained at supper, when they sing certain songs called Karislōka. They then move in slow procession to the kalam or hall, singing specially songs in the vallappattu metre, with the sacred thread hanging vertically round the neck (apiviti), and not diagonally as is the orthodox fashion. In the hall have been placed a burning lamp in the centre, a para (Malabar measure) filled with paddy, a number of bunches of cocoanuts, plantain fruits, and various kinds of flowers. The Brāhmans sit in a circle round the lamp, and, after preliminary invocations to Ganapathi, sing songs in praise of Siva. After this various kinds of dumb-show are performed, and this is the time for exhibiting skill in swordsmanship. The exorcising, by the waving of a lighted torch before the face of the host, of any evil spirits that may have attached themselves is then gone through. The performance ends with a prayer to Bhagavati, that she will shower every prosperity. Following close upon this, a variety entertainment is sometimes given by the Yatrakali Nambūtiris. This old institution is still in great favour in British Malabar, and, as it has a religious aspect intertwined with it, it is not likely to be swept away by the unsparing broom of the so-called parishkarakalam or reforming age of modern India.

“The Kathakali, or national drama of Malabar, is held in great esteem and favour by the Nambūtiris. Most of them are conversant with the songs and shows relating to it, and severely criticise the slightest fault or failure. The Kathakali is more than three centuries old in Malabar, and is said to have been first brought into existence by a member of the ancient ruling house of Kottarakkara. As the earliest theme represented was the Rāmayana, the Kathakali is also known as Rāmanāttam. A single play lasts for eight and even ten hours in the night. Kshatriyas, Asuras, Rākshasas, Kirātas (hunting tribes), monkeys, birds, etc., each has an appropriate make-up. The play is in dumb-show, and no character is permitted to speak on the stage. The songs are sung by the Bhāgavatar or songster, and the actors literally act, and do nothing more. The Nambūtiris love this antiquated form of theatrical performance, and patronise it to a remarkable extent.

“There are a number of other recreations of an entirely non-religious character. The chief of these are called respectively seven dogs and the leopard, fifteen dogs and the leopard, and twenty-eight dogs and the leopard. Success in these games consists in so arranging the dogs as to form a thick phalanx, two abreast, round the leopard. Stones of two sizes are employed to represent the dogs and leopards, and the field is drawn on the ground.

“The ezahmattukali, or seventh amusement, is said to have been so called from the fact of its being introduced by the seventh Nambūtiri grāmam of Kērala. It is a miniature form of Yatrakali, but without its quasi-religious character, and is intended to serve merely as a social pastime. The players need not all be Brāhmans; nor is fasting or any religious discipline part of the preliminary programme. Sitting round the lamp as at the Yatrakali, and reciting songs in praise of Siva, the players proceed to the characteristic portion of the recreation, which is a kind of competition in quick-wittedness and memory held between two yogas or parties. One among them calls himself the Kallur Nāyar and is the presiding judge. There is interrogation and answering by two persons, and a third proclaims the mistakes in the answers. There are two others, who serve as bailiffs to execute the judge’s orders. Humorous scenes are then introduced, such as Ittikkantappan Nāyar, Prakkal, Mutti or old woman, Pattar or Paradēsa Brāhman, and other characters, who appear on the stage and amuse the assembly.”

The Nambūtiris are Vēdic Brāhmans: their scriptures are the Vēdas. It is safe to say that the Nambūtiris are Shaivas, but not to the exclusion of Vishnu. The ordinary South Indian Vaishnava Brāhman has nothing to do with the Shaiva temple over the way, and takes no part or interest in the Shaiva festivals. Siva is to the Nambūtiri the supreme deity, but he has temples also to Vishnu, Krishna, Narasimha, Srī Rāghava, Ganapathi, Subrahmanya, Bhagavati, etc. There are said to be temples to Sāstavu and Sankarnārāyanan—amalgamated forms of Siva and Vishnu. The lingam is the ordinary object of worship.

Like all Brāhmans, the Nambūtiris believe that the eight directions or points of the compass, north, north-east, east, south-east, south, south-west, west, north-west, are presided over by eight deities, or Ashtadikpālakas, riding on various animals. Indra reigns in heaven and Yama in hell, and Surya is the sun god. All these and their wives are worshipped. Parvati shares adoration with Siva, Lakshmi with Vishnu, and so on. The Nambūtiris believe in the existence of evil spirits which influence man, but they do not worship them.

It is said that the Nambūtiri has of late been influenced by Vēdāntism, that wonderful religious idea of the existence of one spirit or atman, the only reality, outside which the world and all besides is mere illusion, and whose doctrine is wrapped up in the three words “Ekam ēva advitīyam”. (There is but one being without a second).

The Nambūtiris call themselves Ārya Brāhmanar. Their legendary transmigration to Malabar from Northern India is doubtless true. Theirs is by far the purest form of the Vēdic Brāhmanism to be met with in Southern India. A complete account of the religion of the Nambūtiris cannot be given in these pages. The Nambūtiri’s life is a round of sacrifices, the last of which is the burning of his body on the funeral pyre. When the Nambūtiri has no male issue, he performs the putra kāmēshti or karmavipākaprayaschittam yāgams or sacrifices to obtain it. Should he be unwell, he performs the mrittyunjaya sānti yāgam, so that he may be restored to good health. He performs the aja yāgam, or goat sacrifice, in order to obtain salvation. Though animal food is strictly forbidden, and the rule is strictly followed, the flesh of the goat, which remains after the offering has been made in this sacrifice, is eaten by the Nambūtiris present as part of the solemn ceremonial. This is the only occasion on which animal food is eaten. Namaskāram, or prostration, is much done during prayers. By some it is done some hundreds of times daily, by others not so often. It amounts to physical exercise, and is calculated to strengthen the arms and the back.