Nairs or Nayars of Kerala

They constitute one of the castes in the Hindu caste hierarchy of Kerala. According to some, it is not a caste but a race, as they did not come under the four-fold caste division. They could be treated as a community, if not a race. This community has drawn the attention of anthropologists, sociologists and historians because of its unique characteristics its matrilineal system of inheritance, its marriage and other customs.

The term Nayar is believed to be derived from the word ‘Nayak’ which means a leader of people and is, therefore, allied to the Dravidians term Naicker of Naidu. Some say the word is derived from the term Naga, as the worship of snake has been a characteristic of the community.

More than 130 sub-divisions of Nayars were mentioned in the Travancore census held in 1901. Kiriyathu Nayars form the highest of these subdivisions in Kochi and Malabar. They are the members of the aristocratic class bearing titles like Kurup,Panickar, Kaimal and Karatha. The Nayars also use titles such as Pillai, Thampi, Kidavu, Menon, Menokki,Unnithan, Valiyathan and Nambiyar. Each title has its own significance relating to the service they have rendered.

My grandmother says, during her days, there were even sub communities in this, namely Vellayama, Sudhran, Palichan and Vatikadan. Thottappilly family belonged to Vellayama. Even inter sub community marriages were like intercaste marriages and prohibited. If married so, they were not allowed to enter the kitchen. First couple to marry so was Karthiyani Amma and Raman Nair, from Kodakara and my Ammuma and Muttachan, Subhadra Amma and Raman Nair, from Arimpur. Marriage of both the couple were on the same day.

PAST: As a social community, the Nayars followed marumakkathayam (matriarchy) a system based on inheritance through daughters. They had a marriage system in which women were allowed to choose their husbands, often more than one. Thus they followed polyandry. Power is often vested in the gender that has control of property and marriage selection, and women in pre-20th century Nair society enjoyed power and status that was equal to or greater than the status of men. Women in Nayar households enjoyed perks unheard of in the rest of India. A woman’s husband was only known as her Nayar-for the day and time only. Property belonged to the women and she decided who they should take in sambandham. The offspring of the male members were not entitled to receive their father’s ancestral property.

All these practices have given way to modernity.

PRESENT: Now the community is patrilineal, Polyandry is abolished. The sea-change was part of the transformation that occurred in the wake of British rule in India. The modernization of administration, new strides in transport and communication, the introduction of a cash economy and the spread of English education were all epoch-making departures from life as previously lived. They produced wasves of changes in the Nayar as in other communities.

NSS: Perhaps the single most profoundly influential development in this respect was the founding of the Nayar Service Society (NSS), and organizational platform, by a visionary named Mannath Padmanabhan. He brought about many social reforms among the Nayars. The Nayar Regulation Act of 1926, was initiated. He was an institution builder whose services in the fields of education, health care and culture remain unrivalled. An industrialist, he is also remembered for delivering a speech in Malayalam at oxford university. It is only with education, and flow of money, the community started to bloom.

COSTUME: Traditional Nair costume consists of rectangular pieces of finely handloomed white or off-white fabric with coloured yarns woven into the border of the pieces. Until the early 20th century, men and women wore only a lower body drape, the ‘mundu’, knotted over one hip. Men and women wore no upper body drape, and there were no visual differences between male and female mundu, the size, patterning and style of draping was identical for both gender. Thus the MUNDU was neutral between the sexes. This itself suggests the absence of gender difference in the early Nair society.

The first significant change to Nair costume occurred to women’s costume with the addition of a separate piece to cover the breasts, the ‘Neriyadu’, in the early 20th century, precipitated by the growing modernity. Today Nairs dress in the style of the region in which they live and work. But they still consider it proper and necessary to wear their traditional costume, the mundu and the neriyadu, for special occasions such as weddings, holidays or festivals like onam as it affirms cultural ties to their community and a salient reminder of the past.

CONCLUSION: The legacy of a strong matriarchal society continues to impact its culture. Kerala remains one of the few places in India where women enjoy a considerable amount of freedom and gender equality in education and business. There is more or less similar Nayar blood in most keralans. Is there any wonder that Kerala, the home of Nayars, Gods own country, is different from all other states in India?

Well today we are breaking the barriers, and we all belong to one common human race....But there is many a things to be learned from our history, and its good to know who we were......