Palakkad Brahmins or Kerala Iyers

Palakkad  Brahmins  or Kerala Iyers

By

P.R.Ramachander

(I have  lived several years   in Kerala, Karnataka , Andhra, Telengana   as well as Tamil Nadu .In each of these states there were social reformers  and atheists  . But in  no other state except Tamil Nadu, Brahmins are treated  so badly. I have never heard of Brahmin  rituals jeered at , as it is being done  in Tamil Nadu in any of the states   that I have lived. In fact they are treated with great respect  in all other states.A small write  up about  my community in Kerala)

    In Kerala  mainly three  types of Brahmins live . They are the  Nambudiris (some of them are called Bhattathiris) whose  mother toungue   is Malayalam , The Kerala Iyers (also called   as Palghat  Brahmins  or Pattars)  whose mother  is  Tamil  and the Embrandiris(also called  as Pothis)   whose  mother toungue is   either  Thulu or Kannada.  Among them  , by nature  of their ritual practices  , Nambudiris  marry Nairs  or Kshatriyas   and have  completely merged   with   the  locale of Kerala . The Embarndiris are   settlers in Kerala( an extremely minute percentage)   who came to Kerala    as Temple Archakas. Most of them have forgotten their mother toungue and speak only   in Malayalam.

    The kerala iyers  migrated  through the Palghat pass  and Shenkotha pass  in to Kerala. They are mainly from THanjavur and  Tirunelveli   districts of Tamil Nadu.

       In the  villages   which are  not far away from Tamil Nadu, they speak   a mixture  of  Tamil and Malayalam (termed as Thalayalam by  my friend and  classmate  Kalakkad Sundaram Natarajan)  But those tamil Brahmins    who have   moved to deep inside Kerala  prefer  to  talk mostly in Malayalam. Those who migrated  via Palghat  pass   are termed  as Palghat iyers, but in general  Tamil Brahmins are   called  Pattars or Swami  (Sami)   in Kerala, Legally  once upon a time they were termed as “Paradesi Brahmanas(Brahmins of another country)  They were  even legally referred to like that  , once upon a time. For example  in judicial papers  , the name of my father (whose real name  was P.R.Rama Iyer)  was referred to as  “ Paradesi Brahmanan  Puducode Rama Pattar  magan Rama Pattar”.

   The word “Pattar  “  must have originated from the word “Bhattar”. Some  of the common sayings  about them  are   “Pattaril Pottanilla(There  is no fool  among Pattas)”  , “Onnum Kanathe  Pattar Kenathil chadilla (Without  any  strong reason , Pattar  would  not Jump  in to the well)” and so on. There   are  some unfavourable   sayings about them also.  When our  friends some times jeeringly   call  them  “Pattare”   then they  are slightly offended. But  when need arises  they are called “Sami” which is derived from  word  “Swami”  , which is indeed  a honourable word

   I  have always felt  that  Brahmins of all hues  in Kerala   are not second class  citizens   and  they are  always honoured. When a Brahmin tells some thing , all other people including those  belonging to other  religions listen to  it with respect . All of them feel   that Brahmins   would  not cheat and  would not do any crime, One reason for this   is that , though they may deny it  , Keralites , whoever religion they belong are  strong believers  in God.

  When a Brahmin character comes in  cinemas and serials , they are  not portrayed as jokers but intelligent and serious people who follow their own culture.

  Most have them have migrated  away from Kerala  to different metropolises  in India, to the middle east   and to western countries ,But  they all love Kerala their mother  state and make it a point to gather  in their villages  in very large numbers when  temple festivals are celebrated. They also contribute liberally  to the upkeep  and repair  of their village temples.  As one of the trustees of Kerala Iyer  Trust(Run entirely online), i know  how liberally they contribute  to the welfare   of the Kerala iyers troubled  by poverty.