After reading all these articles... Thacholi othenan was a chekavar.. so was he a Nair or a Thiyya? I know that Aromal Chekavar was a thiyya... are the families related?
RE:I am confused..
by Prejish MK on Mar 06, 2006 07:04 PM
You know, the legendary "Puthooram Veedu" (home of Thacholi Othenan) was an Ezhava (thiyya) family who had mastery of the art of Kalaripayattu and were the most renowned warriors of the middle age.
RE:I am confused..
by rajin on Jul 03, 2006 05:13 PM
Thacholi Othenan is not from Puthooram veedu. He was born in Malikkothu veedu in thacholi near vatakara. He used to worhship lokanarkavil amma. His real name is Udayana Kurup. He belongs to nair community. There is no relation between Malikothu and Puthooram veedu.
There are lots of history about Nairs ancestory ..Some anthropologists are of the view that the Nairs are not indigenous to Kerala. One theory is that Nairs are actually the descendants of the Newars of Nepal, who migrated to Kerala. Kshatrias are different entity ... Nairs ancestors were shudras, which was one of the upper caste among Bhramin, Kshatria, Vaisya and Shudra ... Infact some of the shudras was very rich, rich like kings and even kings were there... and they themselves started seeing themselves as kshatrias ...It is a fact that lots of bhramins, khastrias has married Nair (shudra) girls ... It is known fact ... Even it was said there was difference in the converts from Bhramin, Kshatria and shudra to christianity .... These are alls facts ... I don't know why Nairs want to claim themselves as kshatrias ... why can't they be proud about being Nairs as the other castes and religions does ??
RE:Nairs are shudras
by Unni on Jul 29, 2005 11:38 AM
Most of the people who participate in this forum seems to be malayalis settled outside Kerala and hence it is understandable that their knowledge of kerala history and heritage is very poor.As a person who has spend lot of effort and study in knowing kerala history and its people for decades, my understanding about Nairs and their history is as follows. Nairs do not belong to the so called Aryan race and hence they cannot be attributed to any of the hindu aryan classification ie Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudra. They were the rulers and soldiers of Kerala. They were definitley a martial sect who formed even 'chavers'(suicide squad). The kalari legend 'Thacholi othenan' was a Nair and so does many pioneers like palattu koman, kali nair and many other nambiars in the n.malabar. In the south they were the rulers and the famouse 'ettu veettil pillamar' were uncrowned kings whom even the King himself payed so much respect. The crooked Brahmins considered these brave people as 'sudras' since they were dravidians and meat eating people. They got supermacy over these people through their 'manthravadams' and other black magic.Nairs are also known as malaya kshathrias.Even now you
RE:Nairs are shudras
by Sreedharan Namboodiri on Dec 01, 2005 02:29 PM
The Keralaolpatti is a book about the formation of Kerala.It says that 64 Namboodiri families were placed by Parasurama in Kerala and 36,000 Iyers(who are dravidian brahmins) were given swords by Parasurama and they were told to remove their thread and becum fighters.it says the Nairs are descendants of these 36000 iyers.also there is a misconception which i want to clear.the sacred thread is not worn by all the Varmas.only the ruling King wears it.and if u see the Nairs protected the Land and were not servants.only nairs with the surname nair were really servants of brahmins.all other nair surnames are titles.besidea since they were a martial sect calling them sudra would be bad.besides the kerala society is divided into 2 unlike the 4 in the rest of india.it is savarna and avarna.savarna includes Nambodiri and Nair ONLY.Avarna is the dravidian tribals.pariahs,pulaya,thiya,ezhava,.The Nairs besides are also said to be south Indian counterparts of the Rajputs.They have fine Aryan features and olive skin.they were called the elite classs by the british and often owned elephants and travelled in Planquins.they were feudal lords...sudras u say ? ha !
nairs are ksathriyas of kerala,some lower sections got nair status later (because of untouchability people who perform "dasa "duties to nambuthiris and class nairs got nair title to avoid polution,so they may be did shudra duties)but majority nairs did ksathriya duties.there were more than 100 subsects subsect like kiriyatil,surupikal,ellathils all are ksatriyas all most all the royal houses of kerala comes from this subsects.like rajputs of north nairs also came to the political arena around 7th-10th century AD.all the olden kshatrys disappered from indian history arond BC last centuries some of them became followes of budha and jaina they fought aganist brahmin suppiorty and rituals like yagas (parasurama story have some signifance)that time mixing of different casts occured(varnasankaram),so many other out casts like huna,sithiya,yavana etc came to india and became a part of hinduisam thas the later stage casts and ksathiyas came,in kerala nairs did the kshtriya duties they fought aginst every invaders,they protect the kerala culture, yes they did lot aginst lower class people but at the same time they are the one who fought for the lower people without chattambi swamigal thei
Interestingly I chanced upon your article today. Whilst I share your appreciation of the Guru's contribution to social reform, I am sorry to say that your dig at a particular community only waters down the impact of your message.
Keeping aside the above comment, may I ask what your views and, possibly, concerns are with regard to the dwindling knowledge among present day youth (not just Ezhava youth) on the great Sree Narayana Guru's mission and teachings. Is it not true that the Guru elevated both the oppressed and the oppressors alike?
Over the years, my readings of the Guru and his times have given me the insight that between the 1880s and 1920s the Guru was revered not just by the downtrodden, but also by many intellectuals and forward thinkers from the so called upper castes too. This was mainly because the caste Hindus were themselves not 'individually' responsible for the culture of oppression into which they were born. By virtue of birth, they inherited their membership in those 'oppressor' communities. With the social transformation brought about by the Guru, many of the 'oppressors' themselves felt relieved to see an end to the legacy of oppression.
The problem is that the toilet paper gets you the job sans merit and thread gets you no where.Use gray cells and ask the children of toilet paper holders as well to use brains and work hard.Do not bring out the toilet paper ( safely stored in the godrej at home)at the time of job seeking and when chlidren score lowly in exams.Do not depend on the toliet paper and teach your children the self respect value of education, hard work and importance of merit any where.The teachings of N guru has not opened the brains of many of these poor souls because they do not have the gray cells to understand the meaning.
