Religious life in Kerala is a powerful social force that works out
in different equations and dominates most daily affairs, both in the rural
countryside as well as the urban bustle. Amongst other things, it helps
organise the voices of the multitudes while acting as a restraining presence
which makes the role of the religious ethos an extremely complex one. Hence,
travelling in Kerala implies within it a subtle negotiation with its many
religious norms and practices while at the same time being circumscribed by the
architectural beauty and representations of its religious edifices, which is a
story that is broadly similar but also hugely different from other parts of the
country. We bring you to Kerala in this piece because we believe that the
co-existing set of faith systems and religious order forms a backbone to
society that is most unique in India – this is perhaps most attributable to the
density of the geography of the state and the nature of the competing interests
of different strands of religious order.
Hinduism in Kerala flourishes amongst a large part of the
population. While orthodox religious life is dominated by upper castes such as
the Namboodiri Brahmins, the expansion of several Nair castes and Izhava castes
shows the fluidity of Hindu thought. A lot of Theyyam devotees belong to either
the Ezhava castes or to previously untouchable outcaste communities, thus
lending the Theyyam cult a sense of mass popularity. Namboodiri Brahmins have
historically cemented their social location as authorities on texts and
religious rites and forms of worship – it is the formal Malayalam language
today that bears the signs of Sankritised influences of the Namboodiri
Brahmins. However, it is the many Nair sub castes that are of most interest to
anyone interested in travelling in Kerala in order to understand its
sociological undergrowth.
While some Nair castes (as well as some Ezhava castes) have been
famously known to practice matrilineal forms of social organisation, called the
marumakkathayam, where the husband
has historically come to reside at the parental home of the wife and property
has been passed downwards between women of successive generations, there are
other sub-castes who have historically practised polygamy as well as strategic
exercises in hypergamy – marrying into higher castes like the Namboodiris in order to establish a significant social
partnership as well as rise up the caste hierarchy. While this speaks volumes
about the flexible nature of caste hierarchies in southern Asia, it also shows
the ways in which the systemic logic of caste Hinduism proliferates. Social
life and social spaces are mostly affected by such forms of sociological
relations – where questions of gender and language become as prominent as the
more everyday questions of movement and mobility.
Historians have been at pain to write the complicated histories of
these communities for years now and recent scholarship has shed light on these
and many other historical as well as contemporary realities. The Ambalavasis
are one of the crucial examples of Nair castes which practice many of the
carefully planned religious rituals and follow their own specific rules of
social cohabitation.
Forms of direct manual labour such as toddy-tapping, weaving, farm
labour and ship-making have been predominant occupations of the Ezhava castes.
While their numbers have been large, they have had little role to play in the
mainstream cultural formations of Malayali society. The reasons being obviously
caste-marked, it is also important to mention that one of the most historic
anti-caste struggles in Kerala was led by the Ezhavas – an event widely known
as the Vaikom Satyagraha, which brought out the social segregation of spaces
along caste lines as an issue and mobilised thousands against the ban on temple
entry for Ezhavas and other low castes like the Pualayas.
One of the most prominent cultural roles the Ezhavas took up over
time was the mastery of the kallari
payyattu, the dance-like martial art form which draws thousands of visitors
to every performance. However, it is during the fraught years of colonial rule
that many from the Ezhava fold decided to convert to Christianity as a method
of escaping the hierarchies of the Hindu caste order – the move meant a strong
growth of Christianity in the hinterland of Kerala, although it is a pertinent
question in contemporary times that caste has pervaded Christian religious
practice as well and many lower castes are not considered fair equals within
Malayali Christian societies.
The largest space after dominant Hindu religious orders is that of
Islam. More than ten centuries of trade between Arabs and Malayali peoples has
significantly aided the growth of Sunni Islam in Kerala, which in turn spawned
new linguistic designs among those who attained a grasp of Persian along with
Malayalam. Changes in the forms of language is common to every other district
across the modern territory of India – however, in Kerala, the distinct
influence of Persian makes its presence felt like no other place. While Muslims
can also be socially understood to be following caste-marked patterns of
interaction, the nature and the depth is yet to be discussed in detail in the
works of modern historians and sociologists. Mappila muslims in Kerala are
mostly involved in fishing and other small industrial activity. One of the most
interesting things to watch is a Mappila wedding where the bridesmaids perform
singular dance acts for the pleasure of the bride, which is commonly referred
to as the Oppana.
Syrian Christians form another demographic community in Kerala. Followers of St. Thomas in terms of the lineage they trace, these communities
found deeper roots with the blossoming of trade relations with the Portuguese
traders in the Indian Ocean over the last five centuries. The famous church at
Santa Cruz and other such landmarks around the state help organise the
Christian community – these are also aided by the welfare work of the church
and mission education. The profoundly Catholic faith system, gravitating around
the symbology of St. Thomas’ Cross today, has distinct resemblances with its
Semitic roots – the act of Baptism continues to carry its Aramaic name (mamodisa). While the Jewish influence
was curbed significantly by Portuguese orthodoxy, it also holds true that the
long history of the Assyrian culture was bound to sustain itself for longer. It
is a pity nonetheless that most of the Jewish people of Kerala migrated to
Israel in the last century, only to lead lives at the fringes of mainstream
white Jewish society. They left behind a history of division based on colour –
the older white Paradesi Jews refused to cohabit with those who were gradually
converting – the dark-skinned Malabari Jews. However, the Paradesi Synagogue
remains the oldest synagogue in this part of the world in a sober reality where
the Jewish community in Kerala faces practical extinction.
While travelling in Kerala, one can also see forms of Jain religious
organisation and other smaller faith systems as well. However, what is
important for any well-meaning traveller is the sheer concentration of
different faith systems across the landscapes, which vie with each other for
sustenance and yet coexist in order to shape the everyday of Malayali society. All
along the subcontinent, there are different religious mores but it is in Kerala
where the density and the compactness of such life is most visible. It is meant
to be both educative as well as thrilling for a visitor as he or she travels
through the region – witnessing the myriad ways in which the public sphere is
influenced by religious thought and faith systems. What may seem superficially
suffocating and looming is perhaps what is most interesting about Kerala – its
ethos of faiths.
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