Nair: Encyclopedia II - Nair - Some Nair Customs and Traditions

Nair - Some Nair Customs and Traditions

Nairs have customs that are different from the rest of Kerala. The first of these is the Marumakkathaayam system of inheritance. This system is a matrilineal system of inheritance. It is exceptional in the sense that it was one of the few traditional systems that gave women liberty, and right to property. Under this system, women enjoyed respect, prestige and power. An exception is the community of Mannadiars of Palakkad, because they follow patrilineal system. Some historians believe that the Marumakkathaayam system started after the Chera-Chola wars during the second Chera empire, as Nairs lost most of their men during the war.

In the Marumakkathyam system, the family lived together in a tharavaadu which comprised of a mother, her brothers and younger sisters, and her children. The oldest brother was known as the karanavar and was the head of the household and managed the family estate. Lineage was traced through the mother, and the children "belonged" to the mother's family. All family property was jointly owned. In the event of a partition, the shares of the children were clubbed with that of the mother.

The Marumakkathyam system is not very common in Kerala these days for many reasons. Kerala society has become much more cosmopolitan and modern. Nair men seek jobs away from their hometown and take their wives and children along with them. In this scenario, a joint-family system is not viable. However, there are still a few tharawads that pay homage to this system. In some Nair families, the children carry the last name of their mother instead of the father, and are considered part of the mother's family, and not the father's. Nairs connect to and trace their lineage to a tharavadu - not to a member of the family. Tharavadu names are quite an important element of social reckoning - though decreasing in importance these days.

The martial art known as Kalaripayattu is believed by some to be created by the Nairs, and is also thought to be the oldest form of martial arts in the world. Those who hold this point of view think that all other forms of martial arts are descended from it. They reason that this is because Kerala had intense contacts with Buddhist monks, and Kung Fu, popularized by monks of the Shaoling Temple, traces its ancestry to Bodhidharma - a semi-legendary Chinese Buddhist monk who in some versions of his legend, came from Kerala, but who in the earliest known written version was said to have come from Central Asia.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Some Nair Customs and Traditions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki