Chakkala Nair, also known as Vattakkat Nair, and Vaniya Nair is one of the intermediate subcastes of the

Nair The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...

community. They are distributed throughout Kerala. In

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

, they are known as Chakkala, while in

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

and Malabar they are Vattakattu and In the extreme north of Malabar they are called Vaniyar. The Chakkala Nairs traditionally engaged in the hereditary occupations of oil trading and village teaching.In addition to these roles, they were also trained as soldiers, and when conflict arose, they were duty-bound to abandon their usual occupations, arm themselves, and serve their respective

kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

in battle. Vattakattu Nairs is a

Forward caste Forward caste (or General caste) is a term used in India to denote castes which are not listed in SC, ST or OBC reservation lists. They are on average considered ahead of other castes economically and educationally. They account for about 30.8% ...

and are now part of the mainstream Nair caste, while vaniya nairs and chakkala nairs were recently added to the central OBC category and get a minimal reservation of 3% sharing with 70 other castes on a rotational basis. It was the duty of Peru Vaniyan Nambiar section among Vaniya nairs in Kurumbranad to present the Kurumbranad Raja with oil on the occasion of his formal installation. Vattakkat Nairs were the hereditary Velichappadu of traditional

Nambudiri The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Namboothiri, Namboodri, Namboori, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the ...

-led

Bhagavathi Bhagavatī (Devanagari: भगवती, IAST: Bhagavatī), is an Indian epithet of Sanskrit origin, used as an honorific title for goddesses in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, it is primarily used to address the goddesses Sarasvati, Lak ...

Temples in Kerala and even held priesthood roles in some temples, such as the famous Kadakkal Devi Temple, where a Chakkala Nair with the title Nettur Kurup serves as the head priest. Muchilot Bhagavthi is the patron deity of Vaniya Nairs and the community serve as the custodian of 108 Muchilot Bhagavathi temples spread across North Malabar from

Tulu Nadu Tulu Nadu, or Tulunad, is a region and Proposed states and union territories of India, proposed state on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva' (pl. 'Tuluver') are speakers of Tulu language, Tulu, a Dravidian langu ...

to Kozhikode resembling the 108 Shiva Temples mentioned in the Shivalaya Stothram. It is believed that Bhagavathi first manifested herself to Muchilot PadaNair, a chieftain of Mushika dynasty from the Vaniya nair sect. According to eminent scholars

Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan (, ) (Floruit, ''fl.'' 16th century) was a Malayalam devotional poet, translator and linguist. He was one of the prāchīna kavithrayam (old triad) of Malayalam literature, the other two being Kunchan Nambia ...

was born in a Chakkala Nair family of

Thrikkandiyoor Thrikkandiyoor is a village in Tirur Block in Malappuram district of Kerala state in India. The village is known for a Shiva Temple located at the heart of the village. Devotees of Shiva believe that the idol in the temple was installed by Para ...

Amsam in Vettathunadu. Historically, the Chakkala Nair community fostered inter-religious harmony by engaging with various groups, including the Jacobite Syrian Church. A notable example of this is during the Saint Baselios Yeldo festival day, when a Chakkala Nair youth would carry the church's traditional lamp, leading the 'Rassa'—the customary church procession—to the church, symbolizing unity and mutual respect.

References

{{reflist Nair

See also

References