Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India, a Kovilakam is the principal manor, estate or palace of a princely

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

( Thampuran, Koyi Thampuran, Thampan, Thirumulpad) or Samantan and

Samantha Kshatriya The Samantha Kshatriyas are a noble community of Kerala, India. They were historically ruling elites (Naduvazhi) and feudal aristocrats (Jenmi) in the Kingdom of Cochin and Kingdom of Travancore. Anthropologist Christopher Fuller suggests th ...

lineages of ruling dynasties. It is the royal residence where all the family members who did not become a

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Rani ''Rani'' () is a female title, equivalent to queen, for royal or princely rulers in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It translates to 'queen' in English. It is also a Sanskrit Hindu feminine given name. The term applies equally to a ...

or otherwise accede to a Sthanam remain under the management of the eldest resident male or female member of that particular branch of the family. In the

North Malabar North Malabar refers to the geographic area of southwest India covering the state of Kerala State, Kerala's present day Kasaragod district, Kasaragod and Kannur district, Kannur districts, Mananthavady taluk of the Wayanad District, Wayanad distr ...

region, it is sometimes pronounced as ''Kolom'' ().Agrarian relations in late medieval malabar by M.T Narayanan (2003) Swatantra Bharath Press A chief princely lineage of Kerala consists of several Kovilakams representing different matrilineal branches of the same family from which the individual members could ascend to the status of Raja in accordance to their seniority in age within the lineage. The Kovilakam residences are usually large and beautiful manors or palaces with extensive wood work and mural paintings in the traditional medieval Kerala architecture style. A Kovilakam was usually endowed with estates and properties (crown lands), sufficient for the maintenance of its constituent members. At the very moment when a member ascends to any seat/station (Sthanam), they lose their residence in the Kovilakam and reside in the royal palace instead. However, there are instances when such members on ascending to a station have preferred to stay back in their Kovilakams of birth. It was not uncommon where due to internal squabbles within different Kovilakams of a ruling princely family, a certain Kovilakam may usurp and centralize the sole right to inherit the Rajaship and deprive the other Kovilakams within the princely lineage of its inheritance to the station of Raja.A collection of treaties, engagements, and other papers of importance by William LoganThe book of Duarte Barbosa: an account of the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean and their inhabitants by

Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbosa wrote the ''Book o ...

Examples

# The

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

Royal Princely State lineage of

had three branches; viz.:Kizhakke Kovilakam (Eastern Palace),Thekke Kovilakam (Southern Palace),Patinjare Kovilakam (Western Palace) # Kodungallur Kovilakam (Of the Kodungallur Swaroopam) # Nilambur Kovilakam (Of the Nilambur Swaroopam) # Paliam Kovilakam (Of the Paliam Swaroopam) # Edavilathu Kovilakam # Ayancheri Kovilakam ( Of the Kadathanad Swaroopam) # Travancore Kovilakam # Padmavavilasam Kovilakam

References

Culture of Kerala {{Kerala-stub