Padamangalam Nair or Padamangalakkar, is an
Ambalavasi or temple servant caste found mostly in southern
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 ...
.
They were considered as auxiliary subcaste of
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 in
Southern Kerala, India.
In the caste hierarchy, they were placed below the aristocratic Illam and Swaroopathil Nair subcastes in
southern Kerala, and in
northern Kerala, they were absorbed into the wider
Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi, more properly Ampalavasi, (IAST: AmpalavÄsi; ) is the generic name for a group of Caste system in India, castes among Hindus in Kerala, India, who have traditionally rendered temple services.
Castes
The Ambalavasis are broadly div ...
caste.
References
Nair
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