Etymology

''Potti'' is a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

word meaning "deep respect for someone" and is used for Tulu-Malayali Brahmins.

History

At present, Pottis are often identified as Embrandiris or Tulu Brahmin immigrants. However, there were three classes of Pottis based on three periods of settlement in Kerala. There are Pottis of Kerala origin and Tulu origin. Pottis of Tulu origin came to

Malabar region The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regions of the subcontin ...

as temple priests in the 16th century. Those who migrated from South Kanara to Malabar are known as Embrandiri or Embranthiri, while those who settled in

Shivalli The Shivalli Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community mainly in Tulunad region of South West India. They are divided into two groups, the first of who follow the Dvaita philosophy founded by the Vaishnava saint Madhvacharya of Udupi are called ...

were known as "

Shivalli Brahmins The Shivalli Brahmins are a Hindu Brahmin community mainly in Tulunad region of South West India. They are divided into two groups, the first of who follow the Dvaita philosophy founded by the Vaishnava saint Madhvacharya of Udupi are calle ...

", they continue to be based in

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

or Sivalli in South Kanara.

Fictional characters

*Kodumon Potti played by actor

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

in the 2024 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

folk horror Folk horror is a subgenre of horror film and horror fiction that uses elements of folklore to invoke fear and foreboding. Typical elements include a rural setting, isolation, and themes of superstition, folk religion, paganism, Human sacrifice, sa ...

film '' Bramayugam''.

References

{{Authority control Brahmin communities of Kerala Surnames of Indian origin Malayali Brahmins