Kerala Iyers, Pattars or Bhattars are

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Brahmins Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

of the Indian state of

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 ...

; people who were residents in the Kerala region. The word "Pattar" originated from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word "

Bhat Bhat (also spelled as Bhatt or Butt, ) is a Brahmin surname used in the Indian subcontinent. Bhat and Bhatt are shortened renditions of Bhatta or Brahmabhatta. Etymology The word "Bhat" (, ) means "scholar" in Sanskrit. While the original sho ...

", which is a common surname of

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

Brahmin Clans. The community consists of two groups: the

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

Iyers and the Iyers of the

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

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 ...

regions. Kerala Iyers, like the Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the

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 ...

s of Kerala, belonged to the

Pancha-Dravida Pancha Dravida ( from Sanskrit: पंच ''pancha'') is one of the two major groupings of Brahmins in Hinduism, of which the other is Pancha-Gauda. In ''Rajatarangini'' Kalhana, in his ''Rajatarangini'' (c. 12th century CE), classifies the fo ...

classification of India's Brahmin community. They mostly belonged to the

Vadama Vadama, meaning "Northerners", are a sub-sect of the Iyer community of Tamil Brahmins. While some believe that their name is an indication of the fact that they were the most recent Brahmin migrants to the Tamil country others interpret the u ...

and

Brahacharanam Brahacharanam is a sub-sect of the Iyer community of Tamil Brahmins. The word "Brahacharanam" is a corruption of the Sanskrit word Brhatcharanam (). Many Brahacharanam follow the '' Advaita Vedanta'' philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara. Some ...

sub-sects. Iyers were usually not recruited as the priest (shanthi) in Kerala temples which followed Tantric rituals. So Iyers being Vedic scholars built their own temples in their Agraharams to conduct puja, since they followed different rituals and not the Tantric rituals of the Nambudiris.

Brahmana Samooham

Where ever they settled, the Kerala Iyers lived together in communities. The settlement consisting of array of houses and other amenities developed by Tamil Brahmins in Kerala came to be known as

Agraharam An ''Agraharam'' (Sanskrit IAST: agrahāram) or ''Agrahara'' (Sanskrit IAST: agrahāra) was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maint ...

as in other parts of South India. Each Agraharam consist of two rows of houses facing each other. There is no courtyard but only common street. Several such Agraharams together form an organization called "Samooham".

Palakkad Iyers

The Palakkad Iyers are Tamil Brahmins, who are settled in today's Palakkad region centuries before, during rule of Palakkad Rajas. Their mother tongue is Tamil and they speak Malayalam outside their homes. The Palakkad Iyers were greatly affected by the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill, (repealed in 1961 and substituted by The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963) which abolished the

tenancy A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

system.

Travancore Iyers

During the rule of

kings, many Iyers (Tamil Brahmins) migrated to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. Tamil Iyers migrated mostly from Tirunelveli to Thiruvanathapuram. The ancestors of the Thiruvananthapuram Iyers were brought from “Brahmadesam" (a village in Ambasamudram Taluk of Modern day Thirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu) by the Travancore Kings, to take part in the “Mura Japam” ritual of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple. The Mura Japam ritual is a ritual where Brahmins with Sanskrit Veda knowledge participate. The migration continued for decades, and thus Iyer population is concentrated around this temple in Thiruvananthapuram.They were given agraharams around the temple and the fort, as well as in Karamana Agraharam and Chalai Agraharam.

Notable people

Vidya Balan Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fil ...

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (born Vaidyanatha Iyer, 28 August 1896 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian Carnatic music singer from Kerala. He was born in Vatakara, Kerala, and moved to Palakkad along with his family during his childhood.L. R. ...

* V. Dakshinamoorthy * Ranjani-Gayatri * Hariharan *

Apsara Iyer Apsara Iyer is an American Art theft, art crime investigator and the 137th president of the ''Harvard Law Review''. She is the first Indian Americans, Indian American woman to be elected to that position. Early life and education Iyer was born ...

Divya S. Iyer Dr. Divya Sesha Iyer IAS (born 16 October 1984) is an Indian bureaucrat, medical doctor, editor, and author who is part of the Indian Administrative Service in Kerala. She is the managing director of Vizhinjam International Seaport Thiruvananth ...

Palghat Mani Iyer Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981), born Thiruvilvamala Ramaswamy was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music. He, along with his contemporaries Palani Subramaniam Pillai and Ramanathapuram C. S. Murugabhoopathy, are ...

Shreyas Iyer Shreyas Iyer (born 6 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian team as a right-handed middle-order batter. He also plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket and captains the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier Leag ...

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (''honoris causa'' degree) by Birmingham Ci ...

Priyamani Priya Mani Raj (née Iyer; born 4 June 1984 ), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards Sout ...

Vivek Ramaswamy Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy (born August 9, 1985) is an American entrepreneur and politician. He founded Roivant Sciences, a Biotechnology, biotech Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical company in 2014 and was its Chief executive officer, CEO ...

Malayattoor Ramakrishnan K. V. Ramakrishna Iyer, better known by his pen name, Malayattoor Ramakrishnan (27 May 1927 – 27 December 1997), was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, cartoonist, lawyer, Magistrate, judicial magistrate, and Indian Administrative Servi ...

* TN Seshan *

M. S. Thripunithura Madathilparambil Seshan Venkitaraman (26 May 1943 – 8 March 2006), known by his stage name M. S. Thripunithura, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film Industry. He was born in Thripunithura in the erstwhile Cochin State. He died ...

Trisha Krishnan Trisha Krishnan (born 4 May 1983) is an Indian actress known for her work primarily in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has sustained a successful career as a leading ...

Fictional characters

* Sethurama Iyer

Organization

The Kerala Brahmana Sabha is the apex organization of Kerala Iyers.

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kerala Iyers Website
Tamil society Tamil Brahmins Ethnic groups in Kerala