Part 14

Concerning the habitations of the Nambutiris, Mr. Subramani Aiyar writes as follows. "A Nambutiri's house stands within a compound (grounds) of its own. Each house has its own name, by which the members are known, and is called by the generic title of illam, the term used by Brahmans, or mana, which is the reverential expression of Sudras and others. Sometimes the two words are found combined, e.g., Itamana illam. In the compound surrounding the house, trees such as the tamarind, mango, and jak, grow in shady luxuriance. The area of the compound is very extensive; in fact, no house in Malabar is surrounded by a more picturesque or more spacious garden than that of the Nambutiri. Plantains of all varieties are cultivated, and yams of various kinds and peas in their respective seasons. A tank (pond) is an inseparable accompaniment, and, in most Nambutiri houses, there are three or four of them, the largest being used for bathing, and the others for general and kitchen purposes. Whenever there is a temple of any importance near at hand, the Nambutiri may prefer to bathe in the tank attached to it, but his favourite ghat is always the tank near his home, and owned by him. Wells are never used for bathing, and a hot-water bath is avoided as far as possible, as plunging in a natural reservoir would alone confer the requisite ablutional purity. Towards the north-west corner of the house is located the sarpakkavu or snake abode, one of the indispensables of a Malabar house. The kavu is either an artificial jungle grown on purpose in the compound, or a relic of the unreclaimed primeval jungle, which every part of Malabar once was. Right in the centre of the kavu is the carved granite image of the cobra, and several flesh-and-blood representatives of the figure haunt the house, as if in recognition of the memorial raised. In the centre of the compound is situated the illam or mana, which is in most cases a costly habitat. All the houses used until recently to be thatched as a protection against the scorching heat of the tropical sun, which a tiled house would only aggravate. In form the house is essentially a square building, consisting of several courtyards in the centre, with rooms on all sides. On the east or west of the courtyard, a room having the space of two ordinary rooms serves as a drawing room and the dormitory of the unmarried members of the house. The rest of the house is zenana to the stranger. Right on the opposite side of the visitor's room, beyond the central courtyard, is the arappura, of massive wood-work, where the valuables are preserved. On either side of this are two rooms, one of which serves as a storehouse, and the other as a bed-room. The kitchen adjoins the visitor's room, and is tolerably spacious. In the front, which is generally the east of the house, is a spacious yard, square and flat, and leading to it is a flight of steps, generally made of granite. These steps lead to a gate-house, where the servants of the house keep watch at night. The whole house is built of wood, and substantially constructed. Though the houses look antiquated, they have a classical appearance all their own. To the north-east is the gosala, where large numbers of oxen and cows are housed. The furniture of a Nambutiri is extremely scanty. There are several cots, some made of coir (cocoanut fibre), and others of wooden planks. The kurmasana is the Nambutiri's devotional seat, and consists of a jak (Artocarpus integrifolia) plank carved in the form of a tortoise. Other seats, of a round or oblong shape, are also used, and no Brahman addresses himself to his meal without being seated on one of them. Every Brahman visitor is offered one, and is even pressed to sit on it. When the writer went to a Brahman house at Kalati, the native village of Sankaracharya, and wished the hosts not to trouble themselves about a seat for him, he was told that the contact of a Brahman's nates with the floor was harmful to the house. Hanging cots, attached to the ceiling by chains of iron, are common things in a Nambutiri's house, especially in the bed-rooms. Skins of spotted deer, used to sit on during prayers, also form part of the Nambutiri's furniture."

The Nambutiris follow the makkatayam law of inheritance from father to son; not, however, precisely as do the other people who do so. Nor is their system of inheritance the same as that of Brahmans to the eastward (i.e., of Southern India generally), with whom the family property may be divided up amongst the male members at the instance of any one of them. The Nambutiri household is described by Mr. Subramani Aiyar as representing a condition intermediate between the impartible matriarchal form of the Nayars and the divided patriarchal form of the other coast. Among the Nambutiris, the eldest male member of the family is the Karanavan or manager of it, and has complete control over all the property. The younger members of the family are entitled to nothing but maintenance. The head of the family may be a female, provided there is none of the other sex. The eldest son alone marries. The accepted practice, as well as the recognised principle among the Nambutiris, seems to be in consonance with the directions expounded by Manu, viz.--

Immediately on the birth of his first-born, a man is the father of a son, and is free from the debt to the manes. That son is, therefore, worthy to receive the whole estate.

That son alone, on whom he throws his debt, is begotten for (the fulfilment of) the law. All the rest they consider the offspring of desire.

As a father supports his sons, so let the eldest support his younger brothers, and so let them, in accordance with the law, behave towards their eldest brother as sons behave towards their father.

Should a Nambutiri eldest son die, the next marries, and so on. Women join the family of their husband, and to this too her children belong. Self-acquired property, that is property acquired by any junior member of the family through his own efforts outside the taravad, [92] lapses to the taravad at his death, unless he has disposed of it in his lifetime. This is the custom, which our law has not yet infringed. The taravad is the unit, and, as the senior male succeeds to the management, it may happen that a man's sons do not succeed directly as his heirs. The arrangement is an excellent one for the material prosperity of the family, for there is no dispersion. Every circumstance tends towards aggrandizement, and the family is restricted to no more than a requisite number by one member only marrying, and producing children. Impartibility is the fundamental principle. It is seldom that a Nambutiri family comes to an end; and such a thing as a Nambutiri's estate escheating to Government has been said on eminent authority never to have been known. It happens sometimes that there is no male member to produce progeny, and in such a case the sarvasvadanam marriage is performed, by which a man of another family is brought into the family and married to a daughter of it, who, after the manner of the "appointed daughter" of old Hindu law, hands on the property through her children. The man so brought in is henceforth a member of the family which he has joined, and as such he performs the sraddha or ceremonies to the dead. An exception to the general rule of inheritance is that seventeen families of Payannur in North Malabar follow the marumakkattayam system of inheritance, through the female line. The other Nambutiris look askance at these, and neither marry nor dine with them. It is supposed that they are not pure bred, having Kshatriya blood in their veins.

Adoption among the Nambutiris is stated by Mr. Subramani Aiyar to be of three kinds, called Pattu kaiyyal dattu, Chanchamata dattu, and Kutivazhichcha dattu. "The first is the orthodox form. Pattukai means ten hands, and indicates that five persons take part in the ceremony, the two natural parents, the two adopted parents, and the son to be adopted. The gotra and sutra of the natural family have to be the same as those of the adoptive family. The son adopted may have had his upanayanam already performed by his natural parents. An adoption of this kind cannot be made without the permission of all the male members of the family, of the Sapindas or Samanodakas who are distinct blood relations, though some degrees removed. In the second form, the adoption relieves the adopted son of all ceremonial duties towards the natural parents. Involving, as it does, a position contrary to the established ordinances of Sankaracharya, this kind of adoption is not in favour. The third form is still less orthodox. The adoption is made by a surviving widow, and mainly serves to keep up the lineage."

Liquor and flesh are strictly forbidden to the Nambutiris. Their staple food is rice and curry. Upperi is a curry of chopped vegetables fried in ghi (clarified butter), cocoanut or gingelly oil, seasoned with gingelly (Sesamum indicum), salt, and jaggery (crude sugar). Aviyal is another, composed of jak fruit mixed with some vegetables. Sweets are sometimes eaten. Candied cakes of wheat or rice, and rice boiled in milk with sugar and spices, are delicacies. Papadams (wafer-like cakes) are eaten at almost every meal. The Nambutiri must bathe, and pray to the deity before partaking of any meal. An offering of rice is then made to the household fire, some rice is thrown to the crows, and he sits down to eat. The food is served on a plantain leaf or a bell-metal plate. It should be served by the wife; but, if a man has other Nambutiris dining with him, it is served by men or children. The sexes feed separately. Before a man rises from his meal, his wife must touch the leaf or plate on which the food has been served. The reason may lie in this. The remains of the food are called echchil, and cannot be eaten by any one. Just before finishing his meal and rising, the Nambutiri touches the plate or leaf with his left hand, and at the same time his wife touches it with her right hand. The food is then no longer echchil, and she may eat it. The Nambutiri householder is said to be allowed by the Sastras, which rule his life in every detail, to eat but one meal of rice a day--at midday. He should not, strictly speaking, eat rice in the evening, but he may do so without sinning heinously, and usually does. Fruit only should be eaten in the evening. Women and children eat two or three times in a day. A widow, however, is supposed to lead the life of a Sanyasi, and eats only once a day. A Nambutiri may eat food prepared by an east country Brahman (Pattar), or by an Embrantiri. In fact, in the large illams, where many people are fed every day, the cooks are generally Pattars in South Malabar. The Nambutiri woman is more scrupulous, and will not touch food prepared by any one of a caste inferior to her own, as the Pattar is considered to be. Tea and coffee are objected to. The Sastras do not permit their use. At the same time, they do not prohibit them, and some Nambutiris drink both, but not openly. Persons observing vows are not allowed an oil bath, to eat off bell-metal plates, or to eat certain articles of food. The gourd called churakhai, palmyra fruit, and palmyra jaggery are taboo to the Nambutiri at all times. Water-melons are eaten regularly during the month Karkkataka, to promote health and prolong life.

In connection with the Nambutiri's dietary, Mr. Subramani Aiyar states that "their food is extremely simple. As Camöens writes: [93]

To crown their meal no meanest life expires. Pulse, fruit, and herb alone their food requires.

"Ghi is not in a great requisition. Gingelly oil never enters the kitchen. Milk is not taken except as porridge, which goes by the name of prathaman (first). A bolus-like preparation of boiled rice-flour with cocoanut scrapings, called kozhakkatta, is in great favour, and is known as Parasu Rama's palaharam, or the light refreshment originally prescribed by Parasu Rama. Conji, or rice gruel, served up with the usual accessories, is the Nambutiri's favourite luncheon. Cold drinks are rarely taken. The drinking water is boiled, and flavoured with coriander, cummin seeds, etc., to form a pleasant beverage."

The horse is a sacred animal, and cannot be kept. The cow, buffalo, dog, and cat are the animals ordinarily kept in domestication; and it is said that a parrot is sometimes taught to repeat Sanskrit slokas.

There are families, in which the business of the magician and sorcerer is hereditary, chiefly in South Malabar and among the Chela [94] Nambutiris, as those are termed who, in the turbulent period of Tippu's invasion, were made Muhammadans by force. True, these returned almost at once to their own religion, but a stigma attaches to them, and they are not looked on as true Nambutiris.

It is extremely difficult to obtain reliable information regarding magic or anything allied to it among any people, and most difficult of all among the Nambutiris. They possess magic books, but they will neither produce nor expound them. Hara Mekhala is the name of one of these, which is most used. It is said that the sorcerer aims at the following:--

(1) Destruction (marana). (2) Subjection of the will of another (vasikarana). (3) Exorcism (uchchatana). (4) Stupefaction (stambhana). (5) Separation of friends (vidveshana). (6) Enticement as for love (mohana).

Of these, the first may be carried out in the following manner. A figure representing the enemy to be destroyed is drawn on a small sheet of metal (gold by preference), and to it some mystic diagrams are added. It is then addressed with a statement that bodily injury or the death of the person shall take place at a certain time. This little sheet is wrapped up in another metal sheet or leaf (of gold if possible), and buried in some place which the person to be injured or destroyed is in the habit of passing. Should he pass over the place, it is supposed that the charm will take effect at the time named. Instead of the sheet of metal, a live frog or lizard is sometimes buried within a cocoanut shell, after nails have been stuck into its eyes and stomach. The deaths of the animal and the person are supposed to take place simultaneously. For carrying out vasikarana, vidveshana, and mohana, betel leaves, such as are ordinarily used for chewing, or vegetables are somehow or other given to the victim, who unknowingly takes them into his mouth. Exorcism may be treated as follows. If a young woman is suffering from hysteria, and is supposed to be possessed by an evil spirit, or by the discontented spirit of some deceased ancestor, nervousness is excited by beating drums, blowing conch-shells, and otherwise making a horrible noise close to her. When the supreme moment is believed to have arrived, water is sprinkled over the wretched woman, who is required to throw rice repeatedly on certain diagrams on the ground, woven into which is a representation of the goddess Durga, the ruler of evil spirits. An effigy of the evil spirit is then buried in a copper vessel. By means of certain mantrams, Hanuman or Kali is propitiated, and, with their aid, in some occult manner, the position of buried treasure may be found. It is said that the bones of a woman who has died immediately after childbirth, and the fur of a black cat, are useful to the magician.

There are said to be two Nambutiris of good family, well known in South Malabar, who are expert mantravadis or dealers in magic, and who have complete control over Kuttichchattan, an evil mischievous spirit, whose name is a household word in Malabar. He it is who sets fire to houses, damages cattle, and teases interminably. Concerning Kuttichchattan, Mr. Subramani Aiyar writes as follows. "The most mischievous imp of Malabar demonology is an annoying, quip-loving little spirit, as black as night, and about the size and nature of a well-nourished twelve-year old boy. Some people say that they have seen him, vis-à-vis, having a forelock. The nature and extent of its capacity for evil almost beggar description. There are Nambutiris, to whom these are so many missiles, which they throw at anybody they choose. They are, like Ariel, little active things, and most willing slaves of the master under whom they happen to be placed. Their victim suffers from unbearable agony. His clothes take fire, his food turns into ordure, his beverages become urine, stones fall in showers on all sides of him, but curiously not on him, and his bed becomes a literal bed of thorns. He feels like a lost man. In this way, with grim delight, the spirit continues to torment his victim by day as well as by night. But, with all this annoying mischief, Kuttichchattan, or Boy Satan, does no serious harm. He oppresses and harasses, but never injures. A celebrated Brahman of Changanacheri is said to own more than a hundred of these Chattans. Household articles and jewelry of value can be left on the premises of the homes guarded by Chattan, and no thief dares to lay his hands on them. The invisible sentry keeps diligent watch over his master's property, and has unchecked powers of movement in any medium. As remuneration for all these services, the Chattan demands nothing but food, but that on a large scale. If starved, the Chattans would not hesitate to remind the master of their power; but, if ordinarily cared for, they would be his most willing drudges. By nature Chattan is more than a malevolent spirit. As a safeguard against the infinite power secured for the master by the Kuttichchattan, it is laid down that malign acts committed through his instrumentality recoil on the prompter, who either dies childless, or after frightful physical and mental agony. Another method of oppressing humanity, believed to be in the power of sorcerers, is to make men and women possessed by spirits; women being more subject to their evil influence than men. Delayed puberty, sterility, and still-births are not uncommon ills of a woman possessed by a devil. Sometimes the spirits sought to be exorcised refuse to leave the body of the victim, unless the sorcerer promises them a habitation in the compound of his own house, and arranges for daily offerings being given. This is agreed to as a matter of unavoidable necessity, and money and lands are conferred upon the Nambutiri mantravadi, to enable him to fulfil his promise."

A Nambutiri is not permitted to swear, or take oath in any way. He may, however, declare so and so, holding the while his sacred thread between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, by way of invoking the Gayatri in token of his sincerity. And he may call on the earth mother to bear witness to his words, for she may, should he speak falsely, relieve herself of him. The name of the Supreme Being is not used in oath. Nambutiris have been known to take oath before a shrine, in order to settle a point in a Civil Court, but it is not orthodox to do so.

Something has been said already concerning vows. Those who desire offspring perform the vow called payasahavanam. Sacrifice is made through fire (homam) to the Supreme Being. Homam is also vowed to be done on a child's birthday, to ensure its longevity. Here we may observe a contrast between the Nambutiri and a man of one of the inferior castes. For, while the vow of the Nambutiri has assumed to some extent the nature of propitiatory prayer, of which those low down really know nothing, the other gives nothing until he has had the full satisfaction of his vow. Mrityunjayam, or that which conquers death, is another kind of homam in performance of a vow. A further one is concerned with cleansing from any specific sin. Liberal presents are made to Brahmans, when the vow is completed. In the vow called rudrabhisheka the god Siva is bathed in consecrated water. It is performed by way of averting misfortune. Monday is the day for it, as it is supposed that on that day Siva amuses himself with Parvati by dancing on Kailasa.

The custom observed by Nambutiris of letting the hair grow on the head, face, and body, untouched by the razor, when a wife is enceinte has been noticed already. A Nambutiri who has no male issue also lets his hair grow in the same way for a year after the death of his wife. Should there, however, be male issue, on the eldest son devolves the duty of performing the ceremonies connected with the funeral of his mother (or father), and it is he who remains unshaven for a year. In such a case, the husband of a woman remains unshaven for twelve days (and this seems to be usual), or until after the ceremony on the forty-first day after death. The period during which the hair is allowed to grow, whether for a death, a pregnant wife, or by reason of a vow, is called diksha. During diksha, as well as during the Brahmachari period, certain articles of food, such as the drumstick vegetable, milk, chillies, gram, dhal, papadams, etc., are prohibited.

"Bathing," Mr.Subramani Aiyar writes, "is one of the most important religious duties of all Hindus, and of Brahmans in particular. A Nambutiri only wants an excuse for bathing. Every Nambutiri bathes twice a day at least, and sometimes oftener. It is prohibited to do so before sunrise, after which a bath ceases to be a religious rite on the other coast. The use of a waist-cloth, the languti excepted, during a bath in private or in public, is also prohibited. This injunction runs counter to that of the Sutrakaras, who say 'Na vivasanah snayat,' i.e., bathe not without clothing. The fastidious sense of bath purity occasionally takes the form of a regular mania, and receives the not inapt description of galappisachu or possession by a water-devil. Never, except under extreme physical incapacity, does a Nambutiri fail to bathe at least once a day." Before concluding the bath, the cloth worn when it was begun, and for which another has been substituted, is wrung out in the water. From this practice, a patch of indurated skin between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, where the cloth is held while wringing it, is commonly to be seen. Almost every Nambutiri examined in North Malabar was marked in this way.

The Nambutiris observe sixty-four anacharams, or irregular customs, which are said to have been promulgated by the great reformer Sankaracharya. These are as follows:--