Nayar of India
Sandelle Studway
ANT 101
Jeffrey Ratcliffe
06/04/2012

Nayar of India
The Nayars of India are an upper caste group mainly residing in the Indian state Kerala. Their culture has held a wide interest of many with their unique practices in marriage and family life. Women are held with the highest respect and they live in a matrilineal family. As an Agrarian state the Nayars are rulers, land owners and warriors. This essay will discuss the life and customs of the Nayar culture. By the end of this essay you will have a great outlook on their kinship, gender relations, believes, and values.
Nayars belong to the southwest coast of India which is the state of Kerala. The language spoken is Malayalam belonging to the southern brand of the Dravidian Family. The Nayars are a part of an upper caste system that consists of land owners and rulers. Their land allowed the cultivation of leafy root vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, goad meat, beef, and water buffalo meat. Most Nayars were vegetarian. Before the British conquest in 1792, the Nayar caste supplied Kerala’s royalty and nobility, militia, and land managers. During British rule, Nayar became more involved in politics, medicine, education, and law. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1994-2009).
Nayar household consisted of matrilineal related Kin where male and female descended from a common female ancestor. In the article “The Nayar Taravad”, C.J fuller discusses M.A Moore argument “A taravad is not a 'matrilineage'; rather it is a 'house-and-land unit', a 'ritually- significant property unit', 'consisting of a house and its land', whose members have ties to it 'acquired through the rules of marumakkattayam or makkattayam'.’ The Nayars refer to their matrilineal descent system by the word marumakkattayam, from marumakan-'sister's son' and tayam- 'share, inheritance' (I976: 54). Other anthropologists consider the taravad as a clan used for lineage and the matrilineal house hold unit” (1986). Their taravad is traditionally composed of a woman, her children, her daughters and her granddaughters, children, her brothers, descendants through her sister, and her relations through her dead female ancestors. Property inherited from men was distributed between his sisters and their children before his own children. As men took to modern, Western professions and started accumulating personal wealth as opposed to family property, they began passing it on to their own biological children. (kuhl, bill. 2001). Today it is customary for a man to put his self-acquired property in his wife’s name so that it can then be inherited matrilineally. A man feels more responsible for his sister’s children than his brother’s children. (kuhl, bill. 2001)
Polyandry is traditional among the Nayar. Each woman has multiple husbands whom are referenced as “visiting husbands” and have no rights of their wives or their children. Women are placed on a pedestal in this society. Women are allowed multiple husbands and inherit their brother brother’s property.
There are three rituals performed by Nayar women. The talikettu kalyanam is the tali-tying ceremony which is considered a form of marriage ceremony. This ceremony is performed most commonly with multiple girls of the same matrilineal family before the time of puberty, the oldest being between eleven and thirteen. The daughter of a male member of the family who belongs to an enangar clan or who is too poor to be able to afford the costly ceremony can be placed in a separate seat and her Tali also may be tied at the same time. (Panikkar, K.M. 1918)
The ceremony is held in a village and among enangar council. The kaniyan decorates the ten for the village elders. In the middle of the tent the Astamangalyam consist of a measure of paddy, some rice, a white cloth which shows purity, looking glass and cheppu which is a powder puff and a blossom of the coconut palm. Before the ceremony the girls have a oil bath. Next they are dressed with ornaments for the event. The groom dresses like a warrior with a sword. A priest or Kshatriyan lord is who ties the tali. (Panikkar, K.M. 1918) The groom has a seat of honor reserved. Once seated the groom’s feet is washed. The brides are brought into the pandal and make a pradishana which is a go round the pandal by their left three or seven times. New pieces of fine silk cloth are given and the priest ties the tali around the girl’s necks. This is followed by a huge feast which goes on for four days. On the fourth day the marriage is dissolved by cutting the cloth given on the first day into pieces.
Sambandham is another common ritual which begins a sexual relationship. The sambandham is performed with a Nayar man. The ceremony consists of a feast on a planned day. After the feast the village headman and family elders assemble in a hall. A lamp is placed in the middle and before it a plantain leaf with rice, betel-nut, lemons and spices. The groom is brought there before the ceremony by members of the family and chief men of the village. The bride is accompanied by her mother or mother's brother's wide and approaches the bride-groom. After the ceremony the groom stays with his wife for a few days since they are a matrilineal household. The tirandukalyanam is another ceremony that is considered a menstruation rite for girls. (Moore, Melinda. 1988). This ceremony celebrates the visiting husband.
Nayar life as a child typically included walking and playing in the daytime. The women have their dance and merriment in the evening. The Nayar house commonly has a large piece of enclosed ground in the front, which is called Muttam. It’s used as an ornament garden and no man of the lower case can access or enter it. In the back of a Nayar house there is usually a garden and bathing tank for women. The arrangement of the house was focused on separating the sexes in the family. Conflicts were handled by the elders. The eldest member was called Karnavan. The Karnavan has full control over property and manages the income. The Karnavan arranges sambanham marriages for both boys and girls of the family. All money owed to the family is paid through him. A form of punishment given is depriving members of the family their allowance or revoke the rights to enter into the house. The karnavan will was considered undisputed law.
Nayars are mainly Hindus. The most important ceremonies celebrated in Kerala as Hindus are Vishu, Onam, and Thiruvathira. The ceremonies celebrate wearing new cloths and the beginning of the summer. They use Hindu temples dedicated to Krishna, Siva, and Or Kartyayam for worship of the Hindu gods. The Nayar believed in three types of spirits, Pretan, Bhutam, and Pisachu (Panikkar, K.M. 1918). A Pretan is the spirit of a dead man. A Bhutan is spirit is seen in marshy districts and does not hurt people unless they are near to it. A pisachu is a general spirit of the air causing disease and smallpox (Panikkar, K.M. 1918). As a form of art the Nayar culture is related with the Kathakali dance dramas from the 16th century. This includes fancy headdresses and makeup. The Kalari pattu is an armed gymnasium play and the Kaikuttikali is a dance both practiced as a form of art by the Nayar. The form of art was related to Nayar caste. The Nayar believed in reincarnation and their dead is cremated. To conclude, the Nayar culture is interesting and even though things are more modern now most of these customs are still practiced today. In a more modern society men still put property in their wife’s name to be inherited matrilineally. The marriage ceremonies are still practiced. Instead of an elephant the priest road to the tali-tying ceremony, there are now vehicles. Even though Nayars are mostly Hindu, In Kerala there is many Christians and Muslims. The world is constantly changing and with technology and the wide range of communication, more modern practices are being performed.

References
Kuhl, Bill. (2001, April). The Female Matriarchal Society. Transitions, 21(2), 10. Retrieved June 2, 2012, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 506164981).

Nayar. (2009). In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/ebconcise/nayar

Moore, Melinda A. "Symbol and Meaning in Nayar Marriage ritual." American Ethnologist . Blackwell publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association , 1988. 254-273.

Fuller, C J., Moore, M.A. "The Nayar Taravad." Man. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britian and Ireland, 1986 135-137.