Kaniyar
Encyclopedia
Kaniyar are a caste
of India with origins in the states of Kerala
and Karnataka
. There are regional variations in the name used to define them. The Kerala Public Service Commission
considers Kaniyar Panicker (otherwise known as Kaniyan, Kanisu, Ganaka, Kanisan, Kamnan, and Kani) to be one group in their list of designated Other Backward Classes, and Kalari Panicker (otherwise referred to as Kalari Kurup) to be another.
Various occupational groups exist within the caste. For example, traditionally the Kaniyar Panicker were found in the area of Malabar and northern Travancore
, and the title recognised their occupation as teachers of physical exercises, especially those relating to military purposes, as well as their role as Hindu astrologers. The Kaniyar Asan members of the caste, who did not teach such things, were primarily to be found in southern Travancore. The Tinta group, and in particular the women, were makers of palm-leaf umbrellas; the group members also exorcised spirits, with their name literally meaning "polluting". As with the various transliterated names, so too the occupational titles adopt various spellings, such as Panikkar and Aasaan.
Historically, the various Kaniyar groups were endogamous. The root word kani is a Malayam corruption of the Sanskrit
word for an astrologer, ganaka.
, a government official who compiled a survey of Indian castes based on existing writings, attempted to summarise them in 1909:
More recently, Kathleen Gough
recorded that the caste believed that they were descended from a degraded section of the Tamil Brahmins and that they ascribed their "rudimentary" knowledge of Sanskrit, medicine and astrology to those origins.
Gough has argued that the caste in many ways played the role of
The traditional vocations of astrology and astronomy, which also required a knowledge of mathematics, were noted by western visitors such as Marco Polo
in the 13th century and the Portguese traveller Duarte Barbosa
in the 16th century. Cowrie shells were among the devices used for divination and at around this period they were a prosperous community, called upon by kings for their knowledge and in much demand generally at the time of sowing seeds, harvests, sickness and many other life events. They were, however, a very low caste according to Thurston.
The vocations of exorcism and sorcery were limited to the Tinta group, who used a dance called Kolam Thullal
in order to drive out the evil spirits. This dance would be performed around the affected person in their own home and was believed to frighten the spirit into leaving. A dance was also used to cure ills when other forms of medicine had failed. These dances are now generally appreciated as folk art
and are featured in padayani
performances in Devi
temples. Although the modern dances (which occur in the temples of Alappuzha
, Kollam
, Pathanamthitta
and Kottayam
) are performed by Nair
s (a caste which had a social rank higher than the Kaniyars), it is the Kaniyars who decorate the elaborate costumes.
Thurston also reported that many Kaniyars were once teachers but that by the time of his writing the occupation was in decline due to "the abolition of the old methods of teaching". The teaching had been primarily of low caste children in village schools. The arrival of the British in the area saw the demise of traditional teaching, with Sanskrit teaching being deprecated in favour of its English counterpart, disruption due to various wars and also a discouragement of the village schools in general. The standard of literacy declined greatly for nearly a century and began to improve once more with the advent of state aid for (principally English-based) education at the end of the 19th century. Thurston also said that some Kaniyars were "clever physicians"; and that those who were less learned were the umbrella makers. He remarked that the occupation as umbrella makers was also in decline, this being due to foreign imports.
Aside from general teaching, the Kaniyar Panicker also operated kalari
, which were schools for the instruction of young Nairs in the martial arts and warfare, specifically the art of Kalaripayattu. They also taught fencing
to the Izhava caste. Kalari Panicker and Gurukkal
are other names used for the northern group because of their involvement with these schools. They asserted that because of this they were superior to the Asan members of the caste, who were primarily to be found in southern Travancore. Apart from Veda, some members also studied Tantra
, Mantra
and yantra
writing.
, Vishnu
and various Bhagavati, as well as the sun, moon and other planets. Kaniyars worshipped daily, with each day of the week being dedicated to a different planet. More generally, they tended to follow in large part the high-caste Hindu ceremonies, including the pre-puberty ritual known as talikettu. There were ritual exorcisms of infants at the age of seven or nine days, followed by education from the age of seven and a coming-of-age ceremony similar to the "sacred thread" upanayana
of the higher castes at the age of sixteen. It was at this point that the newly-confirmed adult would be taught about sorcery and astrology, a process which lasted 41 days during which the student had to abstain from meat and alcoholic drink as well as performing daily prayers to the planets. Only after completing this phase, which was marked by a ceremony similar to the high caste samavartanam
, could a Kaniyar marry.
The Kaniyars had practised fraternal polyandry
, whereby several brothers would share one wife, although this practice appears to have been becoming less common by the time of Thurston's writing. An earlier ethnologist, L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer
, had remarked that the fact that the brothers often travelled away from home in order to earn their living as astrologers meant that in a practical sense there was usually only one husband in the house at any given time. Inheritance was through the father to the oldest son.
Although there were social leaders in various areas where the Kaniyar were concentrated, it was the spiritual headmen who held much respect. These people, who were known as kannalmas, received payments from every household on festive occasions and held the power to adjudge on social and moral matters.
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
of India with origins in the states of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. There are regional variations in the name used to define them. The Kerala Public Service Commission
Kerala Public Service Commission
The Kerala Public Service Commission is a body created by the Constitution of India to select applicants for civil service jobs in the Indian state of Kerala according to the merits of the applicants and the rules of reservation....
considers Kaniyar Panicker (otherwise known as Kaniyan, Kanisu, Ganaka, Kanisan, Kamnan, and Kani) to be one group in their list of designated Other Backward Classes, and Kalari Panicker (otherwise referred to as Kalari Kurup) to be another.
Various occupational groups exist within the caste. For example, traditionally the Kaniyar Panicker were found in the area of Malabar and northern Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
, and the title recognised their occupation as teachers of physical exercises, especially those relating to military purposes, as well as their role as Hindu astrologers. The Kaniyar Asan members of the caste, who did not teach such things, were primarily to be found in southern Travancore. The Tinta group, and in particular the women, were makers of palm-leaf umbrellas; the group members also exorcised spirits, with their name literally meaning "polluting". As with the various transliterated names, so too the occupational titles adopt various spellings, such as Panikkar and Aasaan.
Historically, the various Kaniyar groups were endogamous. The root word kani is a Malayam corruption of the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
word for an astrologer, ganaka.
Traditions of origin
There are various myths traditionally believed by caste members regarding their connections with astrology and, in some cases, the origins of the caste itself. Edgar ThurstonEdgar Thurston
Edgar Thurston CIE was a British museologist and ethnographer working in colonial Southern India. In 1885 he was appointed to the Madras Government Museum, where he held the role of Superintendent...
, a government official who compiled a survey of Indian castes based on existing writings, attempted to summarise them in 1909:
- a gift of divine knowledge from the god Subrahmanya
- they are the offspring of a revered BrahminBrahminBrahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
astrologer, Thalakkakalathur BhattathiripadGovinda BhattathiriGovinda Bhaṭṭatiri was an Indian astrologer and astronomer who flourished in Kerala during the thirteenth century CE. His major work was Daśādhyāya a commentary on the first ten chapters of the astrological text Bṛhajjātaka composed by Varāhamihira...
, who suffered misfortune, mistakenly thought a Kaniyan woman was his wife while engrossed in his thoughts of home and was outcast for the relationship. He went on to have children with the woman and taught them the traditional practices of astrology as known at that time only to the Brahmins.
- a Ganakan sage was making predictions for a SudraShudraShudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
while in an unclean state, which caused the sage to be cursed and condemned him and his descendants to be teachers and astrologers to all castes below the level of the Brahmin caste.
- they are the descendants of a union between a GandharvaGandharvaGandharva is a name used for distinct mythological beings in Hinduism and Buddhism; it is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music.-In Hinduism:...
woman and a Brahmin saint called Kani, whose grandson appeased Subrahmanya.
- ParvatiParvatiParvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
, the wife of Parameswara, and AgniAgniAgni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...
were conducting a relationship that was under threat of being discovered, causing Agni to hide inside the body of Parvati. Parvati became ill due to this inner presence, her husband cried to see her in such pain and one of his tears turned into a man. This man relieved the pain using incense, the fumes from which allowed Agni to make his escape. Seeing his wife's relief Parameswara blessed the man and appointed both him and his descendants to exorcise demons, cure diseases and predict the future.
- the Malabar Kaniyars have associated themselves with the ValluvarValluvarValluvar is a caste belonging to the Hindu community in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are the hereditary priests preaching and practicing Astrology, Astromomy and Medicine in Tamil Nadu.They are the subset of sambavars.- Origin :...
caste of astrologers, priests and doctors of Tamil NaduTamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
. The Valluvars moved into the area, practised their calling and took on the local name of Kaniyan, effectively demoting the existing Kaniyars to the Tinta group.
More recently, Kathleen Gough
Kathleen Gough
Eleanor Kathleen Gough Aberle was a British anthropologist who was known for her work in South Asia and South-East Asia. As a part of her doctorate work, she did field research in Malabar district from 1947 to 1949. She did further research in Tanjore district from 1950 to 1953 and again in 1976,...
recorded that the caste believed that they were descended from a degraded section of the Tamil Brahmins and that they ascribed their "rudimentary" knowledge of Sanskrit, medicine and astrology to those origins.
Traditional occupations
Thurston reported in 1909 that the caste was not flourishing because its members relied on their traditional occupation of astrology and were averse to manual labour. He stated that they were generally intelligent people who were "well versed in both Malayam and Sanskrit", punctilious in both manner and appearance, and conservative in cultural matters. In some areas they were strictly vegetarian but in others would eat meat and fish. Thurston said that:Gough has argued that the caste in many ways played the role of
The traditional vocations of astrology and astronomy, which also required a knowledge of mathematics, were noted by western visitors such as Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
in the 13th century and the Portguese traveller Duarte Barbosa
Duarte Barbosa
Duarte Barbosa was a Portuguese writer and Portuguese India officer between 1500 and 1516–17, with the post of scrivener in Cannanore factory and sometimes interpreter of the local language...
in the 16th century. Cowrie shells were among the devices used for divination and at around this period they were a prosperous community, called upon by kings for their knowledge and in much demand generally at the time of sowing seeds, harvests, sickness and many other life events. They were, however, a very low caste according to Thurston.
The vocations of exorcism and sorcery were limited to the Tinta group, who used a dance called Kolam Thullal
Kolam Thullal
Kolam Thullal is a ritual dance form prevalent in south Kerala, southern India. It is customary in houses and temples of Bhagavathy, a female deity. It is performed at temple festivals and to drive away evil spirits from the "possessed" bodies. Its origins lie with the Tinta group of the Kaniyar...
in order to drive out the evil spirits. This dance would be performed around the affected person in their own home and was believed to frighten the spirit into leaving. A dance was also used to cure ills when other forms of medicine had failed. These dances are now generally appreciated as folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
and are featured in padayani
Padayani
Padayani, also called Padeni, is a traditional folk dance from the central portion of the Indian state of Kerala. A ceremonial dance involving masks, it is an ancient ritual performed in Bhagavati temples...
performances in Devi
Devi
Devī is the Sanskrit word for Goddess, used mostly in Hinduism, its related masculine term is deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents...
temples. Although the modern dances (which occur in the temples of Alappuzha
Alappuzha
Alappuzha , also known as Alleppey, is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India. As per 2001 census Alleppey is the sixth largest city in Kerala with an urban population of 177,029. Alleppey is situated to the south of Kochi and north of Trivandrum...
, Kollam
Kollam
Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...
, Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta is a large town and a municipality situated in the central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, south India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The city has a population of 38,000...
and Kottayam
Kottayam
Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...
) are performed by Nair
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
s (a caste which had a social rank higher than the Kaniyars), it is the Kaniyars who decorate the elaborate costumes.
Thurston also reported that many Kaniyars were once teachers but that by the time of his writing the occupation was in decline due to "the abolition of the old methods of teaching". The teaching had been primarily of low caste children in village schools. The arrival of the British in the area saw the demise of traditional teaching, with Sanskrit teaching being deprecated in favour of its English counterpart, disruption due to various wars and also a discouragement of the village schools in general. The standard of literacy declined greatly for nearly a century and began to improve once more with the advent of state aid for (principally English-based) education at the end of the 19th century. Thurston also said that some Kaniyars were "clever physicians"; and that those who were less learned were the umbrella makers. He remarked that the occupation as umbrella makers was also in decline, this being due to foreign imports.
Aside from general teaching, the Kaniyar Panicker also operated kalari
Kalari
The word Kalari means battle ground in Tamil and translates as "threshing floor" or "battlefield" in Malayalam. Training for Kalarippayattu, a martial art of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, is traditionally done inside the Kalari....
, which were schools for the instruction of young Nairs in the martial arts and warfare, specifically the art of Kalaripayattu. They also taught fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
to the Izhava caste. Kalari Panicker and Gurukkal
Gurukkal, Kalarippayattu
Gurukkal is a term used in the Malayalam language which means guru or teacher. Masters or teachers of yoga and kalaripayat are usually referred to as Gurukkal. In kalaripayat the master is also called a "Kalari Gurukkal"...
are other names used for the northern group because of their involvement with these schools. They asserted that because of this they were superior to the Asan members of the caste, who were primarily to be found in southern Travancore. Apart from Veda, some members also studied Tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
, Mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
and yantra
Yantra
Yantra is the Sanskrit word for "instrument" or "machine". Much like the word "instrument" itself, it can stand for symbols, processes, automata, machinery or anything that has structure and organization, depending on context....
writing.
Religious and social customs
Kaniyars were worshippers of the gods Subrahmanya, ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
and various Bhagavati, as well as the sun, moon and other planets. Kaniyars worshipped daily, with each day of the week being dedicated to a different planet. More generally, they tended to follow in large part the high-caste Hindu ceremonies, including the pre-puberty ritual known as talikettu. There were ritual exorcisms of infants at the age of seven or nine days, followed by education from the age of seven and a coming-of-age ceremony similar to the "sacred thread" upanayana
Upanayana
Upanayana is the initiation ritual by which initiates are invested with a sacred thread, to symbolize the transference of spiritual knowledge .- Significance of the sacred thread :...
of the higher castes at the age of sixteen. It was at this point that the newly-confirmed adult would be taught about sorcery and astrology, a process which lasted 41 days during which the student had to abstain from meat and alcoholic drink as well as performing daily prayers to the planets. Only after completing this phase, which was marked by a ceremony similar to the high caste samavartanam
Samavartanam
The Samavartana , also known as ', is a Hindu sacramental ritual that was performed at the close of the Brahmacharya period and marked the end termination of the student life. It signifies a person's entry into grihastashrama....
, could a Kaniyar marry.
The Kaniyars had practised fraternal polyandry
Polyandry in India
Polyandry has been practiced in India and is still practiced by a minority. The popular Hindu epic, Mahabharatha provides a striking example of polyandry, Draupadi, daughter of king of Panchāla being married to five brothers. Polyandry was practiced by some south Indian tribes, prevalent among the...
, whereby several brothers would share one wife, although this practice appears to have been becoming less common by the time of Thurston's writing. An earlier ethnologist, L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer
L. K. Ananthakrishna Iyer
Diwan Bahadur Lakshminarayanapuram Krishna Ananthakrishna Iyer was an anthropologist of British India, who is renowned for his work amongst the hill tribes of the western part of Madras province.-Early life:...
, had remarked that the fact that the brothers often travelled away from home in order to earn their living as astrologers meant that in a practical sense there was usually only one husband in the house at any given time. Inheritance was through the father to the oldest son.
Although there were social leaders in various areas where the Kaniyar were concentrated, it was the spiritual headmen who held much respect. These people, who were known as kannalmas, received payments from every household on festive occasions and held the power to adjudge on social and moral matters.