Religions of Kerala
Encyclopedia
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
, Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. Various tribal people in Kerala have retained various religious beliefs of their ancestors.
Hinduism
Hinduism being an indigenous Indian religion has undoubtedly shaped Kerala, and Kerala has in turn left its mark on Hinduism. The mythological legends regarding origin of Kerala are essentially Hindu in nature. Many influential saints and movements hail from Kerala. Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
was a leading Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
philosopher who contributed significantly to Hinduism in India and propagated philosophy of Advaita. He was instrumental in establishing four matha
Matha
A matha ) is a term for monastic and similar religious establishments of Hinduism and Jainism. A matha is usually more formal, hierarchical, and rule-based than an ashram.-Advaita Mathas:...
s at Sringeri, Dvaraka, Puri
Puri
Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
and Jyotirmath
Jyotirmath
Jyotirmath , also called Jyotir Math and Joshimath , is a city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is home to one of the four cardinal pīthas established by Adi Shankara.-Demographics:...
. Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri
Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri
Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri , third student of Achyuta Pisharati, was of Madhava of Sangamagrama's Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics. He was a mathematical linguist . His most important scholarly work, Prkriya-sarvawom, sets forth an axiomatic system elaborating on the classical system...
was the other leading Brahmin religious figure who composed Narayaniyam
Narayaniyam
Narayaniyam is a medieval Sanskrit text, comprising a summary study in poetic form of the Bhagavata Purana. It was composed by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, a devotee-poet who lived in the Indian state of Kerala, in the sixteenth century AD...
, a collection of verses in praise of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
. Another notable philosopher and reformer was Narayana Guru
Narayana Guru
Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
. His movement for social reform and eradication of caste based discrimination helped to establish Kerala as one of the most socially progressive states in India. Hindus in Kerala are divided into various castes such as Nambudiris, 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, Ezhava
Ezhava
The Ezhavas are a community with origins in the region presently known as Kerala. They are also known as Ilhava, Irava, Izhava and Erava in the south of the region; as Chovas, Chokons and Chogons in Central Travancore; and as Tiyyas, Thiyas and Theeyas in Malabar...
s, and Dalit
Dalit
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...
s. Kerala was the first region in India which allowed Hindus of any caste to enter and worship in temples (Temple Entry Proclamation
Temple Entry Proclamation
The Temple Entry Proclamation issued by Maharaja Shri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma and his Dewan Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer in 1936 abolished the ban on low-caste people or avarnas from entering Hindu Temples in the state of Travancore .The edict is as follows:Today, the Temple Entry...
).
Various practises of Hinduism are unique to Kerala and are not followed in other parts of India. Different cults of Shiva
Shiva
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...
and 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....
are popular in Kerala. Malayali Hindus also worship Bhagavathi
Bhagavathi
Bhagavathi or Bhagavati is the general way people refer to the Hindu goddesses in Kerala, Goa and Maharashtra states of India. It can be used to refer any of the Hindu goddesses like Durga, Kannaki, Parvati, Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Kali...
as a form of Shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
. Almost every village in Kerala has its own local guardian deity, usually a goddess. Hindus in Kerala also strongly believe in power of snake gods and usually have sacred snake groves known as Sarpa Kavu
Sarpa Kavu
Sarpa Kavu is a traditional natural sacred space seen near traditional homes in Kerala state of South India. The site is believed to be inhabited by snakes, and the area usually contains a representation of Naga Raja and other Naga Devatas , where offerings and rites are performed during special...
near to their houses.
The most popular temples amongst Hindus in Kerala are Vadakkunnathan Temple
Vadakkunnathan Temple
Vadakkunnathan Temple , also known as Thenkailasam and Vrishabhachalam, is an ancient Shiva temple located at the heart of Thrissur city. This temple is a classic example of the Kerala style of architecture and has formidable gopurams on all four sides and also a Koothambalam. Mural paintings that...
, Guruvayur Temple
Guruvayur Temple
Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Krishna, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus and is often referred to as "Bhooloka Vaikuntam" which translates to the holy abode of Vishnu on Earth...
, Sabarimala
Sabarimala
Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year. Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan...
, Sree Poornathrayesa Temple
Sree Poornathrayesa temple
Sree Poornathrayesa temple is situated in Tripunithura, Kochi, the capital of the former Kingdom of Cochin.The temple is very famous in our kerala and also india....
, Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple
Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple
Kurumba Bhagavathi Temple or Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple is in Kodungallur town in Thrissur District of Kerala, India. The idol of the goddess Bhadrakali in the temple is unique as it has eight hands with various attributes. One is holding the head of the Asura, another a sword, next a...
, Chottanikkara Temple
Chottanikkara Temple
The Chottanikkara Temple is a famous temple of the Hindu mother goddess Bhagawati. The temple is located near Ernakulam in the southern Indian state of Kerala and is one of the most popular temples in the state and in terms of temple architecture,this temple stands out to be an ultimate...
and Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Some of these temples have various dress code restrictions. For e.g., in Sabarimala
Sabarimala
Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year. Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan...
, it is prohibited for women between the age of 12–50 years to visit the temple. Temples in Kerala follow elaborate rituals and only priests from the Nambudiri caste can be appointed as priests in major temples. These priests are assisted by a caste known as Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi is a generic name for a collection of castes among Hindus in Kerala who render temple services.-Etymology:The term Ambalavasi is derived from two Malayalam words, being Ambalam and Vasi...
s. Hindu women keep their head uncovered in temples, but its not a strictly followed custom.
Malayali
Malayali
Malayali is the term used to refer to the native speakers of Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala...
Hindus have unique ceremonies such as Chorunu (first feeding of rice to a child) and Vidyāraṃbhaṃ
Vidyarambham
Vidyarambham is a Hindu tradition where children between two and three years old are formally initiated into the characters of the syllabary....
(beginning of education of a child). Marriages amongst Hindus in Kerala are a very simple affair as compared to other parts of India. Hindus in Kerala usually cremate
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
their dead at the southern end of their house. Unlike in other parts of India, daughters also take part in various rituals after cremation. (See picture on left)
Festivals
The major festivals amongst Hindus in Kerala are Onam
Onam
Onam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the people of Kerala, India. The festival commemorates the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali. It falls during the month of Chingam and lasts for ten days...
and Vishu
Vishu
Vishu is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala, usually on April 14 of the Gregorian calendar. This occasion signifies the Sun's transit into the Mesha Raasi , according to Indian astrological calculations, and represents the vernal equinox...
, though the former is more of a pan-Kerala festival. Other festivals include Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivratri or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivarathri is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha of the month of Maagha or Phalguna...
, Krishna Janmashtami, Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
and temple festivals like Pooram
Pooram
Pooram is an annual temple festival held in central Kerala after the summer harvest. Most pooram festivals have at least one ornately decorated elephant being paraded in the procession taken out of the temple precincts...
, Thaipusam
Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai . It is celebrated not only in countries where the Tamil community constitutes a majority, but also in countries where Tamil communities are smaller, such as Singapore and Malaysia...
, Bharani, Nemmara Vallangi Vela, Mamankam festival
Mamankam festival
Mamankam festival or Mamangam festival was an ancient festival celebrated in Thirunavaya, Malabar coast, south India, in the present day state of Kerala from the time of Kulasekharas in every 12 years until 18th century, mostly remembered for the bloody battles occurred during the festivals...
, Radosthsavam, Thalapoli, Pongala
Pongala
Pongala is a Hindu religious festival. The name 'Pongala' means 'to boil over' and refers to the ritualistic offering of porridge made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut gratings, nuts and raisins. Only women devotees are allowed to participate in this ritual.Rice, coconut and jaggery are...
, Ekadashi
Ekadashi
Ekadashi , also spelled as Ekadasi, is the eleventh lunar day of the shukla or krishna paksha of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar . In Hinduism and Jainism it is considered a spiritually beneficial day...
etc. Thrissur Pooram
Thrissur Pooram
Pooram is one of the nakshatras or star in the Hindu panchangam. There are 27 Nakshatras in the Hindu panchangam and a million or more temples in Kerala, and this combination creates numerous possibilities for auspicious occasions, with each temple having varying importance for the different stars...
, Guruvayur Ekadasi
Guruvayur Ekadasi
Ekadasi, the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight, is very auspicious to the Hindus. Of the 24 Ekadasis in a year, the Vrishchika Ekadasi has got special significance in Guruvayur. It falls in the Mandala season . The Navami and Dasami are also very important...
and Nemmara Vela
Nemmara Vela
Nemmara, a small village in the Palakkad District of Kerala state, southern India is known far and wide for its 'Vela' festival known as Nemmara-Vallangi Vela.-Description:...
are some of the more prominent amongst these.
Islam
Mappila
Mappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim community of Kerala, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of...
s in Kerala. They form 24.3% of the population of Kerala. They share a common language (Malayalam) with the rest of the population and have a culture commonly regarded as the Malayalam culture of Kerala with an Arabian blend. The general consensus among historians is that Islam arrived in Kerala through Arab traders either during the time of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
himself (AD 609 - AD 632) or in the following few decades. Kerala has a very ancient relation with the middle east even during the Pre-Islamic period. Muslim merchants (Malik, son of Dinar) settled in Kerala by the 8th century AD and introduced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Later the Zamorin of Kozhikode
Kozhikode
Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
allowed the Arab Muslim traders to settle and form a major community in Kozhikode, from where the religion gradually spread in the following centuries. Significant populations of Muslims live in Calicut
Kozhikode district
Kozhikode District , formerly Calicut, is a district of Kerala state, situated on the southwest coast of India. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 38.25% urbanised...
, Malapuram districts in the Malabar region. Noted historian A. Sreedhara Menon
A. Sreedhara Menon
Professor Alappat Sreedhara Menon was a distinguished historian from Kerala. He received the Padma Bhushan for Literature & Education in 2009, India's third highest civilian honour....
opines that the policy followed by the Zamorins of encouraging Muslim traders to settle down in his kingdom to flourish maritime trade perhaps accounts for the relatively high proportion of Muslims in Malabar. The Muslims also manned the Zamorin's navy and were so intensely pro-Zamorin that one of them issued an order to bring up one male member in every fishermen family in his kingdom as a Muslim so as to get sufficient numbers in his navy. There is also a significant Muslim population living in the coastal regions of central and southern Kerala.
Historians also believe that during invasion of North Kerala by Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
, he forcefully converted many Hindus to Islam. In a letter Tipu sent to one of his generals he claims to have converted over four lakh Hindus.
Since Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
reached Malabar as early as 7th century it had almost mixed with the culture and traditions of the people of Kerala and Hinduism. So, the Islahi movements of Kerala (a part of the renaissance of the community) after the Malabar Rebellion
Malabar Rebellion
The Malabar Rebellion was an armed uprising in 1921 against British authority in the Malabar region of Southern India by Mappila Muslims and the culmination of a series of Mappila revolts that recurred throughout the 19th century and early 20th century...
of 1921, produced a Salafi
Salafi
A Salafi come from Sunni Islam is a follower of an Islamic movement, Salafiyyah, that is supposed to take the Salaf who lived during the patristic period of early Islam as model examples...
sect known as Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen
Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen
Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen is a Salafi Islamic organization and movement within Sunni Islam in Kerala, India. One faction of the organization is working in co-operation with Ahl al-Hadith , an all-Subcontinental Islahi outfit...
from the Sunnis of Kerala. In later years, both these branches split multiple times to produce complicated branches and sects.
Muslims in Kerala enjoy a better social and financial security when compared to Muslims living in other parts of India. Kerala's Muslim population is the fastest growing sect in Kerala.
Christianity
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
writings say that Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
visited Muziris
Muziris
Muziris is an ancient sea-port in Southwestern India on the Periyar River 3.2 km from its mouth. The derivation of the name Muziris is said to be from "Mucciripattanam," "mucciri" means "cleft palate" and "pattanam" means "city". Near Muziris, Periyar River was branched into two like a...
in Kerala in 52 AD to proselytize amongst Kerala's Jewish settlements and from this came Thomasine Christianity. The 3rd and 4th centuries saw an influx of Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians is a term which appears in historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with Gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church and the second and following centuries....
from the Middle East. Knanaya
Knanaya
The Knanaya also known as Q'nanaya, Q'nai, Kanai, or Thekkumbagar, are endogamous Jews who settled in Kerala, India. Their origins are unclear and are hotly disputed by academic scholars...
communities arrived during this time. Syrian Christians remained as an independent group, and they got their bishops from Assyrian Church of the East
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...
until the advent of Portuguese and British colonialists. The arrival of Europeans in the 15th century and discontent with Portuguese interference in religious matters fomented schism into Catholic and Orthodox communities. Further schism and rearrangements led to the formation of the other Indian Churches. Latin Rite Christians were converted by the Portuguese in the 16th and 19th centuries from lower castes where fishing was the traditional occupation. Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
Christian communities formed around this time as Europeans and local Malayalis intermarried. Protestantism arrived a few centuries later with missionary activity during British rule. It is important to note that despite being a heterogeneous group, Malayali Christians find unity in a common history and faith. Various denominations/Churches exists amongst Christians of Kerala.
There are around 20,000 Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
found in Kerala. Though a little in population, they are well known throughout Kerala for their house to house preaching activity.
Christian churches in Kerala have offered hefty sums of cash to Christian families that have large families to increase their religious population. Church offers not less than Then Thousand (10,000) Rupees
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
from onwards every fifth child born. Even though Hindu population is declining much faster than the Christian population, Christian organizations opine that they fear the fast growing Muslim population growth in Kerala.
Buddhism
Images have been discovered in the coastal districts of Alleppey and QuilonQuilon
Quilon may refer to,* Venad, a former state on Malabar Coast, India* Kollam , Kerala state, India* Kollam district, Kerala state...
; the most important Budti Kuttan near Ambalappuzha
Ambalappuzha
Ambalappuzha is a small town in Alappuzha district of Kerala state, south India. The town is famous for its Sri Krishna temple. The Ambalappuzha temple is one of the three important Sri Krishna temples in the state of Kerala....
. Buddhism probably flourished for 200 years (650-850) in Kerala. The Paliyam Copper Plate of the Ay King, Varaguna (885-925 AD) shows that the Buddhists enjoyed some royal patronage even in the tenth century.
The Buddha idol, at Mavelikkara, shows the clear roots and importance of Buddhist religion in Kerala. The idol of Buddha at Mavelikara is four feet tall, and is perhaps the biggest such statue in Kerala. The statues is in seated posture, resembling Padmasana. A feature common to the idols is that hair has not been engraved on the head.
The decline of Buddhism started in the eighth century with the revival of the Brahminical religion. Buddhism faded away gradually and completely disappeared during the reign of the Vaishnavite Kulasekhara
Kulasekhara
Kulasekhara or Later Chera dynasty was a classical Hindu dynasty founded by the saint King Kulashekhara Varman. The dynasty ruled the whole of modern Kerala state , Guddalore and some parts of Nilgiri district and Salem - Coimbatore region in southern India between 9th and 12th centuries AD...
s in the 11th century.
What actually happened was that Buddhism was reabsorbed into Hinduism, from which it broke away. Many Keralites, like the Ezhava
Ezhava
The Ezhavas are a community with origins in the region presently known as Kerala. They are also known as Ilhava, Irava, Izhava and Erava in the south of the region; as Chovas, Chokons and Chogons in Central Travancore; and as Tiyyas, Thiyas and Theeyas in Malabar...
s, who were once supposed to be Buddhists immigrants from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, gradually embraced Hinduism.
Buddhism has left its impact on Kerala. Kerala temples show traces of Buddhist art and architecture. Amarasimha, the author of the popular Sanskrit text-book used in Kerala schools until recently, was a Buddhist. Kumaran Asan
Kumaran Asan
N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...
, the great Kerala poet, was influenced by the great Buddhist religion and wrote the famous, Buddhist poems: Karuna. Chandala Bhikshuki, and Sri Buddha Charitam.
Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
, which arrived in Kerala around the 3rd century BC, has a significant population in the Wayanad district
Wayanad District
Wayanad District in the north-east of Kerala, India, was formed on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Kalpetta is the district headquarters as well as the only municipal town in the district. The region was known as Mayakshetra in the...
bordering the 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...
state. The Jain religion was brought to the South in the third century BC by Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...
(321-297 BC) and the Jain saint Bhadrabahu, according to Jain traditions. They came to Sravanabelgola in Mysore. The Jains came to Kerala with the rest of the Chera immigrants starting in the sixth century. The only existing original Jain temple in Kerala, popularly known as Jainmedu is in Vadakkanthara village, which is about 3 km from Palakkad
Palakkad
Palakkad , formerly known as Palghat, is a municipality and a town in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km2.The city is situated about north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District...
. This temple was reportedly built by Inchanna Satur. This indicates significant population of Jains lived in Palaghat during the 15th century. Later various members of Marwari
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
business community have built Jain temple in Kochi. Remnants of Jain temple known as Chathurmukha Basti is a popular destination in Manjeshwaram
Manjeshwaram
Manjeshwar is the northern tip of Kerala, bordering Karnataka. It is a small coastal village in Kasaragod district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is 21 km from Mangalore town...
, Kasaragod
Kasaragod district
Kasaragod District is one of the districts of the Indian state of Kerala. Kasaragod District was organised as a separate district on 24 May 1984...
.
Some historians claim many Hindu temples might have been once Jain temples. Several places in Wyanad have Jain temples -an indication that North Malabar
North Malabar
North Malabar , is a historic as well as geographic distinction in India used to refer the area covering; present Kasaragod and Kannur Districts, Mananthavady taluk of Wayanad District and Koyilandy & Vatakara taluks of Kozhikode District in modern Kerala and the entire Mahé sub-Division of...
was once a flourishing center of Jainism. Historians believe that the decline of Jainism started about the eighth century. Jainism seems to have completely disappeared from Kerala by the sixteenth century; the foreign visitors from Europe do not mention the Jains at all.
At present, Jainism in Kerala has a very small following, mainly amongst North Indian business community, settled in and around Kochi and Calicut.
Judaism
The only verifiable historical evidence about the Kerala Jews goes back only to the Jewish Copper Plate Grant of Bhaskara Ravi Varman in 1000 AD. This document records the royal gift of rights and privileges to the Jewish Chief of Anjuvannam
Anjuvannam
Anjuvannam or Anjuvannan refers to the community of Cochin Jews.The name derives from the traditional Hindu system of castes where any person not belonging to one of the four principal castes used to be referred to as an anjuvannan...
Joseph Rabban
Joseph Rabban
Joseph Rabban was a Jewish merchant, possibly from Yemen, who came to the Malabar Coast in the mid eighth century. According to the traditions of the Cochin Jews, Joseph was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera ruler Bhaskara Ravivarman II.He was granted the rulership...
. According to some historians, St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
found first converts in Kerala to his new religion amongst many of the Cochin Jews. However these Jews who accepted Christianity retained the Aramaic language
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
once spoken by Jews in Middle East. Their descendants form the core of Syrian Christian (Syrian Malabar Nasrani
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
) community in Kerala. Later in 16th century many Jews from Portugal and Spain settled in Cochin. These Jews were called white Jews as opposed to the native black Jews.
The Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
did not look favorably on the Jews. They destroyed the Jewish settlement in Cranganore and sacked the Jewish town in Cochin and partially destroyed the famous Cochin Synagogue in 1661. However, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
were more tolerant and allowed the Jews to pursue their normal life and trade in Cochin. According to the testimony of the Dutch Jew, Mosss Pereya De Paiva, in 1686 there were 10 synagogues and nearly 500 Jewish families in Cochin. Later Britishers too were tolerant, and the Jews enjoyed peace and protection. After the creation of the State of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1948, most Jews decided to emigrate to Israel. Most of the emigrants to Israel between 1948 and 1955 were from the community of black Jews and brown Jews; they are known as Cochini
Cochin Jews
Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...
in Israel. Since 1960s only few hundred Jews (mostly white Jews) remained in Kerala with only two synagogues open for service: the Pardesi Synagogue in Matancherry built in 1567 and the synagogue in Parur
North Paravur
North Paravur formerly known as Parur is a town, municipality in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is an old and growing municipality. Paravur is the capital of Paravur Taluk in Ernakulam district...
.
Today the number of the Jews in Kerala has dwindled down to few dozens; most of them are elderly people.
Tribal and other religious faiths
Various groups classified as tribes in Kerala still dominate various remote and hilly areas of Kerala. They have retained various rituals and practices of their ancestors despite influences of mainstream religions.Religious tensions
Despite Kerala having a reputation of being communally least sensitive states of India, Kerala too has its share of religious conflicts. The worst in recent past was in Marad in KozhikodeKozhikode
Kozhikode During Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikkode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. Kozhikode was once the capital of an independent kingdom of the same name and later of the erstwhile Malabar District...
district in 2003, The Ayodhya-Babri Masjid incident
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
also had repercussions in Kerala. In 1983 there was an incident in Nilackal near Sabarimala
Sabarimala
Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year. Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan...
over discovery of a Cross. However during Nilackal incident no major violence was reported. Lately however various extreme religious groups have become influential in Kerala. In 2008 there was tension in streets of Kerala over introduction of a seventh standard textbook. The controversy was about a chapter in the book called Mathamillaatha Jeevan (Jeevan, without religion). Jeevan refused belonging to any religion or caste. Various groups alleged that this book was atheistic anti-religious propaganda by ruling Left Front government.
See also
- Hinduism in KeralaHinduism in KeralaHinduism is the indigenous religion of Kerala and Hindus make up about 57% population of the state according to the 2001 census. Hindus in Kerala usually have a lower birth rate and a higher death rate compared to the general population....
- MappilaMappilaMappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim community of Kerala, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of...
- Syrian Malabar NasraniSyrian Malabar NasraniThe Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
- Cochin JewsCochin JewsCochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews , are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon, though historically attested migration dates from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Historically, they lived in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the...