NAYAR OF INDIA CULTURE

Nayar of India-Culture

Nayar of India-Culture

Introduction

The Indian state of Kerala has number of caste groups and Nayar are considered to be one of the most important groups of this state. History of Nayar's can be traced back to hundreds of years, but in this article emphasis would be on the Nayar's culture during the last 100 years. Traditionally the people of Nayar are mostly warriors, rulers and landowners. At the end of the 18th century, Nayar started to desert their primary role of warriors and as a result they lost their hard earned political power. Nayar's started taking interest in the western education during the early part of the 19th century, but later they started acquiring education in their native language and started preferring white collar jobs (Mauro, 2003).

The Indian state of Kerala has a population density of around 1,244 people per square km. There has been a tremendous influx of social experts in the area who are trying to come up with a successful family planning, but still, the density of area is expected to be on the higher side according to the latest researches and consensus.



Kinship

Traditionally speaking, Nayar's are matrilineal. The Nayar comprises of all matrilineally related kin, female and male, who are descended mostly from a female ancestor. The property in Nayar culture used to hold impartible, while several members are entitled to preservation within the Nayar, but they cannot claim a separate allocation. During the 1930s, all these kinship cultures among the Nayar's started to change and the partition was made legally 'possible'. A typical Nayar's family consists of a mother, children's, grand children's, their brothers, some other descendants through their sisters, and different relatives through some of the dead ancestors.

Inside each Nayar family, subgroup consists of a set of Individuals, who are usually headed by a woman who is called 'Tavari'.

Kinship Terminology.

The kinship terminology is followed under the Dravidian pattern. In today's era, lifestyle is completely under the influence of the Dravidian pattern, which has a very clear distinction between the patrilateral and matrilateral kin.

The marriage culture among the Nayar's is of great debate throughout India. There were substantial sub-regional differences along with differences by family prestige and sub-caste.

Nayar culture involves two types of marriages. First is Telikettu Kalyanaam or the necklace tying ceremony, while the other one is called Sambandham (the traditional nuptials of a woman and man). Tali-tying ceremony is held before the age of puberty and is often the ceremony which is held for large number of young women to save time and money.

Depending on group, the tali may be joined by a constituent of a connected lineage by a constituent of higher sub caste of the Nayar culture, either by the matrilineal Ambilavasi or by the constituent of a regal lineage (Markovits, 2004).

During the 1950s, it became widespread for some young women to have 'tali' joined by their mothers. This is still contentious, if this observance was ever a prescribed wedding ceremony ...