Sanketam

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{{Orphan|date=January 2021}}

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'''Sanketam''' was the name given to temple corporations<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHtbkuXruzwC&dq=sanketam+nambudiri&pg=PA49|title=Agrarian Relations in Late Medieval Malabar|last=Narayanan|first=M. T.|date=2003|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=9788172111359|location=|pages=49|language=en}}</ref> in medieval [[Kerala]]. Land grants given to Brahmins were organized into ''sanketams'', which formed semi-autonomous, self governing bodies.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6HrAAAAMAAJ&q=sanketam+nambudiri|title=Social Science Probings|last=|first=|date=1994|publisher=People's Publishing House|isbn=|location=|pages=70|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQ3DAAAAIAAJ&q=sanketam+nambudiri|title=Josei Sōzoku No Ronri: Sekaishiteki Shiya de Kafuchōsei to Fukeisei O Saikō Suru|last=Ochiai|first=Emiko|date=2003|publisher=International Research Center for Japanese Studies|isbn=|location=|pages=180|language=en}}</ref> According to M.T. Narayanan, the ''sanketam'' was the primary institution through which the [[Nambudiri Brahmins]] exerted their influence on the politics of Kerala.

They were the predominant landowning agency of the feudal age, exercising revenue and judicial power. In the region of the sanketam, all temporal authorities were exercised by the temple officials and the local chieftains wielded no control.<ref name=":0" /> M.T. Narayanan classifies ''sanketams'' as ''grama sanketams'', which formed the original 32 Brahmin settlements of Kerala and ''kshetra sanketams'', which referred to fresh settlements.

[[David M. Schneider|Shneider]] and [[Kathleen Gough|Gough]] distinguish four types of temples among the upper castes of Kerala.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiRL3rnCVfAC&dq=sanketam+nambudiri&pg=PA310|title=Matrilineal Kinship|last1=Schneider|first1=David Murray|last2=Gough|first2=Kathleen|date=1961|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=|location=|pages=311|language=en}}</ref> The first of these were the temples belonging to ''sanketams'', whose estates were managed by Nambudiris. These temples were dedicated to pan-India Hindu deities like [[Shiva|Siva]] or [[Vishnu]]. Animal sacrifices were forbidden within the temples of the ''sanketams'' and they were restricted to the Brahmin population of the village. The priests of these temples were often lower ranking Nambudiri priests.<ref name=":1"/> A few [[Ambalavasi|temple-servant]] castes also used to live in these ''sanketams''. Second were the private temples owned by Nambudiris which were smaller versions of the first. The third and fourth kinds of temples belonged to royal matrilineal lineages and the "common" Nair families and these were often dedicated to [[Bhagavati|Bhagavathi]] or [[Bhadrakali]].<ref name=":1" />

== Governance ==
The governance of the temple-state was carried out by the body of the ''yogam'', which consisted of the heads (eldest male) of all [[Nambudiri|Brahmin]] households belonging to the designated region. These members (''yogakkar'') elected a committee of ''ooralans'' (heads of certain Nambudiri households) and a chief, who exercised supreme authority within the confines of the sanketam. The chief (''sankethaadhikari'') who was usually a kshatriya was appointed by the Brahmin head of the ''yogam'' (known as the ''yogathiri''). In this way, the sanketam functioned independent of the existing political structure of the area (which may be ruled by a ''[[naduvazhi]]'' or a ''desavazhi'').

A sanketam could also have several smaller satellite temples (''keezhedams'') operating under its nominal control, in which case, consent for certain events had to sought from the parent temple.

== Famous temple states of the pre-British era ==

* [[Peruvanam Mahadeva Temple]]
* [[Vadakkunnathan Temple|Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple]]
* [[Koodalmanikyam Temple|Irinjalakkuda Koodalmanikyam Temple]]
* Sukapuram Dakshinamurthy Temple
* [[Guruvayur Temple|Guruvayoor Temple]] (whose parent temple/''meledam'' was the famous Trikkanamathilakam temple
*Elamkunnappuzha Sanketham, Ernakulam District
*Thiruvalla Sanketham now in Patthanamthitta district.

* Trikkandiyoor maha Shiva temple,Tirur

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Medieval Kerala]]

{{India-hist-stub}}

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Sanketam