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{{short description|Malayali Brahmin caste, native to Kerala, India}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
[[File:Nambudiri.JPG|thumb|1883 sketch depicting a Nambūdiri man with the traditional ''[[sikha|pūrvaśikhā]]'', or forelock]]

The '''Nambudiri''' ({{IPA-ml|n̪ɐmbuːd̪iɾi}}), also transliterated as '''Nampoothiri''', '''Nambūdiri''', '''Namboodiri''', '''Nampoothiri''', and '''Nampūtiri''', are a [[Malayali Brahmin]] caste, native to what is now the state of [[Kerala]], India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite, owning a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar until the [[Land reform in Kerala|Kerala Land Reforms]] starting in 1957,<ref>{{cite journal | title=Land Reforms in Theory and Practice: The Kerala Experience| first=Radhakrishnan |last=P.| journal=Economic and Political Weekly | date=December 1981| volume=16| issue=52 | pages=A129–A137 |jstor=4370526}}</ref> and intermarrying with the [[Nair]] monarchs and aristocracy through [[sambandham]].

They have historically been distinguished by rare practices such as the adherence to [[Śrauta]] ritualism, the [[Purva-Mimamsa|Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]], and orthodox tradition,<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Turning-Point in a Living Tradition somayāgam 2003
| first1=Mahadevan |last1=T.P.| first2=Staal |last2=Fritz|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies| date=2003| volume=10|
issue=1| pages=1–29| doi=10.11588/ejvs.2003.1.743|url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/743 |issn=1084-7561}}</ref> as well as many idiosyncratic customs unique among [[Brahmins]], including [[primogeniture]]. [[Cyriac Pullapilly]] mentions that the dominating influence of the Nambudiris was to be found in all matters: religion, politics, society, economics and culture of Kerala.<ref name=Pullapilly1976pp26-30/>

==History==
[[File:Parshuramsaraswats.jpg|thumb|The Nambudiri associate their immigration to Kerala with the legendary creation of the region by Parasurama.]]

===Origin===
Nambudiri mythology associates their immigration to Kerala from the banks of [[Narmada]], [[Krishna River|Krishna]], [[Kaveri]] rivers with the legendary creation of Kerala by [[Parasurama]], the 6th avatar of [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TuPeXFP0WgC |title=Communal Road to a Secular Kerala |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |first=George |last=Mathew |year=1989 | isbn=978-81-7022-282-8 |pages=23–25}}</ref> According to this legend, the region was created when Parasurama threw his axe into the sea<ref>{{cite book |title=The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Berger |editor2-first=Frank |editor2-last=Heidemann |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQF5-d9BMqcC&pg=PT169 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13406-118-1 |chapter=Kerala: Plurality and Consensus |first1=Heike |last1=Moser |first2=Paul |last2=Younger |page=169}}</ref> Although it is known that the present-day region of Kerala was once governed by the [[Chera dynasty]], little information exists regarding its early ethnography.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQF5-d9BMqcC&pg=PT170|title=The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory|last1=Moser|first1=Heike|last2=Younger|first2=Paul|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-13406-118-1|editor1-last=Berger|editor1-first=Peter|page=170|chapter=Kerala: Plurality and Consensus|editor2-last=Heidemann|editor2-first=Frank}}</ref>
Brahmin presence in the Tamil country is attested from the [[Sangam period|Sangam]] period onward. Based on the fact that Nambudiris are Pūrvaśikhā Brahmins wearing the traditional hair tuft on the front, T.P Mahadevan proposes that they are the descendants of these Sangam age Brahmins who moved west into the region of Malabar during the [[Kalabhra dynasty|Kalabhra]] interregnum, with those remaining behind in what is today [[Tamil Nadu]] composing the [[Sholiyar|Śōḻiya]] Brahmins.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mahadevan|first=Thennilapuram P.|date=2016-01-29|title=On the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata, Brahman Migrations, and Brāhmī Paleography|url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies|language=en|volume=15|issue=2|pages=4|doi=10.11588/ejvs.2008.2.327|issn=1084-7561}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hiltebeitel|first=Alf|title=Introducing the Mahābhārata|journal=Religious Studies Review|year=2015|volume=41:4|issue=4|pages=153–174|doi=10.1111/rsr.12271}}</ref> This sets them apart from the later Aparaśikhā Brahmin (wearing their hair tufts on the back) migrants to South India such as the Tamil [[Iyer]]s. According to T.P Mahadevan, the Nambudiris brought with them a very early recension of the [[Mahabharata]] which became the basis of the Malayalam language version of the epic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mahadevan|first=Thennilapuram P.|date=2016-01-29|title=On the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata, Brahman Migrations, and Brāhmī Paleography|url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies|language=en|volume=15|issue=2|pages=1–146|doi=10.11588/ejvs.2008.2.327|issn=1084-7561}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Between the empires : society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Olivelle, Patrick.|isbn=9780195305326|location=Oxford|pages=252|oclc=61821908}}</ref>

There are lots of theories as to how Nambudiri [[Brahmin]]s came to settle in Kerala, the commonly accepted point of view is that they moved in from [[North India]] via [[Tulu Nadu]] or [[Karnataka]].<ref name="askh"/> Another theory based on the retention of ''[[Mahabharata]]'' types as memorized by different [[Brahmin]] communities points to [[Tamil Nadu]] as the base from which they migrated to Kerala via the [[Palakkad Gap]], which is also the largest opening in the southern [[Western Ghats]], and settled around the river [[Bharathappuzha]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327/322|title=On the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata, Brahman Migrations, and Brāhmī Paleography|year=2016|volume=15|doi=10.11588/ejvs.2008.2.327|last1=Mahadevan|first1=Thennilapuram P.|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |issn=1084-7561}}</ref> The region around [[Coimbatore]] near [[Karnataka]]- western [[Tamil Nadu]] border was ruled by the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]] during [[Sangam period]] between 1st and the 4th centuries CE and it served as the eastern entrance to the [[Palakkad Gap]], the principal trade route between the [[Malabar Coast]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="Trade">{{cite news|last=Subramanian|first=T. S|title=Roman connection in Tamil Nadu|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007/01/28/&prd=th|access-date=28 October 2011|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=28 January 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919235748/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2007012800201800.htm&date=2007%2F01%2F28%2F&prd=th|archive-date=19 September 2013}}</ref> The ''[[Azhvanchery Thamprakkal]]'', who were the titular head of all Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala, originally had right over parts of present-day [[Palakkad]] Taluk.<ref name="askh">{{Cite book|title='Kerala Charitram|last=Shreedhara Menon|first=A|publisher=DC Books|year=2007|isbn=9788126415885|location=Kottayam|pages=200–201|url=https://keralabookstore.com/book/keralacharithram/11148/}}</ref> Later they moved westwards along the River [[Bharathappuzha]] and settled around the river. Finally the ''Azhvanchery Thamprakkal'' bought Athavanad-[[Tirunavaya]] region in present-day [[Tirur Taluk]] and gave Palakkad to ''Palakkad Raja''s (''Tarur Swaroopam'') who were originally from [[Athavanad]] region.<ref name="askh"/> Many of the oldest Nambudiri settlements of Kerala are situated around the River [[Bharathappuzha]].<ref name="askh"/><ref name="AD1806"/> The [[Kingdom of Tanur]], [[Kingdom of Valluvanad]], [[Kingdom of Cochin|''Perumpadappu Swaroopam'']], and the kingdom of [[Palakkad]], located around the river [[Bharathappuzha]], were once strongholds of Nambudiris.<ref name="askh"/><ref name="AD1806"/> The introduction of [[Grantha script]] which later got evolved into [[Malayalam script]], and the evolution of Malayalam language through [[Sanskritisation]] of [[Karintamil]] are highly related to the Brahmins who migrated through the [[Palakkad Gap]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A Short History of Malayalam Literature |author=Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker |url=https://archive.org/details/ASHORTHISTORYOFMALAYALAMLITERATURE |year=2006 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |publisher=Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala}}</ref><ref name="askh"/>

Anthropologists Heike Moser and Paul Younger note that the Nambudiri Brahmin presence predates the 9th century, as attested by grants of land given to them by ruling families.<ref name="moseryounger" /> According to the historian [[Romila Thapar]], local kings and chiefs encouraged them to move to the area by offering such tax-exempt land grants in return for them officiating in Vedic rites that would legitimise the grantors' status as rulers.<ref name="collins">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v39x_fKR-ykC&pg=PA305|title=Weberian Sociological Theory|last=Collins|first=Randall|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-52131-426-8|page=305|author-link=Randall Collins}}</ref> They also gained land and improved their influence over the socio-economic life of the region by helping rulers during the wars between the [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] and Chera dynasties when Vedic schools were turned into military academies.<ref name="shanmugam">{{cite journal|last=Shanmugam|first=S. V.|date=1976|title=Formation and Development of Malayalam|journal=Indian Literature|volume=19|issue=3|pages=5–30|jstor=24157306}}</ref> The ''[[Azhvanchery Thamprakkal]]'' based at [[Athavanad]], who were also the titular head of all Nambudiris and the Lord of [[Kalpakanchery]] based at the neighbouring [[Kalpakanchery]] were usually present at the coronation (''Ariyittu Vazhcha'') of a new [[Zamorin]] of [[History of Kozhikode|Calicut]].<ref name="AD1806"/> ''Kalpakanchery Thamprakkal'' were related to the Nambudiris of [[Kumbidi|Panniyoor]] while ''[[Azhvanchery Thamprakkal]]'' to those of [[Sukapuram|Chowwara]], those were among the prominent Nambudiri villages in Kerala.<ref name="AD1806">{{cite book
| author = K. V. Krishna Iyer
| title = Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806
| publisher = Norman Printing Bureau, Kozhikode
| url = https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.3379
| year = 1938}}</ref>

===Early history===
Operating from their ''[[illam]]'' houses, Nambudiris' ownership of agricultural land under the [[janmi]] system increased over many centuries and, according to Moser and Younger, they "established landholding temples and taught the people the rules of caste". The Nambudiris have been described to be responsible for the Sanskrit influence on [[Malayalam]], basically a Dravidian language, due to the Nambudiri Brahmin's mixing of [[Sanskrit]] and the local [[Tamil language|Tamil]] language.<ref name="moseryounger" /><ref name="Pullapilly1976pp26-30">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNAI9F8IBOgC |title=Religion and Social Conflict in South Asia |volume=22 |series=International studies in sociology and social anthropology |editor-first=Bardwell L. |editor-last=Smith |publisher=E. J. Brill |first=Cyriac K. |last=Pullapilly |author-link=Cyriac Pullapilly |chapter=The Izhavas of Kerala and their Historic Struggle for Acceptance in the Hindu Society |location=Netherlands |year=1976 |access-date=9 June 2011 |isbn=978-90-04-04510-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/religionsocialco0000unse/page/26 26–30] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/religionsocialco0000unse/page/26 }}</ref>

Medieval Kerala has been characterised as an oligarchy which was dominated by the Nambudiris, who owned all the temples and their subsidiary villages.<ref name="Prange 2018 p. 167">{{cite book | last=Prange | first=S.R. | title=Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast | publisher=Cambridge University Press | series=Cambridge Oceanic Histories | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-108-34269-8 | page=167}}</ref> The Nambudiris had influence with the ruling class through the practice of ''[[sambandam]]'', where younger Nambudiris used to have relationships with Kshatriya women or women from the upper sections of the Nair caste.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.39815/page/n7|title = The Cochin Tribes and Castes Vol. 2|year = 1912}}</ref> The children of such unions were not considered Nambudiris, but a part of their matrilocal lineages.<ref name="Prange 2018 p. 167" /> As a result of such unions, many kings and ruling chiefs in Kerala would be the offspring of Nambudiri fathers. These arrangements allowed the Nambudiris to gain political power in addition to religious and cultural dominance.<ref name="Prange 2018 p. 167" />

The Nambudiri's grip on land was maintained through the practice of strict [[primogeniture]] and [[Patrilineality|patrilineal]] inheritance.<ref name="moseryounger" /> Despite their younger members having [[hypergamy|hypergamous relationships]] with [[Nair]]s, whose caste traditions were [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]], Nambudiri families remained aloof from general society.<ref name="moseryounger">{{cite book |title=The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Berger |editor2-first=Frank |editor2-last=Heidemann |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQF5-d9BMqcC&pg=PT172 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13406-118-1 |chapter=Kerala: Plurality and Consensus |first1=Heike |last1=Moser |first2=Paul |last2=Younger |pages=172–178}}</ref> Although the historian E. K. Pillai has claimed that the Nambudiris from the 1100s enforced matrilineal [[polyandry]] on the previously patrilineal communities of the area, sociologist [[Randall Collins]] thinks it is unlikely that such a change could be imposed and says that "more probably it was the result of a process of marriage politics spread by emulation in the decentralised situation of status competition." Some other scholars believe that the matrilineal customs predate the period entirely and cite the queens of the [[Pandyan dynasty]] as evidence for this.<ref name="collins" />

===Modern history===
The unwillingness of Nambudiris to adapt to changes in wider society persisted until the early years of the 20th century but [[Susan Bayly]] believes that their decline in significance can be traced to the period 1729-1748 when [[Marthanda Varma]] established the [[Kingdom of Travancore]] and chose to use [[Deshastha Brahmin]]s from [[Tamil Nadu]] in his civil service. She believes that decision undermined the relationship between the Nambudiri Brahmins and royalty in the region, although others have said that Varma's influence was short-lived and that the main cause of change was the arrival of British colonial administrators, such as [[Colin Macaulay]] and [[John Munro, 9th of Teaninich|John Munro]], from the early 1800s. After the passing of the Charter Acts of 1833 and 1853 in the British Parliament, the British encouraged the work of Christian missionaries, notably in provision of education, and began the introduction of a judicial system that would have a significant impact on the landholdings, inheritance customs and marriage arrangements of both the Nambudiris and Nairs. The traditional basis of life was challenged by these and other changes, affecting also the other major ethnic groups of the area, such as the [[Ezhava]]s and the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Syrian Christian]]s.<ref name="moseryounger"/> Like others, the desire for social reform went strong among the Nambudiris which led to the formation of the ''Yogakshema movement'' in 1908 in order to agitate for the marriage of all the junior males within the community itself. It also focused on popularising the English language study and abolishing the [[Purdah]] system among the Nambudiri females.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Menon|first=A. Sreedhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MmIrngEACAAJ|title=A Survey of Kerala History|date=1991|publisher=Viswanathan|pages=314–315|language=en}}</ref>

==Religious customs==
[[File:Yajna1.jpg|thumb|Nambūdiri Brahmin performing śrauta rites]]

===Vedic learning===
The following Vedic [[Shakha|recensions]] are attested among them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mahadevan|first=Thennilapuram P.|date=2016-01-29|title=On the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata, Brahman Migrations, and Brāhmī Paleography|url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies|language=en|volume=15|issue=2|pages=17–18|doi=10.11588/ejvs.2008.2.327|issn=1084-7561}}</ref>

# Rigveda, the ''Śākala'' recension which is the only extant recension of the Rigveda across India. The Nambudiris follow both the ''Āśvalāyana'' and ''Śāṅkhāyana'' [[Srauta Sutras|Śrauta Sūtras]]. The latter, called the Kauṣītaki tradition among Nambudiris is restricted to them. The Kauṣītakis are believed to have belonged to the ''Bāṣkala'' recension of the Rigveda, but that recension has become extinct among the Nambudiris.
# Yajurveda, the ''Taittirīya'' śākhā with the ''Baudhāyana Śrauta'' and ''Gṛhya Sutra''s, ''Vādhūla'' ''Śrauta'' and ''Gṛhya Sutra''s, and ''Āgniveśya'' ''Gṛhya Sutra''
# Samaveda in the ''Jaiminīya'' recension, which is elsewhere found only among the Śōḻiya Brahmans, from whom the ancestral Nambudiri population split.

===Agnicayana===
The ancient Vedic ritual of [[Agnicayana]] (the altar of fire), which spans a 12-day period and which [[Frits Staal]] and Robert Gardner claim to be one of the oldest known rituals, was maintained by Nambudiri Brahmins until at least 1975. Although it may have largely died out elsewhere in India and thus be symptomatic of the community's resistance to change,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Modern Anthropology of India: Ethnography, Themes and Theory |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Berger |editor2-first=Frank |editor2-last=Heidemann |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQF5-d9BMqcC&pg=PT173 |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13406-118-1 |chapter=Kerala: Plurality and Consensus |first1=Heike |last1=Moser |first2=Paul |last2=Younger |page=173}}</ref> David Knipe notes that it is still performed regularly in [[Andhra Pradesh]] and has been for centuries.<ref name="moseryounger173">{{cite book |last=Knipe |first=David M. |year=2015 |title=Vedic Voices: Intimate Narratives of a Living Andhra Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QedcBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |page=46 |isbn=978-0-19939-769-3}}</ref>

==Domestic culture==
===Attire===
Traditionally, they wore a simple cloth around the waist called a thorthu (or [[Mundu|thortumundu]]), in domestic settings. When they had to travel, they wore two sets of cloth in addition known as a vasthram.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

Nambudiris wore their traditional hair tufts ([[Sikha|''kuṭumi'' or ''śikhā'']]) on the front like the [[Dikshitar]]s of Tamil Nadu.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mahadevan|first=Thennilapuram P.|date=2016-01-29|title=On the Southern Recension of the Mahābhārata, Brahman Migrations, and Brāhmī Paleography|url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/327|journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies|language=en|volume=15|issue=2|pages=Year: 2014|doi=10.11588/ejvs.2008.2.327|issn=1084-7561}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hiltebeitel|first=Alf|title=Introducing the Mahābhārata|journal=Religious Studies Review|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=153–174|doi=10.1111/rsr.12271|issn=0319-485X|year=2015}}</ref>

===Marriage customs===
Nambudiri Brahmin families practised a more strict version of [[primogeniture]] than Brahmin communities elsewhere in India. Under this custom, only the eldest son could marry a Nambudiri woman and thus produce an heir to the family property. Younger sons were restricted to [[sambandham|sambandam]] relationships with non-Brahmin women, whom the Nambudiris considered to be concubines and whose offspring could not inherit.<ref>{{cite book |title=Weberian Sociological Theory |first=Randall |last=Collins |author-link=Randall Collins |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-52131-426-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v39x_fKR-ykC&pg=PA300 |pages=300–301}}</ref> This tradition limited the extent of marriage within their own caste and led to the practice of hypergamy with the Nair community. [[Kathleen Gough]] notes that:{{blockquote|These hypergamous unions were regarded by Brahmans as socially acceptable [[concubinage]], for the union was not initiated with Vedic rites, the children were not legitimized as Brahmans, and neither the woman nor her child was accorded the rights of kin. By the matrilineal castes, however, the same unions were regarded as marriage, for they fulfilled the conditions of ordinary Nayar marriage and served to legitimize the child as an acceptable member of his matrilineal lineage and caste."<ref>{{cite book |title=Matrilineal Kinship |editor1-first=David Murray |editor1-last=Schneider |editor2-first=E. Kathleen |editor2-last=Gough |chapter=Nayars: Central Kerala |first=E. Kathleen |last=Gough |year=1961 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-02529-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfdvTbfilYAC |author-link=Kathleen Gough |access-date=2011-06-09 |page=320}}</ref>}}

The disparity in caste ranking in a relationship between a Brahmin man and a Nair woman meant that the woman was unable to live with her husband(s) in the Brahmin family and so remained in her own family. The children resulting from such marriages always became Nairs. [[K. M. Panikkar]] argues that it is this type of relationship that resulted in the matrilineal and [[matrilocal]] system.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Some Aspects of Nayar Life| first=Kavalam Madhava |last=Panikkar| journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute| date=July–December 1918| volume=48 |url=https://archive.org/stream/SomeAspectsOfNayarLife/SomeAspectsOfNayarLifeCopy#page/n0/mode/2up |author-link=Kavalam Madhava Panikkar |access-date=2011-06-09 |page=265}}</ref> It has also been argued that the practice, along with judicious selection of the man who tied the ''thali'', formed a part of the Nair aspirational culture whereby they would seek to improve their status within the caste. Furthermore, that: {{blockquote|... among the higher-ranking Nayars (and Kshatriyas and Samantans) in contradistinction to the "commoner" Nayars, no two subdivisions admitted to equal status. Thus the relations set up by the tali-rite [ie: the ''[[Kettu Kalyanam|thalikettu kalyanam]]''] and the sambandham union were always hypergamous.<ref name="fuller">{{cite journal |title=The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste |first=Christopher John |last=Fuller |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=283–312 |date=Winter 1975 |doi=10.1086/jar.31.4.3629883 |jstor=3629883 |s2cid=163592798 }}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

Although it is certain that in theory hypergamy can cause a shortage of marriageable women in the lowest ranks of a caste and promote upwards social movement from the lower Nair subdivisions, the numbers involved would have been very small. It was not a common practice outside the higher subcaste groups and the Nambudiris had mostly stopped the practice by the 1920s.<ref name="fuller"/>

===Koodiyattam (artform)===
The form of Sanskrit theatre known as [[Koodiyattam]], which is native to Kerala, was traditionally patronised by Nambudiris.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

==See also==
*[[Pushpaka Brahmin]]
*[[Tuluva Brahmin]]
*[[Smarthavicharam]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nambudiri}}
*[http://www.namboothiri.com Namboothiri Websites Trust]

[[Category:Brahmin communities of Kerala]]
[[Category:Brahmin communities across India]]
[[Category:Hindu communities]]

Nambudiri - Revision history

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