Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1244.2

c8.1244.2

If, during this period, Aryan civilization had taken root to such an extent in south India, the advent of the Aryans to south India must have taken place at least two or three centuries prior to this period. The Nambūtiris of Kerala are called Malayāla Brahmins. Between them and the Brahmins of other countries there are differences in manners and customs. They are given below:— 1) The Brahmins of other parts of India do not perform agnihotra rites (maintaining the holy fire by burnt offering) so elaborately as the Malayāla Brahmins. 2) Among the sixteen purificatory rites, Agnisvikāra (or taking up of sacrificial fire) is an important item in Malabar. From Vedic period Agni (Fire) had become a prominent God. Most of the verses in Rgveda are concerned with fire. The attachment of the Brahmins of Kerala to fire shows their antiquity. 3) Much importance is attached to the learning of scriptures and priest-hood in Kerala. There were 18 Maṭhas and residential institutions in Kerala for giving religious education. 4) The peculiar type of recitation of the Vedas of the Malayāla Brahmins and the accompanying gestures of their hands and the movements of the head at the time of recitation are considered by them to be ancient. Even today certain sounds are produced by them in the Vedic way. (For instance Samrāl—Samrāṭ; Vaṣar—Vaṣaṭ; Iḍe—Ile etc.).