The Nangu Thalis of Kodungallur, Where Brahmin Dominance in Kerala Began

From roughly the eighth century CE until the middle of the last century, the various shifting social orders of Kerala were governed by legal codes framed by Brahmins. The Brahmins who arrived in Malanad, without ever giving up their sacrificial rites and Vedic traditions, and upholding the varnashrama order, subjugated the local chieftains of the lands they settled in and rose to become the dominant power over society. The Nangu Thalis ("Four Thalis") are Brahmin assembly-centres established around the eighth century over the remains of Vanchi Nagaram — believed to have been the capital of the early Chera kings — on the northern bank of the Periyar. These centres, also known as sthalis, were mostly built around Shiva temples. Known as Melthali, Keezhthali, Nediyathali, and Chingapurathu Thali, these ancient centres of learning in old Kerala survive today only as Shiva temples. It is now understood that the Thalis functioned not merely as temple venues where scholarly assemblies met, but also as genuine seats of power. Today, we use the word "village" to mean a sparsely populated, non-urbanized settlement where people of various communities live intermixed. But in ancient Kerala, the term "gramam" referred exclusively to the residential area of the Namboothiri Brahmins. The settlements of other castes surrounding a gramam were called cheri. Each gramam had a village temple at its centre, and administrative control over the gramam and its surrounding cheris rested with the Brahmin assembly of Uralars, centred on that temple — a system known as Uranma. Each Brahmin gramam, together with its dependent cheris, was known collectively by a distinct name in this broader sense. The local chieftain (naduvazhi) of the territory in which a Brahmin gramam lay had only limited authority over it. The Uralars granted the naduvazhi the status of "protector" (rakshapurushan) — one who defended and obeyed the gramam, its temple, and the Brahmins themselves. This limitation on the chieftain's authority frequently led to power struggles between naduvazhis and Uralars, of which history offers numerous examples. The gramam system began with the migration of Namboothiri Brahmins into Kerala. In the old conception, "Kerala" stretched from Gokarna in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. It was reckoned that there were 32 gramams in Tulunad, north of the Chandragiri river, and 32 gramams in Malayalam-speaking land to its south — Kerala being the union of Tulunad and Malayalam Nadu. Among the Namboothiris, tradition holds that Parashurama created 64 gramams and settled them there. However, historical indications suggest that Vedic followers who set out from Ahichhatra in the Gangetic plain reached Bhrigukachcha at the mouth of the Narmada, settled there for a long period, and then gradually spread southward. These "gods on earth" (bhoodevas) continued their journey into the Deccan in search of fertile, paddy-growing plains. It is also recorded that the Kadamba king Mayuravarman invited further Brahmins from Ahichhatra to migrate south. The first Brahmin settlement in Malayalam-speaking land took place at Perinjallur — present-day Taliparamba. The Udayavarma Charitam records that the eighth-century Mushika-dynasty king Udayavarman Kolathiri, seeking atonement for the killing of a Brahmin, brought "sea-crossing twice-born" (sagara-dwijas) from Tulunad and settled them in Kolathunad, after which they gave up Tulu-Brahmin customs and culture, adopted Malayalam culture, and became equal in status to the Namboothiris — though some argue this event actually occurred in the eleventh century. The southward migration of Brahmins into Kerala occurred mainly in four distinct waves. The first wave went to Perinjallur, and subsequently to the gramams of Payyannur, Paravur, and Chengannur. These later became known as the four kazhakams, ranking above the 32 gramams that eventually took shape. Just as migration moved southward, later migrations also moved from south to north — for instance, from Chengannur to Kadamuri and Kaviyoor, further north. Evidence from the founding periods of the Chengannur, Thiruvalla, Aranmula, and Thrikkodithanam temples suggests that this first southward migration may have occurred even before the seventh century. The second, more extensive wave of migration took place during the era of Perumal rule, when the 32 gramams took shape as a fully developed village system. It was in the tenth and eleventh centuries that the "eighteen-and-a-half Thalis" were established in order to consolidate authority over local ruling lineages. It was also during this period that the Muzhikkalam Kacham became codified law. The third wave of migration resulted from the Panniyur–Shukapuram conflicts of the fourteenth century. With the Zamorin's intervention, Shaiva Brahmins of Shukapuram set fire to the Panniyur gramam and diminished the power of the Varaha deity's idol in its temple; fearing the ensuing unrest, Brahmins from both gramams fled to the southern villages where their relatives had earlier settled, and took up residence there. This too was, proportionally, a substantial migration, memories of which have persisted among the residents of these villages for centuries. The fourth migration occurred in the second half of the eighteenth century, during the Malabar dominance of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Certain Namboothiri landlords and nobles, who had opposed the Mysore sultans and supported Malabar's traditional chieftains, fled to Travancore for fear of retaliation. King Dharma Raja settled them in various places — though by then the concept of the Brahmin gramam had lost much of its earlier relevance, so they did not necessarily settle only in the old gramams. The old Namboothiri gramams are believed to have numbered 32, including: Payyannur, Perinjellur, Alathur, Karanthola, Shukapuram, Panniyur, Karikkad, Ishanamangalam, Thrissivaperoor, Peruvanam, Chamunda, Irinjalakuda, Avittaputhoor, Paravur, Airanikkulam, Muzhikkulam, Kuzhoor, Adavoor, Chengamanad, Ilibhyam, Uliyannur, Kazhuthanad, Ettumanoor, Kidangoor, Kumaranalloor, Kadamuri, Kaviyoor, Thiruvalla, Chengannur, Aranmula, Venmani, and Neermanna. Each of these gramams later developed sub-gramams as well. Among these eighteen listed gramams, the identity of a few remains unconfirmed even today. Historians disagree in particular over the identification of Ilibhyam, Kazhuthanad, and Neermanna. The first two are clearly located in the Periyar river basin. Neermanna (or Niramanna), the southernmost, is most likely located in the Pamba or Achankovil river basins. The Nangu Thalis were probably established either at the very start of Perumal rule or even before it. The Namboothiris' method of imposing the Brahmin-designed social order on the other communities under them was to frame it as divinely ordained, formulate legal codes accordingly, and have the local chieftains enforce them. The Thalis also served as the venue where such decisions were made. In the earliest period, only the four kazhakams — Payyannur, Perinjallur, Paravur, and Chengannur — existed, along with a handful of gramams that had not yet fully developed. Scholars called Patteris, who had gained learning and undergone initiation at these kazhakams and gramams, resided in the shalas (halls) of the Thalis and convened for deliberations at assembly venues known as kalangal. These scholars were called Thaliyar, and their head, the Thaliyathiri. The Thaliyathiris came from the upper stratum of society, ranging from the Azhvancherry Thamprakkal down to those known as the Ashta Adhyans (the "eight eminent" families). The annual scholarly assembly they convened was called Pattathanam. In the earliest period, Thaliyathiris representing the four kazhakams — from the gramams of Muzhikkulam, Airanikkulam, Paravur, and Irinjalakuda — would come together at the Nangu Thalis of Kodungallur to hold their deliberations and the Pattathanam. With the onset of the ninth century, as the eighteen principalities of Kerala came to require a Kshatriya overlord to rule over the local chieftains, the Brahmin assembly instituted a supreme office known as Perumal, appointing and installing, once every twelve years, a "protector" for the territories and the Thalis. The Chera Perumal was chosen from among the ruling lineages claiming descent from the Chera dynasty. The Thaliyathiris would install the Perumal — under the title "Kocheralkon," or Kulasekhara Koyiladhikari — at the twelve-yearly Mamankam festival held at Thirunavaya, near the mouth of the Bharathappuzha river. To resolve the recurring conflicts between naduvazhis and Uralars during the era of Perumal rule, a legal system was put in place with the Chera Perumal at its head. At the Lakshmanaswami temple sanctuary in Muzhikkulam, the naduvazhis, Uralars, Thaliyars, Thaliyathiris, and the Perumal jointly deliberated and drew up a written legal code, to be implemented uniformly across all territories. This code was known as the Muzhikkalam Kacham. Since the original text of the Muzhikkalam Kacham has never been recovered in its complete form, its exact content remains only partially understood. However, references to it appear in numerous stone inscriptions and records from the Perumal era, indicating its central importance in the administrative system of the time. As Brahmin migration to various gramams intensified, and as the influence of the Uranma system over the naduvazhis grew stronger with the backing of the Muzhikkalam Kacham, a need arose for the decentralization of power. To reduce the administrative burden concentrated at the Nangu Thalis, it was decided to establish Thalis regionally, with Thaliyars from the gramams under each Thali's jurisdiction convening there instead. In this way, eighteen Thalis — one for each territory — plus one "half Thali," were established. The half Thali (ara-thali) is believed to have been so called because the number of Thaliyars in its assembly was only half the usual number. Although hundreds of temples across Kerala are called Thalis in the general sense, the specific seats of administrative power described above existed at only these "eighteen-and-a-half" Thalis. Based on the findings of various historians, these are believed to be the following:

Neeleshwaram Thali Taliparamba Ramanthali Kozhikode Thali Angadipuram Thali Aliparambu Thali Paral Thali Ishanamangalam Thali (Ongallur Thali) Kaithali (Pattambi) Deshamangalam Thali (Varavur) Parambanthali (Mullassery) Melthali Keezhthali Chingapurathu Thali Nediyathali Kaduthuruthy Thali Kottayam Thali Karamana Thali

The Nangu Thalis continued to remain part of this "eighteen-and-a-half Thalis" system. Nediyathali, located to the north of the Kodungallur Devi Temple, is now a recently reconstructed structure, and so has lost its heritage significance. Melthali is today the Thrikkulasekharapuram Mahavishnu Temple. Oral tradition holds that Melthali, originally a Shiva temple, was converted into a Vishnu temple by the Vaishnava saint Kulasekhara Alvar, with the original Shiva linga relocated and reinstalled in a subsidiary shrine of equal height. Another oral tradition claims that Brahmins later held their Thali assembly at the nearby Udayamangalam Shiva Temple, outside the Thrikkulasekharapuram complex — though this too remains only a piece of oral history. A signboard in front of the Thrikkulasekharapuram temple describes it, without historical basis, as "the first Mahavishnu temple in Kerala." But when Nammalvar, who lived in the seventh century, separately praises in his work Thiruvaymozhi the specific forms of the deities enshrined at the temples of Thiruvalla, Thrikkodithanam, and Thiruvaranmula, it can be inferred that these Vishnu temples already existed by at least the sixth century. How, then, can Thrikkulasekharapuram — where Kulasekhara Alvar changed the deity's form only in the ninth century — be called the earliest? Chingapurathu Thali, the Sringapuram Shiva Temple, lies just south of the Kodungallur Devi Temple grove. Like Thrikkulasekharapuram, it stands within a spacious sanctuary with a large sanctum. It was at the Puthen Kovilakam, immediately south of the Sringapuram temple, that the great poet Kodungallur Kunjikkuttan Thampuran composed his celebrated literary works. The next of the Nangu Thalis is the Keezhthali Shiva Temple. Though partially destroyed by successive attacks on Kodungallur over the centuries, its tall, square-towered sanctum still survives; only the base of the Namaskara Mandapa remains. The Balikkalpura has been reconstructed as part of the Muziris Project.