Religions of Kerala

Kerala has a fascinating religious history. Various religious persuasions from far and wide met in the land of Kerala and existed side by side for centuries. The interplay of these diverse religious forces moulded the religious texture of Kerala. Ancient people of Kerala followed the Drav-idian religion. This religion had a composite nature having for its components animism, totemism and spirit worship. Sacrifices, rituals, music and dances formed the common religious practices. But tremendous changes were made in the Dravidian religion, with the coming of the Aryans. Through a process of assimilation, a synthesis was brought about in the religious practices of both. Modern Hinduism in Kerala is only the child of this synthesis. However, before Hinduism could strike deep roots, it had to confront the onslaught of two new religions, Jainism and Buddhism.

Jainism and Buddhism
It is suggested that Jainism reached Kerala before the Christian era. It was not a proselytising religion and yet the Jains were able to get a few adherents. Two important centres of Jain religion were Matilakam and Tirucha-nattumalai. Silappadhikaram, the famous Tamil Epic itself was a composition made at Matilakam by the Jain King, Ilango AdigaL Other Jain centres in the state were Kallil close to Pe-rumbavur, Alathur, Sultan's Battery and Bangra Manjeswar. However, the religion declined in the eighth century A.D. and most of the Jain shrines were converted to Hindu shrines.
Buddhism appeared in Kerala in the third century B.C. Although it did not make much headway in Kerala, it also get a few followers. One flourishing centre of Buddhism in Kerala was Sri Mulavasam between Ambal-apuzha and Trikunnapuzha in the district of Alleppey. The Ay kings of Kerala patronised Buddhism. Yet it had only a short life in Kerala. By eighth, century B.C. Buddhism also declined. Buddhism as a religion nearly ended, but it was able to leave behind a deep mark on Kerala culture. The Sastha cult and Naga cult are reminiscent of Buddhism. Likewise religious processions, utsavam and images could be traced back to Buddhist influence. Ayurveda, the indigenous system of treatment also originated from Buddhism. In the evolution of Kerala art, architecture and Malayalam language and literature it is possible to discover Buddhist influence.

Progress of Hinduism
With the decline of Jainsim and Buddhism, Hinduism had another spell of progress. In the eighth century A.D. a very strong movement was started in Kerala to establish the ascendancy of Hinduism. This movement brought to lime light some of the illustrious leaders of the Hindu fold, like Prabhakara Guru, Sank-archarya, Kulasekhara Alwar, and Cherman Perumal.
Prabhakara popularised sastric studies. His system of philosophy was called Gurumata. Sankaracharya was the greatest Hindu teacher produced by Kerala. By the dynamism of his message, he recharged Hinduism with a new fervour. His philosophy is popularly known as Advaita which is regarded as India's greatest contribution to the philosophy and science of religion. But these two scholars were not able to come down to the lowest masses and satisfy their spiritual cravings.
This lacuna was bridged through the efforts made by the saints of the Bhakti movement, like Kulasekhara Alwar and Cheraman Perumal. They evolved a new cult of Bhakti, an intense devotional surrender to a personal God, Siva or Vishnu. The teachings of saints like Alwars and Naya-nars produced a great wave of religious enthusiasm in all sections of the Hindus. The Bhakti movement thus laid the solid foundations of Hinduism in Kerala. A very strong revival of this movement was experienced in the land immediately after the Portuguese period because of the sense of fear generated in the minds of the people by Portuguese atrocities. It was led by Tunchat Ezhuthachan, Melp-attur Narayana Bhattatiri and Pun-thanam Namboothiri. This movement was also patronised by the rulers.

Christianity
The Christians form another important religious community in Kerala. Christianity reached India much before the religion spread from the Holy Land to the Western countries.
A basic norm of Indian Philosophy is the acceptance of diverse ways, suiting a man's temperament in his search for truth. Therefore, it is no wonder that the rulers and people of Kerala welcomed the new religions; Christianity, Islam etc., and gave them all facilities for their propagation. Kerala's ancient temples, churches, and mosques that stand side by side bear testimony to the enlightened toleration and acceptance of diverse religious forces by the people of Kerala.

According to tradition, it was St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, who introduced Christianity in Kerala. He landed at Maliankara near Muziris in 52 A.D. and converted to Christianity some important families. He established seven churches in Kerala at Cranganore (Kodungallur), Palur, Kokkamangalam, Kottakkavu, Kayal, Quilon, Niranam and a small church probably at Aruvithura. It is said that St. Thomas meditated for a few days on the top of a high hill at Malayattur. The church here is a great pilgrim centre. St.Thomas attained holy Martyrdom when a fanatic stabbed him, while he was in My-lapore in the Tamil Nadu. There is a church at the place of his Martyrdom.
A foreign Christian merchant Thomas Cana came to Muziris in 345 A.D. with a group of Syrian Christians. These immigrants received a warm welcome from the reigning monarch and a suburb of the port town was granted to them for their settlement. Alexandrian merchant Cosmos Indi-coplestus who visited the Kerala coast in the sixth century A.D. testifies to the presence of Bishops ordained in Persia, with which Kerala had direct contact at least from the fourth century. Likewise they followed the Syrian rite.
The famous nineth century Terisa-palli Copper Plates of Ayyan Atikal Tiruvalikal, the Governor of Venad to the Christians of Quilon, granted certain rights and privileges to the latter. The two Persoan Crosses at 'Valia Palli' in Kottayam with Pahlavi inscriptions are believed to be of the eighth or nineth century A.D. Frair Jordanus who came to Quilon in 1330 was the first consecrated Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in India.
Till the arrival of the Portuguese the activities of the Christiandom in Kerala were led by the great Patriarch of Babylon. When the Portuguese grew strong, they decided to eradicate the Nestorian influence among the Christians and to bring them under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church headed by the Pope. It was for this purpose that the famous Synod of Diamper was convened in June 1599, presided over by Arch Bishop Alexis-de-Menezes. The Synod cut off all the connections that the Kerala Church had with the Persian Church. The Kerala church was forcibly brought under the Pope of Rome. The process of Latinisation which the Portuguese had begun came to its climax. The Kerla Christians were wounded so deeply that in 1653 they shook off the foreign yoke after taking a solemn oath to that effect in front of the Coonan Cross at Mattancherri. A section of the Syrian Christians broke off its ties with Rome and became independent under Marthoma I, an European Bishop, owiong allegiance to the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch as its head. They called themselves as Puthankuru Christians. The other section, just a minority, continued to remain in the Roman Catholic fold with the Pope as the head. They called themselves as Pazhayakuru Christians.
In the nineteenth century, with the establishment of British Power in Kerala, the Church Mission Society (C.M.S.) started its missionery labours. They established the Anglican church in Kerala. Under the influence of the C.M.S. a section of the clergy in the Syrian Church advocated reforms which included replacement of Syr-iac with Malayalam as the language of worship. Abraham Malpan was the driving force behind this movement. The Syrian church was averse to- reforms of any king. Thereupon the new group established a church of its own, called Marthoma Syrian Church.
The St.Thomas Christians of Kerala are today divided into five churches. They are the Roman Catholic Church of the Syriac, Latin or Malayalam rite, the Orthodox Syrian Church, the Nestorian Church, the Marthoma Church, and the Anglican Church. The Jacobite Church subsequently broke into two sections, one owing allegiance to the Patriarch of Antioch and the other to the Catholicos, with headquarters at Kottayam. The Mar Thoma Syrian Church was subjected to factional rivalry leading to the establishment of the St. Thomas Evangelical Church. Over and above these major grups, there are a few minor groups designated as the Pentecost Mission the Brother Mission and the Salvation Army. In spite of the existence of different Churches, Kerala is increasing by coming under the spell of a movement at unity among these churches.

Islam
Islam found its way to Kerala in the seventh or eight century A.D. The first known Missionary to reach Kerala was Malik Ibn Dinar. He is said to have established several mosques along the west coast. So spectacular was not the progress of Islam in the initial stages. In course of centuries, it grew into a mighty force as the second largest religious group after the Hindus. Here again, it was the tolerant policy of the rulers of Kerala that facilitated the growth of Islam. Shaik-Zain-ud-din has testified to the generosity of the Zamorins of Calicut to the Muslims, which paved the way for their growth and expansion. Bar-bosa observed that the Muslims of Malabar were rich and prosperous. There are ample evidences to show that the Muslims were a predominant community in Kerala at least from the sixteenth century.

Judaism
According to tradition, the Jews came to Kerala in 68 A.D. some of the early Jewish settlements were those at Kodungallur, Palayur, Mala, and Pullut. They soon rose to a powerful commercial community. This was again the result of the patronage they enjoyed from local rulers. Their influence gradually declined with the arrival of the Portuguese, who forced them leave Kodungallur and settle down at Cochin. The white Jewish Synagogue at Cochin built in 1565, is a standing monument of beauty and a source of historical value. But at present the Jewish community is practically disappearing from Kerala.

Caste System
Caste system was unknown in ancient Kerala. However, during the later Sangam period, rudiments of social stratification began. People who took to manual labour and who were used to eating meat, were deemed social inferiors. Ideas of untouchability and pollution soon came into vogue. As essential accompaniments of caste system. Over the years caste groups became well-defined and they drifted away from one another. Social cohesion and solidarity withered away. The Aryanisation of Kerala reached its pinnacle with the, eighth century A.D. By the time we come to the age of the Kulasekharas of Mahodayapu-ram, the Brahmins were well entrenched in the social hierarchy as the topmost in matters relating to society and religion. The Chola-Chera War intensified this trend. The Mani-pravalam works reflect the social dominance of the Brahmins. The Kshatri-yas (the ruling class) and Nairs (the fighting element) were under the control of the Brahmins. The labouring classes like the Ezhavas, the Kamma-las, the Mukkuvas and others sank to the bottom of society as social inferiors and untouchables. There was no inter-marriage or inter-dining between the high and the low.

Untouchability
Caste system operated under certain irrational rules, hard to square up with basic norms of justice. Evils which never get social sanction in any cultured society, such as untouchability, unapproachability and unseeabil-ity were in vogue at all levels of Hindu society. Social pollution, the greatest bane, was observed not only in the mutual relations of the various social groups among the Hindus but also in the relations of the Hindus with non-Hindus. This has led to the vertical division of society into high caste Hindus (Savarnas) and low caste Hindus (Avarnas). This state of society was graphically reflected in the accounts of foreign travellers like Ma Huan (Fifth century) and Barbosa (sixteenth century).
As centuries rolled on, the intensity of untouchability and pollution become so acute that the Avarnas (those below the Nairs) were required to keep specific distances from the Savarnas. Even the very sight of the Av-arna was taken as polluting. This distance pollution was never enforced with the Christians and the Muslims, although their touch was considered polluting. Such social evils as those described above inevitably necessitated the enforcement of several social discriminations.

Social discriminations
Apart from enforcing restrictions on seeing and touching, caste system also created an atmosphere of several discriminations between the Savarnas and Avarnas. While the former had the protection of law, the latter had not. The Brahmins alone were considered com petent to interpret law and to prounce judgements. Capital punishment was never given to a Brahmin even for the most heinous of crimes, while for ordinary offences like stealing, death penalty was given to the low caste. The lower the social status, the more rigorous was the punishment meted out. In the matter of taxation also there was lot of discrimination between members of high castes and low castes. Several vexatious taxes were collected from the latter, while the former had total immunity. The low caste people could enjoy the benefit of decent dress, ornaments, good houses only on payments to the ruler. The members of the lower castes were denied admission to schools as well as employment in government services. Temples were not open to them, nor the approach roads to them free to tread. Thus each and every caste kept itself in total isolation from every other. The result was, that there was no unity and solidarity among the members of the community.
One strange phenomenon about the caste system of Kerala is the prevalence of besildering variety of sub-castes within the framework of each caste. Each of such sub-castes had its own rank in the social scale. Restrictions on inter-marriage and inter-dining were enforced even between these sub-castes. Approach restrictions were also observed scrupulously. Such disabilities continued for generations in Kerala society until the dawn of the modern age.

Decline of Caste system
Caste system has broken down in Kerala. This was brought about not by means of legislation but through the efforts of the educated sections of the people. English education and the spread of liberal ideas of equality, liberty and freedom kindled in the minds of the downtrodden an earnest desire to break the shackles of caste system. Further, the latter half of the nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth centuries produced some stalwarts in the field of social reform. Through them, the people were led to the desired end. Sri Narayana Guru (1856-1928) and the S.N.D.P. Yogam founded in 1903 made a hue and cry against the evils of caste system. This smote the conscience of not only the Ezhavas but other backward classes Mannath Padmanabhan, the leader of the Nair Service Society founded in 1914 contributed his might to the eradication of caste evils. K. Ayyap-pan's Sahodara Samajam established in 1917, devoted itself to the crusade against the deep-rooted evils that were rampant among the Ezhavas in their relations to those inferior to them in the social scale. The Indian National Congress under Gandhiji gave unstinted support to the movement. This gave further fillip to the movement. The struggle now took on a different turn. Approach roads to temples were denied to the Avarnas. The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924 and the Gu-ruvayoor Satyagraha of 1931-32 are the major milestones in the struggle for the liquidation of caste evils. Simultaneously an epic struggle was begun against the anomalous situation of refusing admission to schools, job in government services and representation in the legislative bodies to the backward sections. The Abstention movement which took place in Tra-vancore was a struggle to pressurise, the government for granting more representation to the Ezhavas, the Christians and the Muslims.
Temple Entry
On account of the intensity of the struggle described above, the government of Travancore extended several rights to the downtrodden among which admission to schools, entry into government service and more representation in state legislature, are the most significant. The approach roads to temples were also thrown open. As a follow up action, Sri Chitra Tirunal Balarama Varma, the Maharaja of Travancore granted the right of entry to temples to all Avarnas through the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936.
In the Cochin and Malabar areas of Kerala also similar progressive measures were taken to hasten the pace of social change. The right to enter temples was granted to the Avarnas of Cochin and Malabar in 1947. By a stroke of the pen, untouchability practiced in India came to an end through legilsation and Kerala bid adieu to it for good.
Caste system which was deep-rooted in Kerala ceased to exist and the state is heading towards a cas-teless society. Today, inter-marriages are on the increase. Thus a new society is gradually emerging in Kerala.