Tharavad

Not to be confused with Theravada.

An eight-halled ettukettu tharavad
A typical tharavadu reproduced from K. M. Panikkar's article published in 1918. Capital and small letters represent females and males respectively. Supposing that the females A, B and C were dead and the oldest male member karnavar being d, if the male members t, k and others demanded partition, the property would be divided into three parts.

Tharavad, also spelled as Tharavadu (pronunciationⓘ) (തറവാട്), is the Malayalam word for the ancestral home of aristocratic families [1] [2],in Kerala, which usually served as the common residence for the matrilineal joint family under the Marumakkathayam system practiced in the state,.[3][4] German linguist Hermann Gundert, in his Malayalam—English dictionary published in 1872, defines a Tharavadu as, "An ancestral residence of land-owners and kings", and also as, "A house, chiefly of noblemen".[5] By extension, the word refers not just to the family's house but to the extended family that shares that house. It was classically the residence of Jenmimar, but contemporary usage of the word is now more generic to all social classes and religions in Kerala.[6] Heads of tharavadus - usually the eldest living male - were known as Karnavars, and junior members as Anandravans.

  1. ^ manoramanews, manoramaonline. "Christian Tharavadu".
  2. ^ The new indian express, Indian Express. "A house reminisces 400 years of its history".
  3. ^ Kakkat, Thulasi (18 August 2012). "Kerala's Nalukettus". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  4. ^ Kunhikrishnan, K. (12 April 2003). "Fallen tharavads". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.[dead link]
  5. ^ Hermann Gundert (1872). A Malayalam and English Dictionary. C. Stolz. p. 434. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  6. ^ Pannikar, K.M. (1960). "A History of Kerala 1498 - 1801". Annamalai University Press.