# Kerala Iyer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kerala_Iyer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kerala_Iyer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Iyer > Source revision: 1355854402 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Brahmin subcaste This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kerala Iyer" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Ethnic group Kerala Iyers Regions with significant populations Palakkad district, Kerala Travancore Region (Thiruvananthapuram district, Alappuzha district), Kerala Thrissur district, Kerala Ernakulam district, Kerala Calicut district, Kerala[citation needed] Languages Tamil, Malayalam, Sanskrit Religion Hinduism Related ethnic groups Iyers, Namboothiris, Tamil Brahmin **Kerala Iyers**, **Pattars** or **Bhattars** are [Hindu](/source/Hindu) [Brahmins](/source/Brahmins) of the Indian state of [Kerala](/source/Kerala); people who were residents in the Kerala region. The word "Pattar" originated from the [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit) word "[Bhat](/source/Bhat)", which is a common surname of [Northern](/source/North_India) Brahmin Clans. The community consists of two groups: the [Palakkad](/source/Palakkad_district) Iyers and the Iyers of the [Cochin](/source/Kingdom_of_Cochin) and [Travancore](/source/Travancore) regions.[1] Kerala Iyers, like the Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the [Nambudiris](/source/Nambudiri) of Kerala, belonged to the [Pancha-Dravida](/source/Pancha-Dravida) classification of India's Brahmin community. They mostly belonged to the [Vadama](/source/Vadama) and [Brahacharanam](/source/Brahacharanam) sub-sects. Iyers were usually not recruited as the priest (shanthi) in Kerala temples which followed [Tantric](/source/Tantra) rituals. So Iyers being Vedic scholars built their own temples in their [Agraharams](/source/Agraharams) to conduct [puja](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puja), since they followed different rituals and not the Tantric rituals of the Nambudiris.[2] ## Brahmana Samooham Where ever they settled, the Kerala Iyers lived together in communities. The settlement consisting of array of houses and other amenities developed by Tamil Brahmins in Kerala came to be known as [Agraharam](/source/Agraharam) as in other parts of South India. Each Agraharam consist of two rows of houses facing each other. There is no courtyard but only common street. Several such Agraharams together form an organization called "Samooham".[3] ## Palakkad Iyers The Palakkad Iyers are the [Iyers](/source/Iyer), who settled in today's Palakkad region centuries before, during the rule of the Palakkad Kings. Their mother tongue is Tamil and they speak Malayalam outside their homes. The Palakkad Iyers were greatly affected by the Kerala [Agrarian Relations Bill](/source/Liberation_Struggle_(Kerala)), (repealed in 1961 and substituted by [The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963](/source/Land_reform_in_Kerala)) which abolished the [tenancy](/source/Tenancy) system.[4] ## Travancore Iyers During the rule of [Travancore](/source/Travancore) kings, many Iyers (Tamil Brahmins) migrated to [Thiruvananthapuram](/source/Thiruvananthapuram). Tamil Iyers migrated mostly from Tirunelveli to [Thiruvananthapuram](/source/Thiruvananthapuram). The ancestors of the Thiruvananthapuram Iyers were brought from “Brahmadesam" (a village in Ambasamudram Taluk of Modern day Thirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu) by the Travancore Kings, to take part in the “Mura Japam” ritual of [Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple](/source/Padmanabhaswamy_Temple). The Mura Japam ritual is a ritual where Brahmins with Sanskrit Veda knowledge participate. The migration continued for decades, and thus Iyer population is concentrated around this temple in Thiruvananthapuram.They were given agraharams around the temple and the fort, as well as in Karamana Agraharam and Chalai Agraharam.[5] ## Notable people - [Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer](/source/Ulloor_S_Parameswara_Iyer) - [Vidya Balan](/source/Vidya_Balan) - [Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar](/source/Chembai_Vaidyanatha_Bhagavatar) - [V. Dakshinamoorthy](/source/V._Dakshinamoorthy) - [Ranjani-Gayatri](/source/Ranjani-Gayatri) - [Hariharan](/source/Hariharan_(singer)) - [Apsara Iyer](/source/Apsara_Iyer) - [Divya S. Iyer](/source/Divya_S._Iyer) - [Palghat Mani Iyer](/source/Palghat_Mani_Iyer) - [Shreyas Iyer](/source/Shreyas_Iyer) - [Jayaram](/source/Jayaram) - [Ajith Kumar](/source/Ajith_Kumar) - [Shankar Mahadevan](/source/Shankar_Mahadevan) - [Priyamani](/source/Priyamani) - [Vivek Ramaswamy](/source/Vivek_Ramaswamy) - [Malayattoor Ramakrishnan](/source/Malayattoor_Ramakrishnan) - [TN Seshan](/source/TN_Seshan) - [M. S. Thripunithura](/source/M._S._Thripunithura) - [Trisha Krishnan](/source/Trisha_Krishnan) - [V. R. Krishna Iyer](/source/V._R._Krishna_Iyer) ## Organization The [Kerala Brahmana Sabha](/source/Kerala_Brahmana_Sabha) is the apex organization of Kerala Iyers. ## Notes ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Haridas, V. V. (2016). *Zamorins and the political culture of medieval Kerala*. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan. p. 36. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9788125061281](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788125061281). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Temples of Kerala](http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Temples_of_Kerala) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Menon, T. Madhava; Tyagi, Deepak; Kulirani, B. Francis (2002). *People of India: Kerala, Volume-27, Part-3*. New Delhi: Affiliated East-West Press Pvt. Ltd. pp. 1396–97. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [8185938997](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/8185938997). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-keralagovt_legislations_4-0)** ["Landmark Legislations - Land Reforms"](http://niyamasabha.org/codes/bus_1_1.htm). Kerala Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 27 August 2008. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Nandakumar, T. ["Agraharams on the way out?"](http://www.thehindu.com/features/homes-and-gardens/agraharams-on-the-way-out/article2305300.ece). *The Hindu*. Chennai, India. ## External links - [Kerala Iyers Website](http://www.keralaiyers.com) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kerala Iyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Iyer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Iyer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.