Note 92 — K (continued 3)

In a note on the Kaniyans of the Cochin State,92 Mr. L. K. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes that “there is some difference in the social status between the Kaniyans of the southern, and the Kalari Panikkans of the northern parts of the State. The latter profess a kind of superiority in status, on the ground that the former have no kalaris. It is also said by the latter that the occupation of the former was once that of umbrella-making, and that astrology as a profession has been recently adopted by them. There is at present neither intermarriage, nor interdining between them. The Kaniyans pollute the Kalari Panikkans by touch.” In connection with the old village organisation in Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, Mr. Anantha Krishna Iyer writes further that “every tara or kara (village) consisted of all castemen below Brāhmans, especially the Nāyars of all classes, more or less living in a community, the Kammālans, Izhuvans, Pānāns, Mannans, and other castemen living further apart. For every such village in the northern part of the State, there was also a Kalari Panikkan, with a kalari (gymnastic or military school), where the young men of the village, chiefly the Nāyars, were trained in all kinds of athletic feats, and in arms. The institution of the kalaris has now disappeared, though the building remains in some places, and the Panikkans are now mainly astrologers and village schoolmasters. According to their own statement, Parasurāma, the great coloniser of Kērala, established kalaris throughout the kingdom, and appointed them as the masters to train Sūdra young men in all kinds of feats (one thousand and eight in number), for the protection of the country against foreign invaders. The Nāyars, who then formed the fighting race, were mostly trained by the Panikkans. In memory of this, the Kalari Panikkans of the northern portions of the State, and of South Malabar, profess even now a preceptorship to the Nāyars, and the Nayars show them some respect, being present at their marriages and other ceremonies. The Pannikkans say that the Nāyars obtained their kalaris from them. There are still a few among the Panikkans, here and there, fit to teach young men various feats. The following are the names of some of them:—