I had written earlier in The Ambalavasi about the community of secondary temple priests unique to Kerala, likely derived from the two-tier priestly hierarchy of pharaonic Egypt. At least since the eleventh century CE, the primary temple priests in most of Kerala’s temples have been Nambuthiri brahmins. But they are known to have immigrated to Kerala only around the fourth century CE, whereas the two-tier priestly hierarchy clearly existed even earlier. Who, then, had been the primary temple priests in Kerala’s temples before the Nambuthiri brahmins took over? In this article, I explore the role of the aristocrats of ancient Kerala — the Samantha — rulers of the land from time immemorial, and probably the primary temple priests once upon a time.
Unlike in north India, and contrary to any current assertions, the Samantha community of Kerala did not fall among the Kshatriya caste of the four-fold Hindu varna system. Being followers of Kerala’s native matrilineal tradition, they, like other native castes, did not fit into the varna system altogether. That they were unlike other castes in India is borne out by their traditions: Despite being non-brahmins, the Samantha of Kerala followed a priestly lifestyle similar to the highest brahmins, their daily lives entwined with temples and temple traditions. Europeans who visited Kerala in the sixteenth century noticed that the kings of Kerala were very strict in their religious observances; the Raja of Porakad, like other kings of Kerala during this period, is said to have worshiped 900 idols in his temple every day in a priestly capacity.
Only the Samantha, among all non-brahmin castes of Kerala, could touch the holiest of temple sanctums; they officiated as priests in temple festivals on certain occasions; they led temple processions. In their palaces and palace compounds were small shrines called tevarappura, where deities were worshiped in temple style by family members and brahmin priests. They were also martial, yet they abstained from meat and alcohol, pursuing scholarly vocations, and supporting art and culture. Seen through a purely brahmanical lens colored by an Indo-brahmin-centric worldview, they appeared to be half-brahmins, martial brahmins, priestly brahmins who took up arms in service of their land.
Although they were different from any other communities in the rest of the Indian subcontinent, the Samantha were starkly similar to the aristocratic nobles of pharaonic Egypt, where linking state administration with temple management, these aristocratic nobles held positions as primary priests (azhmancher) and chiefs of temple boards in their respective domains, along with secular and military roles. Like the Valiya Thampuran of the Kodungallur royal family who was the nadvazhi of the province and officiated at festivals of the Kodungallur Bhagavati Temple, the Egyptian provincial rulers had the right of offering to the gods upon grand occasions, and superintending feasts and festivals in honor of the deities.
Not only were the Samantha similar to Egyptian aristocrats in their priestly and administrative vocation, but they also shared with them certain time-honored traditions, among which was female succession in the event of a lack of male heirs. While the kings of Kerala could adopt a successor if the royal family had no male heirs, they could not do so without the consent of their sisters and nieces, who could hold the reins of government if a suitable heir was not located. Thus, Queen Ashure reigned over the principality of Travancore in the seventeenth century as queen in her own right. Later, in 1810, Gowri Lakshmi Bai ruled as queen when the royal family ran out of male heirs, and then stepped down in 1813 to become regent when she gave birth to a son.
In pharaonic Egypt too, if the royal family ran out of heirs, the women could rule on the throne. The most famous Egyptian queen was Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1450 BCE). She inherited sovereign rights by virtue of her maternal descent through her mother Ahmos. When her brother Thutmose II died, she ascended to the throne and ruled in her own right for fifteen years until her youngest brother Thutmose III came of age and took the helm.
The women of the Samantha community in Kerala shared with their ancient counterparts in Egypt another remarkable similarity found nowhere else in the Indian subcontinent: they were priestesses of goddesses. For example, describing the Travancore royal family’s attachment to the Bhagavathi temple in Attingal, Manu Pillai writes:
When the first adoption from the Kolathiri dynasty into Travancore took place in the fourteenth century, those early princesses . . . brought with them their family deity and installed her in a temple in Attingal. Through the ages that followed, their successors worshipped Bhagavathi with great fervour . . . Every year, they propitiated her in a great ceremony and it was the Senior Rani who took the lead in this.
In another example, the matriarch Valiya Thamburatti ‘Senior Lady’ of Padinjare Kovilakam, a branch of the erstwhile ruling family of the samutiri ‘king’ of Kozhikode, was the head trustee of the temple of Thrissala Bhagavathi, their patron deity. The Kodungallur Kovilakam ruling family, headed by matriarch Amma Thampuran, worshipped Thalathil Bhagavathi as the family’s tutelary deity. The Kottayam ruling family’s patron deity was the goddess of the Mridanga Saileshwari Temple in Pazhassi. Likely influenced by the patriarchal Nambuthiri and European colonizers, the priestly roles of these aristocratic women were gradually delegated into the background away from public eyes; yet, in the private sphere, they continued, and do so to this day, their fervent worship of the goddess in her many forms.
In pharaonic Egypt too, women of aristocratic nobility were priestesses in the temple of Hathor, patron goddess of love, childbirth, and other “female” pursuits. For example, the matriarch of the family of a provincial administrator, Nkaankh, ca. 2450 BCE, held pride of place at the head of the priestly roster of the Temple of Hathor near present day Tehneh. Archeological evidence indicates that between 2700 and 1800 BCE, more than 400 women served as priestesses in Temples of Hathor and other deities. They also served in some of the highest priestly offices, similar to Valiya Amma ‘Senior Mother’ of Mannarasala Nagaraja Temple in Haripad, Kerala today.
This custom of priestesses did not exist in Egypt throughout the entire pharaonic period: it prevailed mainly during early times (ca. 2500 -1800 BCE), after which, women’s priestly roles diminished, becoming merely titulary around 1400 BCE, suggesting perhaps that cultural migration to Kerala dated to the earlier time period rather than to the later. Reinforcing this timeframe is the family name of certain aristocrats of Kerala: Varma. The Varma families formed the apex of the Samantha community, having ruled as kings in Kerala since time immemorial: Aditya Varma (ca. 1372 CE), Vira Martanda Varma (ca. 1458–1471 CE), Sri Vira Ravi Varma (ca. 1504–1528 CE), Ravi Varma (ca. 1684–1718 CE), Marthanda Varma (ca. 1706–1758 CE), to name a few. Many scholars, looking to familial roots exclusively in the Indian subcontinent, have opined on their connection to Kshatriya communities hailing from Rajasthan and other parts.
Yet, their name and lifestyle bear more similarities to certain high-ranking aristocrats of pharaonic Egypt, titled vrma, who were not only priests at the Temple of Heliopolis near Memphis during 2500–2300 BCE but also bureaucrats with civil and administrative duties. These vrma titleholders were related to the pharaoh through direct kinship, an attestation of their high royal status in Egypt, particularly before 2200 BCE. Perhaps, like some later-day colonial viceroys, these aristocratic royal nobles made their way across the Indian Ocean to the Malabar coast during those early days to safeguard their pharaoh’s interests in the abundant natural resources of the land.
Indeed, this connection, if true, presents us with a remarkable conclusion: The last ruler of the kingdom of Travancore, Maharajah Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma, could have likely traced his unbroken lineage through his mother Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bayi, to the noble aristocratic families of Egypt from among whose folds erstwhile pharaohs claimed their seat of divine authority. His death on 20 July 1991 marked the end of an era, for not only had he been the last king of Travancore, but also quite possibly, the last pharaoh to have ruled a kingdom on earth.
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