Nampoothiris

The Nambudiri Brahmins, also transliterated Namboothiri, are Hindu Brahmins from the Indian state of Kerala. As the traditional feudal elite, Nambudiris owned a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957. Nambudiris have been noted for their unique practices such as the adherence to srauta ritualism and orthodox tradition.Cyriac Pullapilly mentions that the dominating influence of the Nambudiris was to be found in all matters: religion, politics, society, economics and culture of Kerala.

Nambudiri mythology associates their immigration to Kerala from the banks of Narmada, Krishna and Kaveri rivers with the legendary creation of Kerala by Parasurama, an avatar of Vishnu. According to this legend, the region was created when Parasurama threw his axe into the sea. The Nambudiri settlements in Kerala were originally organized into 32 villages (grāmams), each one associated with a grāma kshetram (village temple).

Although it is known that the present-day region of Kerala was once governed by the Chera dynasty, little information exists regarding its early ethnography. Anthropologists Heike Moser and Paul Younger note that the Nambudiri Brahmin presence predates the 9th century, as attested by grants of land given to them by ruling families. According to the historian Romila Thapar, local kings and chiefs encouraged them to move to the area by offering such tax-exempt land grants in return for them officiating in Vedic rites that would legitimise the grantors' status as rulers. They also gained land and improved their influence over the socio-economic life of the region by helping rulers during the wars between the Chola and Chera dynasties when Vedic schools were turned into military academies. Operating from their illam houses, their ownership of agricultural land under the janmi system increased over many centuries and, say Moser and Younger, they "established landholding temples and taught the people the rules of caste". The Nambudiris have been described to be responsible for the Sanskrit influence on Malayalam, a basically Dravidian language, due to the Nambudiri Brahmin's mixing of Sanskrit and the local Tamil language.

...
Wikipedia