PEOPLE,
LIFESTYLE & RELIGIONS
Various
racial strains have passed through Kerala virtually since the dawn of time,
and have left the state richer in its philosophy of co-existence. Even in these
modern times with Kerala being India's only fully literate state, and having
provided the nation with some of its eminent writers and satiric cartoonists,
it comes to dwell in a time warp, where slow-boats still coast along backwaters,
the people dress elegantly in white, and festivals are celebrated over many
days with traditional gaiety.
The official language of the state is Malayalam, but English is widely spoken
and understood. One of the principal Hindu castes of Kerala is that of the Nairs,
among two of the country's only societies that follow a matriarchal system that
has brought the women into social prominence. Kerala's Brahmins, the Namboodris,
till recently had a system in which only the eldest son could marry within the
same caste, since the others had to find wives outside the community, they were
disowned from family rights.
These
are now traditions of the past. But it not only the Hindu that make up the colourful
mosaic of this land. The Jews, for example, came to Kerala when they fled the
rule of Nebuchadnezzar n 587 BC; St Thomas the Apostle came here in the first
century AD; the Syrian Christians were in existence here in the 2nd century
AD; among the oldest of the Christian churches exists in Cranganore dating back
to 400 AD.
When the Portuguese came to Kerala, the found a thriving Christian community
here, but one that had never heard of the Pope! All these faiths have existed
in complete harmony in Kerala. Today there are temples and mosques, churches
and synagogues; they form the cohesive warp and weft that has gone into the
making of the fabric of Kerala.
