What is Nambudiri?
{{uncat|date=January 2025}} [[File:Nambudiri.JPG|thumb|1883 sketch depicting a Nambūdiri man with the traditional ''[[sikha|pūrvaśikhā]]'', or forelock]] The '''Nambudiri''', also transliterated '''Nambūdiri''', '''Namboodiri''', '''Namboothiri''', and '''Nampūtiri''', are a [[Malayali Brahmin]] caste, native to what is now the state of [[Kerala]], India. As the traditional feudal elite, Nambudiris owned a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar until the [[Land reform in Kerala|Kerala Land Reforms]] starting in 1957.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Land Reforms in Theory and Practice: The Kerala Experience| first=Radhakrishnan |last=P.| journal=Economic and Political Weekly | date=December 1981| volume=16| issue=52 | pages=A129–A137 |jstor=4370526}}</ref> Nambudiris have been noted for their unique practices such as the adherence to [[Śrauta|srauta]] ritualism and orthodox tradition.<ref>{{cite journal| title=The Turning-Point in a Living Tradition somayāgam 2003| first1=Mahadevan| last1=T.P.| first2=Staal| last2=Fritz| journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies| date=2003| volume=10| issue=1| pages=No 1 (2003): Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies| doi=10.11588/ejvs.2003.1.743| url=http://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/743| access-date=2020-12-04| archive-date=2020-10-23| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023194901/https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/743| url-status=dead}}</ref> [[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.<ref name=Pullapilly1976pp26-30/> Nambudri Documentalist Advocate Jayaprakash Mallay. Awestruck by the nature and content of sahyadri khanda version of the skanda purana, I took courage to redefine Nambudri origins from the chaos of history's bizzare chess game with learned history scholars from National conferences like IHC and SIHC during 1999 - 2006 at various academic