Ezhuthachan (caste)
Ezhuthachan(, , '), also known as Kadupattan(, , ') is a caste native to the Indian state of Kerala. It is classified as an Other Backward Class by the Government of India under its system of positive discrimination.
Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan
"Adhyatma Ramayanam", written in Kilippattu style, is considered as a landmark of Malayalam literature. Ezhuthachan used different Dravidian metres in the cantos of his poems: "Keka" for Bala Kanda and Aranya Kanda; "Kakali" for Ayodhya, Kishkindha and Yuddha Kanda; and "Kalakanchi" for Sundara Kanda. Throughout the Malayalam month of Karkkidakam, "Adhyatma Ramayanam" is still recited - as a religious practice - in Hindu homes in Kerala. According to critic K. Ayyappa Panicker, those who see "Adhyatma Ramayanam" merely as a devotional work "belittle" Ezhuthachan.