The Nayar of India

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Nayar community is a highly complex and intriguing culture (Mencher, 1993). They are indigenous people living in Kerala, Southwest India. They are a worrier caste who practice polygyny and follow matrilineal dissention. The culture lives in villages whose primary source of livelihood is agriculture. They exhibit no significant difference between the poor and wealthy families economically or socially. It is a group that has unique traditions, customs, and beliefs different from the other cultures. The uniqueness of the Nayar culture has been the subject of enormous debate and fascination among authorities and scholars for decades. In relation to kinship, the Nayar trace descent through female lineage. In Nayar marriage system, women marry many husbands simultaneously. In anthropological circles, this marriage system brings the Nayar continuing fame.

Subsistence

The Nayar people are emerging agriculturalists. Traditionally, the staple food for the Nayar is rice supplemented by a variety of leafy and root vegetables, fish, eggs, poultry, and goat meat (Ibid). High ranking members of the Nayar are vegetarian because of the link intermarriages with Brahmans. The modern Nayar diet comprises bread and other wheat products, and vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and other western vegetables.

Economic Organization

The Nayar people live in villages made up of family farms (Fuller, 1975). Cultivation of rice and coconuts is the foundation of their economy. The mother passes down parcels of family land and houses to the daughter. The Nayar families keep servants who are the source of farm labor. In the traditional times, the servants were slaves until the abolishment of the slave trade, after which they stayed, in families to which they belonged. This is due to the belief that their social caste does not come with opportunities, on a Nayar farm from which they earn livelihood. The families grow crops that supply their entire needs for foods including the needs of the servant families. They rarely buy foods from the market. The Nayar diet comprises cocoanuts, rice, fish, and pork prepared differently for each meal. The Nayar economy is small and fairly stable because of the fact that most families sustain their needs, in the same way. There is little observable economic difference between poor and rich families. In relation to land units, family members share personal assets and income. People employed outside the community agricultural farms bring their earnings to share with family. In modern-day Kerala, commercial ventures such as general stores, rice mills and toddy shops support the economy.

Family Kinship and Marriage

The agricultural homesteads of the Nayar people are homes to celebrations of love, prosperity, and life (Dube, 2001). Spiritual beliefs of the Nayar community resolve around superstition and magic, but not the Hindu religion. However, they recognize the Hindu deities. Natural patriarchal parentage is the traditional system of family among the Nayar people. However, because of globalization and cross cultural influences, bilineal heritage is starting to take shape in the community. The Nayar family is moving close to the modern nuclear family.

Beliefs, Values, and Rituals

When a Nayar female or male reaches the age of sixty, the community conducts one last celebration (Mencher, 1993). The ceremony symbolizes retirement from working life and a shift from physical to spiritual focus. In line with the implications of a retirement party, the woman next in line becomes the matriarch of the land unit and house. In case of a man, a young man takes over the duties of the matriarchal uncle. The funeral ceremony is the next time the Nayar village has the next focus on these members of the community. The Nayar people believe in the existence of spirits and ghosts contrary to the Hindu beliefs. They perform rituals to prevent the soul of the deceased from remaining in the homestead. However, there are elements of the Nayar beliefs that have similarity to the Hindu cultures. Funeral ceremonies comprise recital of prayers, giving offerings, and the period of uncleanliness which precedes purification through rituals. The funeral ceremony resembles past ceremonies in the life of the deceased which implies bringing life to completion and closing it until the reborn of spirit.

Conclusion

The Nayar people are an agricultural community that lives on rice as the staple food. It is a unique culture with numerous sub castes and systems (Fuller, 1975). The Nayar people are unique in all walks of cultural practices. It practices polygyny, and is a community that is aware of its cultural history and traditions. The Nayar community forms part of the integral, active part of Kerala. In the modern society, the Nayar people are the Savarna Hindus consisting administrators, diplomats, bureaucrats, and writers. It is the only community that is matrilineal family and marriage system, in India.

References

Dube, L. (2001). “Matriliny and Women’s Status”. Economic and Political Weekly, 36(33): 3144-47.

Fuller, C. (1975). “The Internal Structure of the Nayar Caste”. Journal of Anthropological Research, 31(4): 283-312.

Mencher, J. (1993). “Kathleen Gough and Research in Kerala”. Anthropological, 35(2): 195-201.

Is this your assignment or some part of it?

We can do it for you! Click to Order!