Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/15

Rh them being very close. Like the Kōiltampurāns, all the members of their community observe birth and death pollution with reference to each other. Their original home is Kōlattunāt in North Malabar, and their immigration into Travancore, where the reigning family is of the Kōlattunāt stock, was contemporaneous, in the main, with the invasion of Malabar by Tippu Sultan. The first family that came into the country from Kōlattunāt was the Putuppalli Kōvilakam in the 5th century M.E. (Malabar era). The Travancore royal family then stood in need of adoption. The then Rājah arranged through a Koiltampurān of Tattārikkōvilakam to bring from Kōlattunāt two princesses for adoption, as his negotiations with the then Kōlattiri were fruitless. The Puttuppali Kōvilakam members thus settled themselves at Kartikapalli, the last of whom died in 1030 M.E. The next family that migrated was Cheriyakōvilakam, between 920 and 930 M.E. They also came for adoption. But their right was disputed by another house, Pallikkōvilakam. They then settled themselves at Aranmula. The third series of migrations were during the invasion of Malabar by Tippu in 964 M.E. All the Rājahs living there at the time came over to Travancore, of whom, however, many returned home after a time.

The Rājahs, like the Kōiltampurāns, belong to the Yajurvēda section of Dvijas, but follow the sūtra laid down by Baudhāyana. Their gōtra is that of Bhargava, i.e., Parasurāma, indicating in a manner that these are Kshatriyas who were accepted by Parasurāma, the uncompromising Brahmin of the Hindu Purānas. They have all the Brahminical Samskāras, only the Brahmin priest does most of them on their behalf. Chaulam, or tuft ceremony, is performed along with Upanāyanam. The Samāvartanam, or termination of the pupil stage,