Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep and is spoken by 35 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries, due to the large populations of Malayali expatriates there. They are a significant population in each city in India including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc. Malayalam is closely related to the Tamil language.
Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write Malayalam, which is the principal language of Kerala, India, spoken by 45 million people in the world. It is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. Malayalam script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Kerala.
Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a South-Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Malayalam literature has been presented with 6 Jnanapith awards, the second-most for any Dravidian language and the third-highest for any Indian language.
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani, Malankara Nasrani, or Nasrani Mappila, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala, who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity. They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Saint Thomas Christians had been historically a part of the hierarchy of the Church of the East but are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions. They are Malayalis and their mother tongue is Malayalam, which is a Dravidian language. Nasrani or Nazarene is a Syriac term for Christians, who were among the first converts to Christianity in the Near East.
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, is an autonomous Oriental Protestant Christian church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is Protestant in its theology and doctrines. It employs a reformed variant of the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James, translated to Malayalam.
Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan was a Malayalam devotional poet, translator and linguist. He was one of the prāchīna kavithrayam of Malayalam literature, the other two being Kunchan Nambiar and Cherusseri. He has been called the "Father of Modern Malayalam", the "Father of Modern Malayalam Literature", and the "Primal Poet in Malayalam". He was one of the pioneers of a major shift in Kerala's literary culture. His work is published and read far more than that of any of his contemporaries or predecessors in Kerala.
Chattampi Swamikal was a Hindu sage and social reformer whose thoughts and work influenced the launching of many social, religious, literary and political organisations and movements in Kerala and gave voice to those who were marginalised. Chattampi Swamikal denounced the orthodox interpretation of Hindu texts citing sources from the Vedas. Swamikal strived to reform the heavily ritualistic and caste-ridden Hindu society of the late 19th century Kerala. Swamikal also worked for the emancipation of women and encouraged them to come to the forefront of society. Swamikal promoted vegetarianism and professed non-violence (Ahimsa). Swamikal believed that the different religions are different paths leading to the same place. Chattambi Swamikal led a wandering life like an adutha and throughout his intellectually and spiritually enriched life maintained many friends from different regions of Kerala. He authored several books on spirituality, history, and language staying with these friends.
The culture of Kerala has developed over the past millennia, influences from other parts of India and abroad. It is defined by its antiquity and the organic continuity sustained by the Malayali people. Modern Kerala society took shape owing to migrations from different parts of India and abroad throughout Classical Antiquity.
Margamkali is an ancient Indian round dance of the St. Thomas Christians community- based in Kerala state, mainly practiced by the endogamous sub-sect known as the Knanaya or Southist Christians. The dance retells the life and missionary work of Thomas the Apostle, based on the 3rd-century apocryphal Acts of Thomas.
Vatteluttu was an alphasyllabic writing system of south India and Sri Lanka used for writing the Tamil and Malayalam languages.
Koleluttu, was a syllabic alphabet of Kerala used for writing Malayalam language.
Manjanikkara Dayara is a monastery of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India. It is situated at the top of the hillock in Manjanikkara, near Omallur, Pathanamthitta District, in South Kerala.
Presbytera is a Greek title of honor that is used to refer to a priest's wife. It is derived from presbyteros—the Greek word for priest. Although 'Presbyteress' or 'eldress' has an equivalent meaning, it has a very small usage: most English-speaking Orthodox Christians will use the title most common in the old country churches from which their local family or parish finds its origin.
Vilakuvelil Cherian Samuel (1912–1998), called Samuel Achen was an Indian Christian philosopher, scholar, university professor, theologian, historian, polyglot and ecumenical leader. He was a priest of the Indian Orthodox Church. He was the author of many doctrinal books and papers including The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Historical Theological Survey.
Religion in Kerala is diverse. According to 2011 census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's population are Hindus, 26.56% are Muslims, 18.38% are Christians, and the remaining 0.33% follow other religions or have no religion. As of 2020, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and others account for 41.5%, 43.9%, 13.9% and 0.7% of the total child births in the state, respectively.
Saint Thomas Christian music refers to the musical traditions of the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. It is chiefly liturgical and is derived from ancient Syriac Christian music from the Middle East, with remarkably little influence from local Indian styles. Of particular significance is the prevalence of the organum singing style. As a result of the community's isolation and conservatism, these traditions may retain elements of the earliest forms of Early Christian music.
Suriyani Malayalam, also known as Karshoni, Syro-Malabarica or Syriac Malayalam, is a dialect of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriac alphabet which was popular among the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala in India. It uses Malayalam grammar, the Maḏnḥāyā or "Eastern" Syriac script with special orthographic features, and vocabulary from Malayalam and East Syriac. This originated in the South Indian region of the Malabar Coast. Until the 19th century, the script was widely used by Syrian Christians in Kerala.
Parichamuttu Kali is an Indian martial-arts dance form of Kerala practiced by the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians who trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It is performed by men bearing swords and shields and follows the movements and steps of Kalarippayattu. This dance is closely related to Margam Kali. Parichamuttu Kali was also performed by Harijans.
Pallikoodam or Ezhuthupally Pally is a word in Malayalam and Tamil that denotes a school. These were mostly village schools run by individual teachers and were distinct from Kalaris that taught martial arts.
Malaysian Malayalees, also known as Malayalee Malaysians, are people of Malayali descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia from the Malayalam speaking regions of Kerala. They are the second largest Indian ethnic group, making up approximately 15% of the Malaysian Indian population. The bulk of Malaysian Malayali migration began during the British Raj, when the British facilitated the migration of Indian workers to work in plantations, but unlike the majority Tamils, the vast majority of the Malayalis were recruited as supervisors in the oil palm estates that followed the kangani system, and some were into trading and small businesses with a significant proportion of them running groceries or restaurants. Over 90% of the Malayalee population in Malaysia are Malaysian citizens.
