Karanavar or Karanavan or Karanava, parsimoniously speaking, was used as a title or to denote the male head in Malayali, Tulu and Coorg society.
Karnavar is also a title for some aristocratic Nair families in and around Budhanur, Chenganoor, Kerala. These families are all branches of the same original family from Budhanur.
One legend is that it was conferred by Marthanda Varma the King of Travancore, while consolidating his newly found Kingdom of Thiruvithamkur (Travancore), the nephew Rama Varma (later Dharma Raja) and the sister of Marthanda Varma were passing through the said area under the protection of Vattaparambil Valiathan when they were attacked by the powerful Nair Lords, Ettuveetil Pillamar of Venad. Marthanda Varma's brother-in-law and other fighters lost their lives, but the sister, the Rani of Attingal, and her son escaped and ran through the fields ("Budhanoor padam"), where they encountered an aristocratic Nair family man who was managing farming in the field. They addressed the man as "Karnavar" and asked for his help. He helped them by hiding in his tharavad from the Ettuveettil Nairs, protecting him, and informing the nearby King's ally known as Aaruveetil Madampimar who in turn informed the Vakkavanjipuzha Madhom, whose head, known as the Vanjipuzha Thampuran, was an ally of Marthanda Varma. Later Marthanda Varma endowed him with riches and the hereditary surname of "Karnavar" when he became the Maharajah.
The senior most maternal uncle was the head of the matrilineal joint families or Tharavadu was called Karnavar. The authority of the Karnavar in a family is unquestionable. Even after the decline of Matrilineal system, the word is used to denote authority, and elderly person. This titile is given by the Maharaja of Travancore to an aristocratic Nair family because they have saved the Rani of Attingal.
The honorific plural 'Karanavar' is used for the community point man or head of Bhagavathi temples. In the old days, the 'Koil Thampuran (a Namboothiri ruler) would nominate him.
The founder of a Kodava Okka (clannish family) was known as "karona". During ancestral spirit worship, a Malayali would act as a shaman and would get possessed by Karona spirit of a particular Okka.
Raja Ravi Varma was an Indian painter and artist. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. Especially, he was notable for making affordable lithographs of his paintings available to the public, which greatly enhanced his reach and influence as a painter and public figure. His lithographs increased the involvement of common people with fine arts and defined artistic tastes among the common people. Furthermore, his religious depictions of Hindu deities and works from Indian epic poetry and Puranas have received profound acclaim. He was part of the royal family of erstwhile Parappanad, Malappuram district.
Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma (1758–98). While he was the heir to the throne, he suggested to his uncle the idea of forming an alliance with the Mughal Nawab of Carnatic. Rama Varma pledged allegiance to the Mughal empire and embraced the title of "Zamindar of Malabar". The feudatory status of Travancore persisted even during the era of Hyder Ali.
The Ettuveetil Pillamar were Nair nobles from eight ruling Houses in erstwhile Travancore in present-day Kerala state, South India. They were associated with the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram and the Ettara Yogam. Their power and wealth grew until Marthanda Varma (1706–1758), the last king of Venad and the first king of Travancore, defeated them in the 1730s.
Kilimanoor is a panchayat and a town in the Chirayinkeezhu taluk of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala, India. It is located on MC/SH 1 Road, 33 kilometres (21 mi) North-west of the city of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), 14 km (8.7 mi) east of Attingal and 20 km (12 mi) east of Varkala.
Kilimanoor Palace is a palace located in Kilimanoor, in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the birthplace of painter Raja Ravi Varma and Raghava Varma, the father of king Marthanda Varma.
Rama Varma I often referred to as Dharma Raja, was the Maharajah of Travancore from 1758 until his death in 1798. He succeeded his uncle Marthanda Varma, who is credited with the title of "maker of modern Travancore". During his reign Dharma Raja not only retained all the territories his predecessor had gained but administered the kingdom with success. He was addressed as Dharma Raja on account of his strict adherence to Dharma Sastra, the Hindu principles of justice by providing asylum to thousands of Hindus and Christians fleeing Malabar during the Mysorean conquest of Malabar.
Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi CI was the monarch, though designated as the Regent due to British policy, of the Kingdom of Travancore in southern India between 1924 and 1931. She, along with her younger cousin, Moolam Thirunal Sethu Parvathi Bayi, were adopted into the Travancore royal family and were the granddaughters of the celebrated painter, Raja Ravi Varma.
The Travancore–Dutch War was a war between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Indian kingdom of Travancore, culminating in the Battle of Colachel in 1741. Travancore won the war with the notable military service of fishermen community at the sea and seashore while Ananthapadmanabhan nadar as commander in chief of the army at the land.
Sarkaradevi Temple is one of the most important temples in South India. It is situated Chirayinkeezhu town in Thiruvananthapuram district. Tradition accords a remote antiquity to this temple. Its main deity is Bhadrakali. The Sarkaradevi Temple assumed a significant status for many reasons and rose to historical importance mainly with the introduction of the famous Kaliyoot festival by Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the Travancore sovereign, in 1748. The Sarkaradevi Temple have some basic attachment with Nakramcode Devi Temple which located in Avanavanchery, Attingal.
Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the titular Maharaja of Travancore. He was the younger brother of the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Travancore, Maharajah Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
Pallichal Pillai was one of the eight noble houses known as Ettuveetil Pillamar in the medieval history of south Kerala.The Ettuveetil Pillamar were the part of the administrative system in Travancore from early times. They were known as Desavazhis, who were directly subordinate to the supreme power which was Nāduvāzhi.
"Aswathi Thirunal" Umayamma, known as Queen Umayamma or Queen Ashure (Aswathi), (died 1698), was the regent queen of Venad (Venatu) in southern India from 1677 to 1684 on behalf of her young nephew (son of her older sister Senior Queen Makayiram Thirunal) Ravi Varma. She also served as the Junior Queen of Attingal under Senior Queen Makayiram Thirunal and subsequently as the Senior Queen of Attingal.
The Travancore royal family was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Travancore.The Travancore royal family signed a treaty with the British in 1788, thereby adopting British dominance. Later, in 1805, they revised the treaty, leading to a diminution of royal authority and the loss of political independence for Travancore. They had to give up their ruling rights over the common people in 1949 when Travancore were forced to merge with Independent India and their political pension privileges were abolished in 1971.
Maharani Bharani Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi CI was the Senior Rani of Travancore from 1857 till her death in 1901. Her consort was the famous poet and writer, styled the father of Malayalam literature, Sri Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran.
Pillai, meaning Prince, is a title of nobility which can either refer to a ruling chief, members of the nobility, or junior princes of the royal family historically ranked immediately below the king. The oldest lineages of Pillais include not only Kshatriyas but also brahmins who took up the sword. From the early modern period, the title also came to be bestowed upon Savarna subjects by the Kings for services military or political, most of whom were of Nair origin.
Chirayinkeezhu Taluk is a Taluk (tehsil) in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is shares border with Varkala Taluk in North and with Thiruvananthapuram Taluk in South. It comprises 12 panchayats and Attingal Municipality. Chirayinkeezhu taluk is the birthplace of a host of illustrious personalities like the painter Raja Ravi Varma, the great poet and social reformer Kumaran Asan and Prem Nazir etc.
Rani Bharani Thirunal Parvathi Bayi was a junior Rani of Travancore as known as ' Attingal Elaya Rani ' Her consort was Kilimanoor Kerala Varma Koyi Thampuran. Parvathi Bayi was born in 1850 as the daughter of Bharani Thirunal Amma Thampuran of Utsava Madom Palace in Mavelikara.
Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi (1916-2008) was the only sister of the last ruling Maharajah of Travancore, Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma and of his successor, Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma. Under the matrilineal Marumakkathayam system of inheritance prevalent in the kingdom of Travancore, it was her children who were heirs to the throne. She therefore held a very special place in the Travancore court, superior to the Maharaja's wives, and was termed the Rani of Attingal in her own right. In 2013, her only surviving son duly succeeded his uncles as titular Maharaja of Travancore and is known as Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma.
Koyi Thampuran was the title of the Prince Consorts of the Queens and Princesses of Travancore. The Koyi Thampurans' gained prominence and prestige in Kingdom of Travancore as they were the fathers of the then reigning Kings. In Travancore, there were ten clans of Koyi Thampurans. The most ancient were the ones settled at Kilimanoor ; others were Kirthipuram, Pallam, Paliyakkara and Nirazhi, Ananthapuram, Chemprol, Cherukol, Karazhma and Vatakkemadham.
Amunthirathu Devi Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Sree Bhadra Kali located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The temple is situated at Mudakkal, around 8 km north of Attingal in the Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. The temple enshrines a Krishna shila idol of the goddess Amunthirathamma, an incarnation of Bhadra Kali. Devi is in Ardha padmasana, Andarmugha and chathur bahu.