Arayan

Arayars or Arayans is one of the sub castes of Tamil Muthurajas. Arayan is a Malayali caste of Kerala and Tamilnadu India. They inhabit the coastal regions of the state. The main source of income of this community is fishing. Many legends of historical and mythical importance are associated with this community.[1]

Overview

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Arayars are the descendants of Koli /Kalachuri /Kalabhra kings who came from Kalinga (Orissa) to south for spreading Buddhism and Jainism.They had matrimonial alliance with the orthodox Brahmins of the area and thus a new race was formed known as "Arayans".It was a Tamil form of the sanskrit word 'Aryan'. The word Aryan is a pure Sanskrit word which means "noble or "spiritual".Gautama Buddha was referred as "Arayar" in ancient Tamil literature. The word Arayan, Arayar, Araya etc.;are found in various places with their other forms and have been used both as nouns and adjectives. From the description of "Pathittrupath," it can be seen that Arayar are the kings of the north rishis of Himalayas. The castes Araiyar, Arayan, Arayars Mutharayars in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the sub castes of Muthurajas /Mudirajas.who are the descendants of suryavamshi Koli/Shakya gotras who were the ancestors of Kalachuri/Kalabhra kings. Kalachuris also known as Heyheyas (Chandravamshi Kshatriyas), were an ancient people known from the Epics and Puranas. Arayar of kerala have been claiming that they are Araya Brahmins because of the above mentioned matrimonial alliance with the Brahmins. A detailed study of the origins of these communities reveals that there are two primary lines of the descendancy to the people of the community and each line projects a different meaning. Finally both the lines declare only one single fact that the ancestors of these people were warriors. Arya (singular), Aryas(plural) Aryas > Aryars > Arayars > Araiyars > Ariyars the Buddhist referred to any respectable member of the Buddist Sangha as Arya and it appears that usage of Arya was common throughout the Buddhist world. Buddhism was growing up during that time. But, the Dravida Brahmins who were separated from this newly formed religion began to destroy their culture. Buddha was suffered too much bitter things from this Brahmins. This Brahmins were also declared that the Aryans were aliens. The kings of south India like the Chola and Pandya dynasties relate their lineages back to Manu. The Matsya purana more over makes Manu, the progenitor of all the Aryas, originally a south Indian King Sathyavrita. The kings of the kingdom of Jaffna are known by the name of Arya chakravartis. According to others, Jayabahu who ruled the North while Magha ruled from Polonnaruwa was probably the founder of the Arya rulers of the North. These rulers were originally a branch of the Ganga dynasty from kalinga who had immigrated to Rameswaram, south India who had intermingled with the Brahmins of the area. They had called themselves Aryas.

It is also said that the Aryan culture, first confined to the Nambudiris, took root in the non-Aryans too, owing to close association with the original Malayali Aryans. Although the Brahminical Hindu beliefs, rituals, traditions and mythology had a great influence on the society, Arayan methods of medicine, astrology, art and architecture, too, were successfully introduced into the social strata with the Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas as the holy sripture for both.[2]

This small community endured a great loss due to the Tsunami that hit the southern states of India following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

Traditionally, the naval armies of both Travancore and Cochin were headed and managed by Arayans, while they along with the Muslim Marikkars formed the naval forces in Malabar. The Arayans of Travancore under Velu Thampi Dalawa and Chempil Arayan rebelled against the British in 1808, which was the first rebellion against the British in Kerala.

The Indian spiritual leader Mata Amritanandhamayi was born to an Arayan family.

Notables

See also

References

  1. ↑ "News: Arayan". Gorawtoday.com. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Cultural back ground of Kerala". Malayali.Com. Retrieved 7 July 2013.