Tharavad

Tharavad (pronunciation ) is a Malayalam word for ancestral home, usually used as the common house for the joint family system practised by some communities (especially the castes such as Nairs, Ambalavasis, Ezhavas, Syrian Christians and Namboothris) in Kerala, India.[1][2] Hermann Gundert in his Malayalam—English dictionary published in 1872, lists tharavad as "ancestral residence of land-owners" and also as "a house, chiefly of noblemen".[3] Contemporary usage of the word is now more generic to all social classes.. In tharavad , the eldest member of family is known as Karnavar . Karnavar may be the eldest person in the family who takes decision and controls the family . All other members have limited powers as compared to karanavar . As inheritance is through womens . The womens , especially the elder women in the family also excess powers in the family .

Not to be confused with Theravada.
A typical tharavad reproduced from K. M. Panikkar's article published in 1918. Capital and small letters represent females and males respectively. Supposing that the females A, B and C were dead and the oldest male member karnavar being d, if the male members t, k and others demanded partition, the property would be divided into three parts.

References
  1. Kakkat, Thulasi (18 August 2012). "Kerala's Nalukettus". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  2. Kunhikrishnan, K. (12 April 2003). "Fallen tharavads". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. Hermann Gundert (1872). A Malayalam and English Dictionary. C. Stolz. p. 434. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.