Kurukkal

The Kurukkal are a caste in Kerala, India. Originally a patrilineal community of Travancore whose traditional function was that of temple servants, they became matrilineal towards the end of the 18th century under the influence of the dominant Nambudiri Brahmin caste. From that time on, Kurukkal women had hypergamous marriages with Nambudiri men and Kurukkal men struck similar relationships with women from the matrilineal Maran caste.[1]

The community's position in the Hindu ritual ranking system known as varna is disputed. They generally claim to be Iyer Brahmins but this is rejected by the Iyers themselves.[2]

References

Srinivas, Mysore Narasimhachar (1995). Social Change in Modern India: Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lectures (Reprint ed.). Orient Blackswan. p. 18. ISBN 978-8-12500-422-6.
Hiltebeitel, Alf (1991). The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2: On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-22634-048-7.

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[1] Srinivas, Mysore Narasimhachar (1995). Social Change in Modern India: Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lectures (Reprint ed.). Orient Blackswan. p. 18. ISBN 978-8-12500-422-6.

[2] Hiltebeitel, Alf (1991). The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2: On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-22634-048-7.