Nambudiri is a southern Indian brahmin community that is a sub-division of the Dravida brahmins, one of five brahmin groups in southern India (Pancha Dravida).
The traditional territory of the Nambudiris lies in what is
now the modern state of Kerala.
The Nambudiris are well-known throughout India for their
piety and learning.
Shankaracharya, the famous philosopher, was a Nambudiri
brahmin, according to legend.
Shankaracharya supposedly designated one Hindu holy location
in each corner of the subcontinent and established a Dashanami Sanyasi monastic
institution (math) to instruct scholarly monks in his aim to restore Hindu
religion.
In the Himalayas, one of these spiritual locations was
Badrinath.
The Dandi Sanyasis, who were also Nambudiri brahmins,
conducted temple devotion for many hundred years, according to Badrinath temple
archives.
When the last of them died in 1776 without an heir, the
shrine's patron, the local monarch, requested a non-ascetic Nambudiri brahmin
to serve as the temple's priest.
This priest was granted the title of rawal
("deputy"), and his extended family has been in charge of the shrine
ever since.
The rawal was the only one who could touch the reigning
deity's picture.
As a result, he was forced to remain a bachelor, lest the
ceremonial impurity associated with childbirth (sutakashaucha) make him
incapable of performing his responsibilities.
For a long time, the rawals held exclusive authority over
the offerings made at the shrine, but the temple has been managed by a
committee since 1939, and the rawal's role has been limited to ceremonial
tasks.
