- Karnavar
Karanavar or Karanavan or Karanava, parsimoniously speaking, was the title of male head in Malayalee and
Kodava society.Kodava
The founder of
Kodava "Okka" (clannish family) was known as "karona". During ancestral spirit worship, a Malayalee would act as ashaman and would get possessed by Karona spirit of a particular Okka.Malayalee
The senior most maternal uncle is/was addressed as "Karanavan" or "Karnon". This term also worked as a title in many a cases.
Chaliyan
The honorific plural "Karanavar" is used for the community point man in the Bhagavathi temples. In old days,
Koil Thampuran (aNamboothiri ruler) would nominate him.Nair
The senior most maternal uncle was the head of the matrilineal joint families, known as
Tharavadu , and 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.Besides this, Karnavar is also a surname for some aristocratic
Nair families in and aroundBudhanur ,Chengannur , Kerala, India, all branches of the same original family at Budhanur. One legend is that it was conferred byMarthanda Varma the King ofTravancore . While consolidating his newly found Kingdom of Thiruvithamkur (Travancore ), the nephew(laterDharma Raja ) and sister of Marthanda Varma were passing through the said area under the protection of VattaparambilValiathan and were attacked by the people of theEttuveetil Pillamar . Marthanda Varma's brother in law and other fighters lost their life but the sister, the Rani of Attingal, and her son escaped and ran through the fields ("Budhanoor padam")where they met an elderlyNair man who was farming in the field. He addressed the old man as "Karnavar" and asked for his help. The old Nair helped him by hiding him and informed the nearbly feudal Lords known as Aaruveetil Madampimar who in turn informed the Vakkavanjipuzha Madhom, the head of which, known as the Vanjipuzha Thampuran, was an ally ofMarthanda Varma . Eventually Marthanda Varma endowed him with riches and the hereditary surname of "Karnavar" when he became the Maharajah.
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