Introduction to the Tharavaad
Welcome to the Tharavad�s official website. Alummoottil Tharavad
is an aristocratic Ezhava
family hailing from the central Travancore
region in Kerala. During the 17th and 18th century the Tharavad
was responsible for supplying infantry and light cavalry for the army
of the Maharaja of Kayamkulam and Travancore. Although, involved heavily
in the military machinery of the kingdom, the business empire, wealth
and assets of the Tharavad would rather have qualified it in the Vaishya
sect, if it existed within Kerala�s Chathurvarna ladder.
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The
annexation of the Kayamkulam princely state by the kingdom of Travancore
and the subsequent absorption of this kingdom into the Indian union,
focused the family towards commercial enterprise during the 19th and
early 20th century. The Thekkedath family temple is built on the ruins
of one among the chain of Kalaris run by the Tharavad.
The commercial empire once controlled by the Tharavad in the kingdom
was the envy of all men alike and it was second to none. In Thakazhi's
Novel 'Kayar', there are references of an Alummoottil Channar often mistaken
for the Travancore Diwan, due to his luxurious car, lifestyle and escorts!
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