Embranthiri
malayali Brahmin subcaste

The Embrandiri (Malayalam: എമ്പ്രാന്തിരി), also transliterated as Embranthiri, are a Malayali Brahmin subcaste.
Some sects of Embranthiris have adopted the Malayali Brahmin surnames "Namboothiri" and "Potti" after arriving in Kerala. There are followers of Vaishnavism as well as Shaivism among Embranthiris and because of their Vaishnava Dharmaserve in Vishnu temples and Krishna temples. Some of them are also practitioners of yagams and other Vedic Srauta rituals.
History
In the 8th century AD, as per the request from King Udayavarma Raja of Kolathunaad (a small ancient kingdom in north Kerala), King Mayooravarman of Gokarnam sent 237 Tulu Brahmanan families to Kolathunaad. These family members performed "Hiranyagarbha" and converted themselves into Malayala Brahmanans. They had settled in Arathil, Cheruthaazham, Pilathara and Chirakkal. All these places are in and around one of the strongest Namboothiri Graamams (villages) of those days, Perinchelloor (near today's Taliparamba in Kannur district in north Kerala). These Brahmanas are both Shaivite and Vaishnavite in orientation and place emphasis on performing Yajnas like the Namboodiris and speak Malayalam exclusively.
Later, 257 Tulu Brahmanan families also migrated to these areas.
“Embranthiri” enters the record as malayali Brahmin subcaste. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Embranthiri, malayali and Brahmin can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Embranthiri” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.