Talk:Kerala/Archive 1

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കേരളം or േകരളം

  • േകരളം - is not correct, even though it looks better than കേരളം on some computers.
  • കേരളം - is correct, but if you see this incorrectly on your computer, please read ml:Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to know how to enable east asian font viewing in your computer.

-Bijee

Possible vandalism ?

Please add all possible vandalism here. Others can check it by going to Kerala history page or looking "User contributions" in toolbox at users page, and then clicking "diff" links. -Bijee

"Keralam"

Why is the article titled "Keralam", when that word is not used once in the discussion? It's "Kerala" everywhere. -- Zoe

It has been put right. --Vinodmp

Literacy

What is the literacy level 90% or 97%? Both figures are used in the article. -- Tiles

According to the 2001 National census it is 90.92%. The 97% in the article has been changed. -- Manojmp

aravindet's comments

I've made some major changes. Hope it's okay with everyone. I was thinking about losing the "Keralam" reference...

Something else... the Malayalam version is lousy. I say we lose it. Or else someone (not me) should come up with a decent article, with correct letter compounding. if you don't have Lipi or anything you could compose a malayalam email in rediffmail and copy that. It's too much of a bother for me! ;) -- aravindet

p.s. are you two _mp fellas related?

political comment

Modified the political comment about the democratically elected communist government. I went through the page history and noticed a lot of 'is' and 'was' modifications. Governments come and go, so I felt it was better to change the languaging of the line so it wouldn't need changes every 5 years or less.
Jay 23:10, 10 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Congress

Congress is a left-wing party ?? Jay 10:34, Sep 16, 2003 (UTC)

Syrian Christians

Quote from article: The history of that community dates back to the arrival in AD 52 of St. Thomas the Apostle, and to the establishing of a Christian community by a contingent of Syrian Christians who arrived in AD 192 via Baghdad. (See Saint Thomas Christians.) End Quote.

My understanding is that the Syrian Christians who arrived via Baghdad are NOT called Saint Thomas Christians. The Syrians were lead by a Thomas of Cana (Kanayan Thomas) who has been frequently confused with St. Thomas the Apostle. If I recall right, they (the Syrian families that came over) are hence referred to as Kanayan Christians or simply as Syrian Christians?

Can someone clarify? --Das

Syrian Christians (Saint Thomas Christians,Nasrani) are those (from hindus, jews, other middle east settlers in Keralam) who where converted to Christianity by St. Thomas, at church they also do a portion of prays in Syriac.
  • Knanaya Christians says they came to keralam for doing business.
  • Syrian Christians says Kinayi Toma and his Knanaya team came to keralam to teach Christianity.
After reaching keralam some mixed with Syrian Christians and others kept to their separate identity to become Knanaya Christians. Still there is Knanaya Christian community in Keralam. And many have to leave the community - by marrying from outside community - to get better alliance --Bijee

There is no evidence to suggest that St. Thomas visited Kerala. When the Portuguese visited Kerala they found people following the holy Tammas and Salivahana (an avatar of Krishna where he is crusified). They named these people the followers of St.Thomas (Knanaya is Kannan or Krishna). There are many books published that suggest that the mythos of the Bible and of Jesus is the same as the mythos of the Buddha and Krishna and these mythos were carried over from India to the middle east, Africa and Europe and not the other way around as the Europeans would like us to believe. If interested please read books like "Anacalypsis", "Suns of God",or "The book your church does not want you to read". These books are available at amazon.com.

Keralites?

  1. Many people say A. R. Rahman is a Tamil Mudaliar. Could someone please help with references?
  2. M. Night Shyamalan is born for Malayalee father and Tamil mother, AFAIK. So, is it ok to keep his name?

--Rrjanbiah 13:43, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Possible vandalism by 203.199.213.194

Could someone please check the contributions to this page made by 203.199.213.194?

Most of the contributions by this user are vandalism, but I can't tell if the changes to this page are legit.

Thanks. JEL 22:05, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Possible vandalism by 212.77.192.54

212.77.192.54 has made some changes to the Kerala article which looks like Vandalism. -- Jishacj

Re: Correct word for Kerala in Malayalam

Admins, please note that correct word for Kerala in Malayalam is:

േകരളം

For reference, please check up the way Kerala is scripted in http://www.keralakaumudi.com link of a leading Kerala newspaper mentioned in Kerala Main page of wikipedia itself. My frequent attempts to correct this simple mistake failed without adequate reasons. I am willing to offer any necessary help required in Kerala related pages since Malayalam is my mother tongue and studied in that language for years. I think, this time atleast, my efforts to correct will be a success.

--AJJ 08:14, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

please read ml:Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers -Tnx Bijee

removing jokes

All the items under the section "Notable Praises," after the first three, were purely subjective impressions, or jokes (and uses slang like "Mallus", which is typically used outside Kerala to refer to Malayalis). I'm removing this section. The "praise" by National Geographic has been housed in a newly created section on Tourism. Currently, the section "Georgraphy" has significant overlap with this section. I think material needs to be added to both those sections (in Geography, more technical details and in tourism details on cultural tourism).

numbers

An anonymous user switched the percentages of Christians and Muslims in this edit. I have no idea which is correct so I'll just note it here. —Charles P. (Mirv) 04:39, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I just verified the info @ the official national census site and found it to be true after doing some simple mathematics on my computer. So the edited info is indeed corect. You can download the spreadsheet & do the calculations yourself. - Unsigned
I've added a link to the spread sheet. -- Sundar (talk · contribs) 10:36, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

economy section - copied verbatim

I notice that the new first paragraph of the economy section is copied verbatim from the Kerala government website. It was inserted in this edit Also, in addition to the "Kerala phenomenon", the term "Kerala paradox" should be used since it shows up much more in a google search.

Renaming of Places

The names of places in Keralam has been changed some years back. Trivandrum was renamed Thiruvananthapuram, Palghat into Palakkad, Quilon into Kollam etc. When was it done, do we have the details of that order etc? Can we mention the same in the article page?

Also there is some problem in the way Keralam has been mentioned in the page in the Malayalam font. Yes, an answer has given earlier too to this query made by someone else, but for a common user like me i can read the font only as Karelam and not Keralam. Please take note of the same. Systems and Procedures should not cause a hinderance on the path towards perfection.

Chief Minister

What party does the current incumbent belong to. This page says Congress I but the CM's own site says UDF which may be the same thing but is confusing for a non-Indian like myself Albatross2147 06:58, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

UDF, standing for United Democratic Front, is a coalition of several political parties of which Congress I is the largest member. -- Sundar (talk · contribs) 10:12, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

Images

Does anyone watching this have {{GFDL}} or {{PD}}-licensed free photos of pookkalam of Onam? If so, please upload them. -- Sundar (talk · contribs) 10:23, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

I hope there are more contributors now. Does anyone have the images? -- Sundar \talk \contribs 06:03, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

St Thomas In Kerala ???

It is considered to be a false story by many keralites. Christian culture is a part of Kerala from anicient period but the claim of St Thomas Tradition cant be approved.

The proof and some facts will appear very soon 202.83.52.23

It better be good 152.78.254.131 14:30, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I suggest you first put up your arguments at Thomas (Apostle) article's discussion page. I am removing the POV check tag here at the moment 152.78.254.131 22:35, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Got a reply from Sothampton. Happy 2 see this Tux the penguin 05:36, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

Friends,

I have added some information about St. Thomas in the Article. Many people from Kerala including me believe that this story is not historically accurate. But I respect the view of my fellow Keralites on this topic as well. However, I have noticed that my contributions are getting deleted by people claiming that "Interesting, but of dubious scholarship value, and more a sign of our new agey times than anything else". It is not right to dismiss an opinion by calling it "dubious scholarship" and deleting it from the site. Are all the other information provide in this site absolute facts? I have provided links to to support my opinion on this topic (by (Godfrey Higgins) who was knighted by the Queen of England) and another by a Christian Priest (Tom Harpur). There are plenty of books on this topic and I encourage Malayalees who are interested to visit book sites like amazon.com and check out these books. As a South Indian and a Malayali I am interested in finding out the facts about our past. I request all of you not to delete information from this site just because you do not agree with it. It is Censorship.

Thank you and God bless.

St Thomas controversy and double standards of Indians

It is ironic that many indians do not believe that St Thomas reached kerala, but they proudly say that india was the only place which did not persecute the Jews. If Jews could reach kerala over 2500 years ago, so could st thomas. Because St thomas was Jewish and one of those Jews who reached the malabar coast. It is ironic that indians accept that cochin Jews are the oldest settlement of Jews outside the Mediterranean World, but they keep on denying that syrian christians are of Jewish origin or that they were Jews converted by the Jewish apostle st thomas. It only shows the double standards of the people. At one hand they want to show India as a tolerant nation better than any other. On the other hand they want to say that christianity did not exist in India from its very beginning.

Until recently, at least in kerala people did not doubt the arrival of st thomas the apostle. It is only after the rise of fundamentalist-nationalist parties in India over two decades, that people are trying to write revisionist history even in kerala.

It was stated: "Many people from Kerala including me believe that this story is not historically accurate."

Well this is an encyclopedia and this is not a place to write about what you believe but what the historians have concluded. The authors who you have quoted Godfrey Higgins and Tom Harpur are just writers who express their views and not historians. There are several ideas by people but they are not written in an encyclopedia. Only theories of historians or scientists about the historical events or scientific idea are taken as valid references in encyclopedia. Individual writers may write similar views as you hold but they are not academic scholars or historians or scientists.

Besides the Knanaya nasranis came from Canaan. Syria on the other hand is related to the Assyrian Empire not Surya. If you are going to relate history because of similar sounding words then it is all fallacious. It is like saying, because the bat has wings it is a bird. But the bat is not a bird, instead it is a mammal even though it has wings. In the same way similar sounding words do not show any relation between two concepts.

it was stated: "This tale comes from the fact that when Portuguese Christian missionaries arrived in southern India they found a sect who worshipped a god named “Thomas” and whose religion was nearly identical to Christianity. The missionaries created elaborate stories to explain the presence of the “St. Thomas Christians,” claiming that the apostles Thomas and/or Bartholomew had at some point traveled to India and preached and died there"

Most of all the portuguese christian missionaries did not call the nasranis as st thomas christians, instead completely contrary to what you say, the portuguese persecuted the nasranis and called them Judaizers.

In 2002 the british historian William Dalrymple demonstrated how st thomas along with other Jews navigated from the mediterranean world to south India. Besides, there was a sea- trade route between the mediterranean world and the malabar coast. Numerous coins from the mediterranean world have been found in kerala and have been preserved in museums in kerala and around the world. The exploration by William dalrymple about st thomas was documented in 2002 by the BBC and shown all over the world. Please see the documentary it is appropriately called by the BBC as Doubting Thomas because they saw the double standards of how Indians doubt the arrival of St thomas and yet have no doubt about the arrival of Cochin Jews. The BBC documentary shows the route followed by ancient Jews to the malabar coast and also the oldest synagogues and churches founded by these Jews. Personal ideas should never over-run facts especially when scientists have taken pains to investigate and document facts.

Questioning the St. Thomas story is not a recent phenomenon. "It is only after the rise of fundamentalist-nationalist parties in India over two decades, that people are trying to write revisionist history even in kerala". This statement is totally false. Godfrey Higgins (not an Indian or a Malayale) wrote his book in 1835. He is not just a writer. He is considered one of the best historians of his time. There were many European historians who questioned this story about St. Thomas in the 18th century. Why would Christian writers and historians who were citizens of Christian empires (Britain and France) dispute this story in the 17th and 18th century? This is not my personal idea. Nor is this story a scientific fact. Where is the archaeological evidence of Christian influence in India from the first century onwards? India was visited by Greeks, Romans, Ethiopians and Chinese travelers throughout history. There is no mention of St. Thomas in any of their books. Do we possess Greek and Latin books, any Bible from the early centuries translated into any Indian language? Do we have any Christian monuments from this early period? The first church dedicated to St. Bartholomew was built in 1503 by the Portuguese in Fort Cochin.

Study of the origin of words and letters is not a fallacy. It is called Etymology. It is a science. It is by using these scientific methods that experts group languages and then tries to find out the source and relationships between them (e.g.) "Indo-European" languages and "Dravidian" languages. According to DNA testing and tracing the mutations of the Y chromosome in man, the first settlement of modern humans in India was 55,000 years ago ("The Journey of Man: A genetic Odyssey" by PBS (http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1402621)). It is a fact that human beings were traveling back and forth between India and Middle East and Africa for thousands of years. Lot of coins and artifacts has been exchanged from one to the other. This is called trading. However, this does not prove that St. Thomas visited India or the Christian religion existed in India from the very beginning. Unfortunately the history of India particularly in the last 2000 years is presented from a European stand point. A statement is made that "Well this is an encyclopedia and this is not a place to write about what you believe but what the historians have concluded". The fact of the matter is that historians have not concluded that Jesus or other Gods of other religions are historical or mythical figures. The way the history is told conveniently ignores evidence that points to the fact that Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Christianity) have Indian origins. In the information age issues like this can no longer be suppressed and swept under the carpet.

According to Strongs Concordance (a very useful tool for studying the scriptures)(http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/8/1132621385-1270.html), the Biblical word "Thomas" is derived from the Aramaic, which in turn is from the Semitic root "taam", meaning "twin" or, as in Parkhurst's Lexicon "dark". In Sanskrit dictionary, "tamas," "tamasa" or "taamasa" means "darkness, inertia, ignorance". Another word for "dark" in Sanskrit is "Krsna" or Krishna. Another interesting fact is that the South Indians who are worshiping the Holy Tamas (the dark Krishna) call their language Tam-ul (or Tamil). All major South Indian languages are derived from the great Tamil language. Worship of the Tamas goes back thousands of years before the Common Era (BCE).

I would like to mention that I am not in any way anti-Christian. My intension is not to offend any ones feelings. When great claims are made it requires great evidence to back it up. It should be able to withstand scrutiny and debate. Kerala is a beautiful state and a true melting pot. I grew up with many Christian and Muslim friends from Kerala. I still continue to cherish those relationships. I believe in any relationship being truthful is very important. I also believe as the Bible says that "The Truth Shall Set You Free".

To whoever wrote the previous paragraphs:

Godfrey Higgins died in 1833 so he obviously could not have written a book in 1835 unless it was completed by someone else or published in 1835 as opposed to written in 1835. But few historians have accepted his views on Christ or Christianity. Even before the arrival of Europeans in India, Thomas_(Apostle) was considered an "Apostle for India and Asia" in early Christian writings. Please understand that from the late 18th century, groundwork was being laid towards colonialization and imperialism, and Christianity provided rather controversially, the right of a country to rule the colonized. In such a situation, why do you think any historian of that time would accept that an apostle of Christ, had travelled to India before Christianity reached the shores of Britain ? As for the rest of the evidence you seek, apart from Flavius Josephus, there is no mention of Christ in Roman writings; besides, there is no evidence that Vedic Hinduism was prevalent in Kerala either, until late 8th century. The existing Hindu temples in Kerala were Jain or Buddhist temples of an earlier period. Indianxian 01:33, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

To all of you guys:

I think you are easily dismissing any writer or historian who contradicts the story of St. Thomas but at the same time willing to introduce evidence that the St. Thomas was considered an "Apostle for India and Asia" in early "Christian" writings. Again this does not prove that Thomas visited India. I am also not sure if this type of evidence would stand up under scrutiny!! Anybody with the some knowledge of the history of any major religion knows the role played by forgers and those who destroy or manipulate historical documents to their religions advantage. The theory that the British authors did not buy the story of St. Thomas because they did not want to accept that Christianity came to India before England does not hold water. Godfrey Higgins and many others of the 17th and 18th century were questioning not just the story of St. Thomas but also the origins of the Christian religion itself. They and many historians since then have indicated that the origin and stories found in Christianity and Judaisim are also found in much older mythologies of ancient period including Vedic, Buddhist, Greek and Egyptian. They also concluded that the gods and prophets found in these ancient religions can also be found in the religion of Christ. Botttom line is "There is nothing new under the sun":) The story of apostles preaching the "word" is used by those who cannot explain why the basic Bible stories appear in the mythologies of other countries including India. The fact is St.Thomas cannot be found in secular history. St. Thomas is a mythical character. How can a mythical character visit India?

This is not a discussion on Christianity vs Hinduism here. So I do not want to discuss the evidence of Vedic Hinduisim in Kerala before the 8th century. Personally, I have no issues with you or anyone else adding your thoughts on these topics in these pages. My request is to add comments to the "Kerala" page that indicates that the story of St. Thomas visiting India is not accepted as a fact by many historians from India and abroad (although you personally do not have to agree with it). There is a lot of information in these pages that I believe is inacurate. But I do not delete them. By constantly deleting these entries from the Kerala site you are projecting just your version of history. I think that is unfair. rkhk 10:30 12/6/05.

Guys ... based on the discussion above and the disagreement that exists in India and abroad about this story I think it is fair that both sides of the story be presented in the Kerala site. AlwaysInvinsible Dec 7, 2005.

I am adding the following paragraph to the article. Thank you.

"The story of St. Thomas visiting Kerala is controversial in that it is not accepted as a historical fact by many Indians and historians from India and abroad. Since the 16th century to modern times many historians and writers including ((Anacalypsis by Sir Godfrey Higgins, Suns of God by Acharya S, and The Pagan Christ by Rev. Tom Harpur) have documented that when the Portuguese Christian missionaries arrived in southern India they found a sect who worshipped a god named “Tamus or Tammuz” and whose basic stories was nearly identical to Biblical tales although the object of adoration of this sect was actually Tamus (an avatar of Krishna). Krishna is also known as Kannan or Kannaya in South India. The worship of the Tammuz in South India goes back thousands of years. The followers of the Tammuz spoke the language Tamul or Tamil". rkhk 11:45 12/18/05.

Seal Change

I dont know how the logo of sikkim matches with that of Kerala. Replacing it with the actual thing soon Tux the penguin 13:06, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

Rubbish can not become History who said so?

It is becoming more and more clear that the model of wikipedia is not going to work. I have been going through the pages of wikipedia some time now. All I can see is that the "fundametalist" and "fascists" are more keen to alter the original text and they are not interested in any discussions. And as everybody knows "fascists" in their time are a popular mass movements (like hitler's nascism). In the light of what ever I know about history, wikipedia is can not be taken as an authentic. There are a lot of useful information in wikipedia but you do not know what is a rubbish and what is correct. I agree that 90% is good and reliable. But no one has a clue which is this 10% which is rubbish.

There are a lot of misguiding write ups given in wikipedia page. The same is true about Kerala. There is no point correcting them. I have been observing RSS page for some time. Considering the nature of RSS, I am sure, that page will always be a garbage bin. I could see many knowledged people contributing good useful information to that page only to be removed within next one hour. The suggestions about Hinduism as the mother religion of Budhism and that later it merged with Hinduism is a futile lip exercice deserves sympathy. The same thing about Tipu invasion and Muslim community. The person who led Tipu's army was a Hindu. The commonsense judgement can not approve that a hindu army chief converted large number of "scheduled caste" (they were not hindus, anyway) people to Islam. Tipu was a brutal warrior and he naturally chased his enemies' hide outs even if they hid in the temples. At that time, landlords belong to uppercastes were inhumanly cruel to "scheduled caste" slaves. First time in their life, these slaves saw their all powerful masters running for life and they thought this is the way they can escape from their struggles and hardships. All the armymen of that time Upper caste Hindu fuedal masters were from a particular upper caste community. Later these upper caste community became Kerala's thinking influential middle calss. And they were naturally influenced by the stories they heard about the brutalities of Tipu invasion. But they are all coloured stories. There are proven historical efvidences to show that Tipu financed many temples. And he was a progressive fuedal king who was open to what was going on int the world that time. He was an amirer of French Revolution. He, if what i heard is true, planted a tree in memory of French revolution. How many intellectuals of that time understood the significance of french revolution? He wanted all the local kings to unite to fight against the common enemy that is British, and he was fed up with the attitude of some other fuedal kings (some of them belong to Hindu) adopting the policy of polishing the shoes of British. He wanted to build a strong empire to fight British. But Most of Kerala Kings of that time except Veera Pazhassi and a few others were competiting each others in polising the shoes of British Colonialism. But there are several other such things. Though Christianity is a very old religion in Kerala, as far as I know there is no concrete evidence to prove St.Thomas actually visited Kerala. though generally Historians do approve that is a possibility.

It has to be noted that South India in General, Kerala in Particular was never a Hindu place. It is historically proved fact. If wikipedia is a place which give any information contradictory to this, then those pages are not reliable. Normally we use a encyclopedia to refer some thing. If I can see hundred rubbishes about known facts, then I can't be very sure about using other pages for refering.

When I say South India was not a Hindu place I do not mean Hindu Nation. There were hardly any Hindus lived in South India in the early historical period. When it comes to the Hindu Nation, Let me quote Nobel Prize winner Amarthyasen who told "India was never a Hindu Nation." He points out that the two great empires of India were not Hindu (Ashoka - Budhist, and Akbar- Muslim). There are historical evidences to prove that the places mentioned in the Ramayana and mahabharathas are not actually in the present day India. They are in present day Pakistan and Afghanistan. History is not a "sweet pan" one can chew myths, beliefs and half truths together.

Protecting

I'm protecting this page for at least a day or so. We seem to have a combination of edit warring and linkspamming going on. Please work out your differences (and sign your posts). Thank you. --Woohookitty(cat scratches) 06:05, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

History of Kerala Cristianity controversy

For all you guys who are interested in the St. Thomas controversy, there is a very interesting article about it on the bbc : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2604455.stm

Enjoy!

Guest, 9 December 2005, 16:49 GMT

First elected communist govt

I think EMS ministry is the first elected communist Govt in the world. If not pls correct me -Gokul_m1

Recent changes

Well, I've been bold (per guidelines) and made some rather substantial changes. I'd like some feedback from others. If people have issues with any of the changes, let us discuss them here first. Regardless, I'll be making some additional improvements in the coming days — with the eventual goal of a peer review. Thank you. Saravask 11:53, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Really great edits Saravask!!! I have a few comments.
  • Districts and multi-hazard zones of Kerala map is too specialized to there on the general Kerala page. Same about the backwaters map. Instead of the backwater map, we could have a beach map, paddy field map and mountain stream map representing the lowland, midland and highland respectively in the geography section.
  • Kerala maps are long so it would be better to align them to the right.
--Raghu 13:22, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Sounds good. I moved the backwaters map to the new Geography of Kerala article and right-aligned the districts/hazards map. I think the agroecological map pretty much shows where the lowland, midland and highland regions are. Saravask 19:05, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Instead of the backwater map, we could have a beach map, paddy field map and mountain stream map representing the lowland, midland and highland respectively in the geography section. Sorry I meant pics, not maps. I still feel that the multi hazard map is not needed in the article.--Raghu 03:24, 17 January 2006 (UTC)
OK. I deleted the hazmap, so we have more room for nice pictures now. Saravask 04:47, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Hey, great job! But I'd prefer it if we used Template:India state infobox for all Indian states articles, just to remain consistent. --Khoikhoi 20:47, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I do respect your opinion. But could you point out where in WP:MOS it states that we cannot adjust infoboxes to suit the topic? I've written and designed three featured articles (most recently Saffron and History of saffron). They all sailed through featured article candidacy (FAC) with such adjustments, and they all received overwhelming support (something like 22 support votes against one oppose vote — nobody (except one person) complained about "non-standard" features. That is to say, only one vocal advocate of absolute conformity objected to the article's design — he complained that Saffron's "History" section must come before all other sections simply because that is how it is done in most other articles. I think we have the same situation here. In Saffron, I also designed non-standard infoboxes and sidebars to make them less bulky and ugly, and that is what I've done here. Indeed, "standard" infoboxes often are rejected by the community (see the hideous Template:Infobox biography for an example of a "standard" that was nearly deleted per consensus). We cannot be afraid to design unique articles with unique infoboxes, if for no other reason than to found new "standards". Per my experience, the last thing we need to do to get this article featured is to exhibit absolute conformity. Not all infoboxes and articles need exactly mimic each other on Wikipedia. Flexibility is the rule bolstered by consensus time and time again. And thank God for that. Saravask 21:20, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I'm just saying, what makes this state so much better than all the other states that is it there one that has a different infobox? I'll ask User:Nichalp what he thinks. --Khoikhoi 21:46, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
OK. Saravask 21:47, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Vote

Just to guage consensus, I'd like to take a vote on whether we should use the new state infobox design in this article (see Template:Kerala infobox) or the "standard" design (see Template:India state infobox). We can run this for about a week. Thanks. Saravask 21:46, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Pardon my ignorance, but what articles will this template be used ? Tintin Talk 22:24, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
I'm planning on using it only here, on the Kerala article. I don't like imposing my designs or opinions on other people's work (templates and articles included). Saravask 22:49, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Support

Oppose

Background for new infobox design

Let me state my reasons as to why Kerala needs an adapted template:

  1. Information in Template:India state infobox is organized illogically. An example is the listing of the "Governor" and "Chief Minister" fields as subfields under "Legislature", even though these two offices are not part of the legislative branch of Kerala's government. This is ridiculous. There are other examples of this. Meanwhile, the new design lists "Governor", "Chief Minister", and "Legislature" equally under the "Formation" heading, as that is the indeed the date that the government was inaugurated. The headings and data in Template:India state infobox also, with all due respect to its designers, exhibits poor organization compared to those of other nations — minutiae such as the ISO abbreviation is afforded an important position near the top while more important data such as area and population appear near the bottom. Also, data that are natural derivatives/correlates of each other (such as population, area and their derivative population density) are not grouped under each other. I've corrected all these by organizing data with respect to relative importance — that is to say, what do Wikipedia readers want to see and know first about Kerala? I'm going to hazard the guess that ISO abbreviation will not be the third thing they want to know (what percentage of readers even know (or care) what an ISO abbreviation is), but rather things like official language, population, area, etc.). Also, I've given greater consideration to grouping data via common themes.
  2. Information in Template:India state infobox does not include the government website, which is something included in Template:Canadian province or territory, Template:Australia state or territory, Template:US state, Template:Japanese prefecture, and other comparatively elegant and well-designed and considered subterritory templates. Why not? This is something many readers want to see first, so they can learn more about the state.
  3. Template:India state infobox is relatively immense, bulky, and wasteful of space — note in particular how the side margins around the map and the state seal were squandered on empty space conveying no information. Because of this, while the old design is 300px, the new one (which cuts out the waste) is only 225px. While the old design extends far down the page due to this wasted space and poor design, the new one utilizes space efficiently (for example, tucking the coat of arms inside the title bar and matching map size to infobox size). In sum, the new design is more slim, more functional, and more elegant, and less obtrusive. This is why I couldn't insert the three new district, ecozone, and backwaters maps until I had switched to Template:Kerala infobox — the old template was simply crowding the additions out and creating ugly layout problems.
  4. Lastly, not all country subdivisions use standard bulk templates. Look at Arizona, for example. They adapted the standard template for that page; this is all I want done here. Saravask 22:49, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
Yet, despite these alterations, I've attempted accomodation of the standard template by making the new design resemble to the greatest extent possible Template:India state infobox — the colors, rough shape, location, map position, etc. all match. I really don't think readers will care if there are slight differences in data presentation. I didn't redesign Template:India state infobox itself simply because (notwithstanding WP:OWN) I don't like meddling in other people's templates, articles, and affairs. Saravask 23:11, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

It's a much better infobox, but I have a few issues:

  1. State logos are notoriously difficult to obtain. Even if available, the aspect ratio would be warped. Unless we get a standard image size for all states, I don't think we should mess with the logo in the title.
  2. Government e-portal should be renamed to "website"
  3. Capital should come before the language(s) like we have for the country infoboxes

If you have to replace this template, please ensure that all states and UT conform to the same template. Inform other Indian wikipedians on the Indian noticeboard before implementing the changes. Regards, =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:22, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

OK. I've reverted Kerala back to use of the standard version (Template:India state infobox) for now, until I make the suggested proposal. Saravask 08:10, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Another template

This template can be used as a footer - Template:Andhra_Pradesh, Of-course after making changes as required ;) --Gurubrahma 15:44, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Trivia section

The Trivia section was re-added by some user - do any of you really think it is necessary to have this? --Khoikhoi 04:39, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Repetitive facts like the literacy rate, life expectancy, highest tele density etc can be remoced. Arundathi roy, rushdie may be kept.--Raghu 05:28, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
The section needs to go. I have never seen an article with a "Trivia" section pass FAC — there, such unencyclopedic clusterfuck is generally frowned upon. Saravask 06:41, 19 January 2006 (UTC) Didn't mean to be so blunt. Maybe we can find a way to keep the information in. Saravask 07:03, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
IMNSHO, none of the things in the trivia section are too interesting. Tintin Talk 07:15, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Then it can be removed. :-)--Raghu 07:21, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Waterway Length

This link gives the length of usable waterways in India. It is around 5,700 km. So proportion for Kerala will be around 8 %. The sentence could appropriately be modified. --Raghu 07:20, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll put that in now. Saravask 07:23, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Comments

  1. The literacy mentioned in the intro and the trivia section do not agree.
The figure in the intro is referenced to the UNDP and the 2001 census; the "Trivia" figure is not — that's why I referred to the "Trivia" section as a "clusterfuck" (it is a cruft-laden dump of unreferenced trivia) and stated that it should be deleted. Saravask 22:57, 19 January 2006 (UTC) Nevermind. I just deleted it. I hope this does not offend anyone. Saravask 23:23, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. Parts of Kerala's lowlands may average only 1250 mm annually while the cool mountainous eastern highlands of Idukki district — comprising Kerala's wettest region — receive in excess of 5,000 mm of orographic precipitation (4,200 crore of which are available for human use) - The mention of quantity of water (4200 crore) is out of context.
Fixed. It was supposed to be "mm", not "crore". Saravask 22:57, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. settlers led by Knai Thoma (Thomas of Kana = Thomas of Cana seem to be the more popular version (try google).
I've put in both versions now. Saravask 22:57, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. Ali’s successor, Tipu Sultan, launched in the late 18th century numerous campaigns against the growing British Raj, resulting in the four Anglo-Mysore wars. - inaccurate, as Tipu was involved only in 2.5 wars; Hyder Ali fought the first and part of the second.
I've addressed this by inserting "two of". Saravask 23:04, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. Re. Calicut, Cochin etc, it should be sufficient to mention the local and English names once [ "Kozhikode(Calicut)" ] and then use one throughout the rest of the article.
When I spot such double-usages, I'll try and correct them. Saravask 23:20, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. After India's gained independence in 1947, Travancore and Kochi were merged to form the province of Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949 — after 1950, Travancore-Cochin was recognized as a state. Meanwhile, the erstwhile Madras Presidency gave rise to Madras State. - Vague. Did TC become a state on Jan 26, 1950 ? If yes, that could be mentioned. Similraly something more specific for Madras than the 'meanwhile'.
Done. Thanks. Saravask 23:20, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
  1. Too many unnecessary 'howevers', 'meanwhiles' 'neverthelesses' and 'indeeds' Tintin Talk 22:44, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the critique. I'll probably ending up acting on this, but for now I'll wait until the peer review and FAC. I've unfortunately found some people don't like these transition words, while others think they are needed to contribute to the smooth "flow" of the text (I've heard both opinions). I don't want to remove them now, only to be told later by someone else that I need to reinsert them. Saravask 23:04, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Districts

The usual categorisation of the districts are: Malabar, Kochi and Travancore. With Malabar consisting of districts north of Palakkad, inluding Palakkad. Kochi consiting of Trissur and Ernakulam. And the remaining districts in the south falling in Travancore. Historically and demographically this is the better way of categorisation.--Raghu 03:55, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

OK. Saravask 03:58, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Flora and fauna: Capitalize names or not?

I am trying to figure out whether I should capitalize species names (for example, should it be "Sri Lanka Frogmouth" or "Sri Lanka frogmouth")? I always thought such capitalization was bizarre, and raised the issue during the recent Short-beaked Echidna FAC. I was told this. Does anyone know what we should about species capitalization here? Thank you. Saravask 23:35, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

The capitalization of species names is something that has been hotly debated at Wikipedia. See the following links for some details:
--Khoikhoi 01:09, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
It seems then that experienced biologists, ornithologists, etc. use caps for common names referring to specific species — at least for birds and mammals. We can follow that custom here, if there are no objections. Saravask 02:21, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Translation needed

Does anyone know what the phrase "Keliyaadum Kalakalkkellam Keralamennoru" means? Saravask 07:37, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

The phrase is incomplete. If you can provide the full context I can translate.--Raghu 13:09, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
Found it here, page 6, top of second column. Thanks. Saravask 13:21, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

"Keliyaadum Kalakalkkellam Keralamennoru veedundivite" I could not understand the first word. Kalakalkkelam means for all "Kala" (Arts). The last two words mens 'There is a home called Kerala'.--Raghu 13:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

  • In this context, 'keliyaadum ' means something like 'flourishing'. Tintin Talk 14:13, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Kerala ecozones map

Hey Saravask. I was a little uncomfortable with this map from the beginning itself. Because the legend has both soil types(black soil, red sandy etc) and geographical names(Palakkad plains, Kuttanad etc). This can be confusing. I checked the reference from where you took this. Please look at the it's related page. This gives all regions by soil types. The other option is to show only the three regions: lowland , midland and highland by three colours. regards --Raghu 10:32, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Matrilineality

There's been recent dispute about whether the phrase "Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World, largely following — with exceptions — a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam" belongs in the article. That sentence has three inline citations attached to it. Yet User:Sagaram has deleted this four times without explanation. I'd like to get everyone's opinions on this, including those who feel material on matrilineality doesn't belong here. Thanks. Saravask 07:23, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

As long as there are inline citations from credible sources, what is the problem? More controversial issues/assertions are mentioned in FA articles than the matriarchal nature of Kerelan society, all with citations. The deletion w/o explanation (I believe Sagaram should have explained first, acted later) is pure vandalism. Rama's Arrow 08:26, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. I thought before that it was that simple, but when I checked the reasons why User:Sagaram was blocked, I saw that it was for violating WP:3RR and not for vandalism. In fact, according to Wikipedia:Vandalism#What vandalism is not, User:Sagaram's almost pinpoint deletion of that specific phrase would be described as a WP:BOLD edit. I really don't know if (s)he meant to improve the article, but WP:AGF asks that we assume it. Thus, User:Sagaram did not commit vandalism — this is merely a content dispute.
That is also why this article is protected from editing (note how the tag reads "This page is protected from editing until disputes have been resolved on the discussion page." — it doesn't mention vandalism at all). I don't think the page will be unprotected until we come to compromise w/ Sagaram over this dispute; thus, when (s)he is unblocked in 24 hours, we must not treat him/her as a vandal. Sorry for my mistake. Saravask 08:41, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
Hmm...I understand your point about BOLD, but given 3 inline citations, that piece of data should not have been removed, and 4 times so without prior discussion. This is not good faith work by Sagaram. I see that user:Sagaram did not respond to your comments of January 23 regarding edits to the article. Neither has he responded right now (yet). Anywayz, I'm sure this will be resolved soon. Rama's Arrow 08:59, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I'd like to get everyone's opinions on this, including those who feel material on matrilineality doesn't belong here.

I don't know if 'largely follows - with exceptions' is accurate. Atleast in present tense. Nairs obviously did and still do, but I doubt if too many of the other castes follow it. Travancore royal family's is a famous instance of matrilinear system, but Cochin doesn't (the seniormost member of the family is the head there). The comment in PRD 2002 that it used to be common but not very prevalent now might be closer to the truth.

Btw, is there a mention about matrilineal system in Lindberg. I took a quick glance but couldn't find any. Tintin (talk) 13:21, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

No, Lindberg was not meant to back up the statement of matrilineality; it was meant to back up the statement about gender relations being more equitable in Kerala than elsewhere. Saravask 16:38, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
Malabar manual by william logan says as below.
Marumakkathayam by seenteen brahman illams in payanur, kshatriya, tirumalpad, nayar, urali, andor, pallichan, kushavan, vyabari, kolayan, chembotti, pisharodi, v variyan, nambi, teyambadi, attikurichi, eradi, vallodi, nedungadi, vellutedan, chaliyan, tiyan in north and in travancore.
Makkathayam by nambutiri, pattar, embran, mussad, ilayad, tangal, nambidi, komati, veishyam, nambiachan, chakyar, adigal, pidaran, poduval, villakaturuvan, irankoli, mutta chetiyam, kammalar, tandan, Ilavar, cherumar, chaliyar, jedar, kaikolar, kaniyan, tiyar in kadutanad and travancore.

So it looks like 50:50 among Hindus to me. I think Christians and Muslims follow Makkathayam.--Raghu 13:57, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

So from the above, should we replace this:
"Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World, largely following — with exceptions — a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam"
with:
"Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World. Many Keralites — especially high caste Hindus — follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam. Christians, Muslims, and lower caste Hindus follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system."?
Plz reword this as needed; make corrections. Thanks. Sorry about my "largely follows" mistake. Saravask 16:17, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
  • I looked at the sources I used to write that statement. Here's what they say:
McKibben: "A heritage of female-headed households means women have always been equal participants here."
Department of Public Relations: "Of the customs peculiar to Kerala, the most important ones are the Marumakkathayam and the joint family system. Marumakkathayam is the matrilineal system of inheritance. During the past ten decades, there had been an urge for a thorough change in the old family customs. Legislative sanctions were given to claim partition from the joint families and adopt Makkathayam (inheritance through the male line). Due advantage has been taken of these legislations by the majority of the communities."

— Saravask 16:23, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

So was matrilineality always followed by a minority of Keralites (50% of Hindus, especially upper caste ones)? Christians, Muslims, and low caste Hindues always followed makkathayam? This probably means that the sources I used (especially McKibben) were just throwing around information w/out careful research. This probably means we need to change the statement to match what Malabar manual by william logan and PRD say. Saravask 16:38, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
Christians, Muslims, and lower caste Hindus follow makkathayam is not suitable as namboodiri and pattars are higher castes. It could be reworded as
"Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World. Many Keralites — especially the Nair caste — follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam. Christians, Muslims, and some Hindu castes like Namboothiri and Ezhava follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system."

--Raghu 16:57, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Looks much better than my wording. Other opinions? Saravask 16:59, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
Looks fine. Tintin (talk) 17:27, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Rephrase of the Semitic influence paragraph in the History section

I'ld like to remove the following paragraph:

In subsequent centuries, settlers from abroad established Kerala's Jewish community. Later arrivals included Muslim Arab merchants in the 8th century, while a disputed theory has Christianity arriving with Apostle Thomas in 52 CE. Later, in 345 CE, Kerala’s Nasrani community was founded by Jewish Christians settlers under Knai Thoma. More than 1,100 years later, Vasco da Gama’s 1498 May 20 arrival inaugurated a period of Portuguese colonial administration, with the goal of controlling a lucrative spice trade. While seeking to convert Nasranis to Roman Catholicism, they also established fortresses and settlements, thereby ending an Arab trade monopoly. Later conflicts between the cities of Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kochi (Cochin), however, provided an opportunity for the Dutch oust the Portuguese.

and replace it with the following three paragraphs:

The dependence of the Chera kings on trade with West Asia meant merchants from these regions were allowed to establish trading outposts and settlements on Kerala's shores. Various Roman, Jewish, Arab and Tamil sources attest to this. Many of them - especially the Jews and early Christians - arrived here to escape religious persecution. The constant contact, settling and patronizing over millennia of these peoples resulted in the Nasrani Mappila and Muslim Mappila communities of the Malabar Coast. Mappila literaly means "grooms" and could point to the fact that West Asian traders took wives from these communities. The matrilineal system would have ensured the children were brought up in their mothers' homes. This resulted in a thriving community on Kerala's shores, their social privileges and status guaranteed by their filial and trade links to West Asian mercantile families.
Jewish folklore claims atleast two distinct migrations of Jews to Kerala - resulting in the "brown Jews" and later the "white" or "Paradesi Jews". Local folklore and some Eastern Christianity writings claim Thomas the Apostle visited this region in 52 CE to proselytize amongst the brown Jews who were known to live here at that time. The first verifiable migration into Kerala of Christian families is of the arrival of Knai Thoma in 345 CE. Muslim traders are known to have arrived in Kerala by the 8th century CE. Some of India's oldest Churches and Mosques are to be found in Kerala. Pre-European Churches have not survived because they were made of wood though large monolithic granite crosses from that time have.
With Vasco Da Gama's arrival in (May 20)1498, the Portugese sought to control the lucrative pepper trade by harassing the Mappila communities, attacking West Asian shipping to Kerala's shores and forcing the Nasrani community into obedience to Rome.

Let me know what you'll think. (Veliath 17:34, 30 January 2006 (UTC))

Hai Veliath. After reading I feel that there is no factual changes from the earlier paragraph. Only that it is more elaborate. If that is the case your paragraph can be included in History of Kerala which deals with the history part more elaborately. Or otherwise can you reword it so that the overall length remain more or less the same. regards --Raghu 12:09, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
Hello Raghu - Thanks for pointing me to the main history page - I didn't notice it until now!:-) I was appalled by the cursory handling of the possible origins of the two largest minorities in Kerala in the original para. It also has three instances of sentences starting with "Later"! I'll see if I can shrink my three paras back to a single para of the same length as the original. Thanks for responding.(Veliath 13:39, 31 January 2006 (UTC))
Yes, please condense and copyedit it. Saravask 07:13, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

I apologize to all for the impasse and inconvenience. I didnt mean any harm but just overzealous about accuracy and balance. I think the sentence proposed by Raghu:kuttan and Saravask is fine. "Kerala's society is also less patriarchical than the rest of the Third World. Many Keralites — especially the Nair caste — follow a traditional matrilineal system known as marumakkatayam. Christians, Muslims, and some Hindu castes like Namboothiri and Ezhava follow makkathayam, a patrilineal system." is fine. __ User:Sagaram January 1, 2006.

No problem — you were right. We'll put in Raghu's version as soon as the page is unprotected. Thanks. Saravask 17:33, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia_talk:Tomorrow's_featured_article#Kerala

Rama's Arrow (talk · contribs) just nominated Kerala for Wikipedia:Today's featured article. See Wikipedia_talk:Tomorrow's_featured_article#Kerala and copyedit, change the picture, condense, or do whatever else needs to be done. Millions of people will be seeing that blurb, getting their first impressions of Kerala from it. Saravask 00:38, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Here's how the blurb reads now:

{{Wikipedia_talk:Tomorrow%27s_featured_article#Kerala}}

Will this image look better there??

--Raghu 04:08, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Hey, that's beautiful. And everyone is free to be WP:BOLD and make reasonable image changes, copyedits, or content changes to the blurb without asking for anyone else's permission or opinions. See WP:OWN for more. Saravask 05:10, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
Yeah thanks.! I have changed it!!--Raghu 05:26, 6 February 2006 (UTC)


Pictures of people

It is a great thing that the article kerala has been nominated as feature article. But I think it is still very incomplete, because there is no picture of people from kerala. Think of it, people who have never been to kerala or south India for that matter would wonder as to how the people look like or what is the clothing of the people there. There is not a single picture of a man in mundu / lungi or a woman in south indian saree or malayali golden bordered sari. No article about a state can be complete without the pictures of its people or their costumes. It is a very important detail that is missing and is a major drawback. Robin klein 12:26, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

A very good point, we will try to get it soon.--Raghu 12:43, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
Added a Mundu wearing politician. --Raghu 13:11, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

Image of Muslim culture / mosque

Keralite Muslims (~ 25% of Kerala's population) are neglected and under-represented in this article compared to the other communities. Does anyone have any iconic image(s) of Muslim culture to add here? Mosques? Music? I'd prefer it to be about something not already discussed in the text. Thank you. Saravask 01:32, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

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