Religion in Kerala is diverse. According to 2011 census of India figures, 54.73% of Kerala's population follows Hinduism, 26.56% are followers of Islam, 18.38% follow Christianity, and the remaining 0.33% follow other religions or have no religion.
The historical legends regarding the origin of Kerala are Hindu in nature. Kerala produced several saints and movements. Adi Shankara was a religious philosopher who contributed to Hinduism and propagated the philosophy of Advaita. Hindus represent the biggest religious group in all districts except Malappuram, where they are outnumbered by Muslims. Various tribal people in Kerala have retained the religious beliefs of their ancestors.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the most widely professed faith in Kerala. According to 2011 Census of India figures, 54.7% of Kerala's residents are Hindus. Hindus represent the biggest religious group in all districts except Malappuram.
Kerala produced several saints and movements. Adi Shankara was a religious philosopher who contributed to Hinduism and propagated the philosophy of Advaita. He was instrumental in establishing four mathas at Sringeri, Dwarka, Puri and Jyotirmath. Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri was another religious figure who composed Narayaniyam, a collection of verses in praise of the Hindu God Krishna.
Various practises of Hinduism are unique to Kerala. Worship of Shiva and Vishnu is popular in Kerala. Lord Krishna is worshipped widely in all parts of Kerala, Guruvayur being one of the most famous temples in the state. Malayali Hindus also worship Bhagavathi as a form of Shakti. Almost every village in Kerala has a Bhagavati Goddess. Hindus in Kerala also strongly believe in power of snake gods and usually have sacred snake groves known as Sarpa Kavu near to their houses.
Some of the most notable temples are:Thiruvananthapuram Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvallam Sree Parasurama Swami Temple, Janardhanaswamy Temple, Vellayani Devi Temple, Pazhaya Sreekanteswaram Temple, Ananthapura Lake Temple, Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple, Angadipuram Thirumandhamkunnu Temple, Alathiyoor Hanuman Temple, Bhayankavu Bhagavathi Temple, Kadampuzha Devi Temple, Keraladeshpuram Temple, Panniyur Sri Varahamurthy Temple, Sukapuram Dakshinamoorthy Temple, Thirunavaya Navamukunda Temple, Triprangode Siva Temple, Tali Shiva Temple, Trikkandiyur Siva Temple, Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple, Guruvayur Temple, Thriprayar Temple, Lokanarkavu Temple, Thirunelli Temple, Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, Chottanikkara Temple, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple, Chettikulangara Devi Temple, Mannarasala Temple, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Thiruvalla Sreevallabha Temple, Kaviyoor Mahadevar Temple, Parumala Panayannarkavu Temple, Sree Poornathrayesa Temple, Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Trikkur Mahadeva Temple, Manalarkavu Devi Temple and Rajarajeshwara Temple. Temples in Kerala follow elaborate rituals and traditionally only priests from the Nambudiri caste could be appointed as priests in major temples. But in 2017 as per the state government's decision, the priests from the historically backward caste communities are now being appointed as priests.
Malayali Hindus practice ceremonies such as Chorunu (first feeding of rice to a child) and Vidyāraṃbhaṃ.
Islam
Islam is the second-largest practiced religion in Kerala (26.56%), only surpassed by Hinduism.Panikkar, K. N., Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprisings in Malabar 1836–1921 The calculated Muslim population (Indian Census, 2011) in Kerala state is 8,873,472.T. Nandakumar, "54.72 % of population in Kerala are Hindus" The Hindu 26 August 2015 Most of the Muslims in Kerala follow the Shāfiʿī School (Sunni Islam), followed by Salafi movement.Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987 pp. 458–56. Muslims in Kerala share a common language (Malayalam) with the Hindus and rest of the population and have a culture commonly regarded as the Malayali culture. A number of different communities, some of them having distant ethnic roots, exist as status groups in Kerala.Kunhali, V. "Muslim Communities in Kerala to 1798" PhD Dissertation Aligarh Muslim University (1986).
History
Kerala has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to Sumerian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India". Kerala's spices attracted ancient Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians and Egyptians to the Malabar Coast in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE. Phoenicians established trade with Kerala during this period. Arabs and Phoenicians were the first to enter Malabar Coast to trade Spices. The Arabs on the coasts of Yemen, Oman, and the Persian Gulf, must have made the first long voyage to Kerala and other eastern countries. They must have brought the Cinnamon of Kerala to the Middle East. The Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) records that in his time the cinnamon spice industry was monopolized by the Egyptians and the Phoenicians.
Islam arrived in Kerala, a part of the larger Indian Ocean rim, via spice and silk traders from the Middle East. Historians do not rule out the possibility of Islam being introduced to Kerala as early as the seventh century CE.Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977. Northern Kerala Muslims are generally referred to as the Mappilas. Mappilas are but one among the many communities that forms the Muslim population of Northern Kerala. The first Indian mosque was built in 624 AD at Kodungallur. According to Qissat Shakarwati Farmad, the Masjids at Kodungallur, Kollam, Madayi, Barkur, Mangalore, Kasaragod, Kannur, Dharmadam, Panthalayini, and Chaliyam, were built during the era of Malik Dinar, and they are among the oldest Masjids in the Indian subcontinent.Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. 98. It is believed that Malik Dinar died at Thalangara in Kasaragod town.Pg 58, Cultural heritage of Kerala: an introduction, A. Sreedhara Menon, East-West Publications, 1978 According to popular tradition, Islam was brought to Lakshadweep islands, situated just to the west of Malabar Coast, by Ubaidullah in 661 CE. His grave is believed to be located on the island of Andrott. A few Umayyad (661–750 AD) coins were discovered from Kothamangalam in the eastern part of Ernakulam district.
The known earliest mention about Muslims of Kerala is in the Quilon Syrian copper plates of the 9th century CE, granted by the ruler of Kollam. A number of foreign accounts have mentioned about the presence of considerable Muslim population in the Malabar Coast. Arab writers such as Al-Masudi of Baghdad (896–956 AD), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165 AD), Abulfeda (1273–1331 AD), and Al-Dimashqi (1256–1327 AD) mention the Muslim communities in Kerala. Some historians assume that the Mappilas can be considered as the first native, settled Muslim community in South Asia. Al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) appears to be the first writer to call Malabar Coast as Malabar. Authors such as Ibn Khordadbeh and Al-Baladhuri mention Malabar ports in their works. The Arab writers had called this place Malibar, Manibar, Mulibar, and Munibar. Malabar is reminiscent of the word Malanad which means the land of hills. According to William Logan, the word Malabar comes from a combination of the Dravidian word Mala (hill) and the Persian/Arabic word Barr (country/continent). The Kodungallur Mosque, has a granite foundation exhibiting 11th–12th century architectural style. The Arabic inscription on a copper slab within the Madayi Mosque in Kannur records its foundation year as 1124 CE.
The Muslims were a major financial power to be reckoned with in the old kingdoms of Kerala and had great political influence in the Hindu royal courts. Travellers have recorded the considerably huge presence of Muslim merchants and settlements of sojourning traders in most of the ports of Kerala.Miller, E. Roland. "Mappila Muslim Culture" State University of New York Press, Albany (2015); p. xi. Immigration, intermarriage and missionary activity/conversion – secured by the common interest in the spice trade – helped in this development.Miller, R. E. "Mappila" in The Encyclopedia of Islam Volume VI. Leiden E. J. Brill 1988 p. 458-66 Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018. Muslim merchant magnates owning ships, spread their shipping and trading business interests across the Indian Ocean. The Koyilandy Jumu'ah Mosque contains an Old Malayalam inscription written in a mixture of Vatteluttu and Grantha scripts which dates back to the 10th century CE.Aiyer, K. V. Subrahmanya (ed.), South Indian Inscriptions. VIII, no. 162, Madras: Govt of India, Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1932. p. 69. It is a rare surviving document recording patronage by a Hindu king (Bhaskara Ravi) to the Muslims of Kerala. A 13th century granite inscription, written in a mixture of Old Malayalam and Arabic, at Muchundi Mosque in Kozhikode mentions a donation by the king to the mosque.M. G. S. Narayanan. "Kozhikkodinte Katha". Malayalam/Essays. Mathrubhumi Books. Second Edition (2017)
The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battutah (14th century) has recorded the considerably huge presence of Muslim merchants and settlements of sojourning traders in most of the ports of Kerala. By the early decades of the 14th century, travellers speak of Calicut (Kozhikode) as the major port city in Kerala. Some of the important administrative positions in the kingdom of Zamorin of Calicut, such as that of the port commissioner, were held by Muslims.K. V. Krishna Iyer, Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. The port commissioner, the Shah Bandar, represented commercial interests of the Muslim merchants. In his account, Ibn Battutah mentions Shah Bandars in Calicut as well as Quilon (Ibrahim Shah Bandar and Muhammed Shah Bandar). The Ali Rajas of Arakkal kingdom, based at Kannur, ruled the Lakshadweep Islands. Arabs had the monopoly of trade in Malabar Coast and Indian Ocean until the Portuguese Age of Discovery.
The arrival of the Portuguese traders in Malabar Coast in the late 15th century checked the then well-established and wealthy Muslim community's progress. Following the discovery of sea route from Europe to Malabar in 1498, the Portuguese began to expand their territories and ruled the seas between Ormus and the Malabar Coast and south to Ceylon.Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama, Cambridge University Press, 1997, 288 The Tuhfat Ul Mujahideen written by Zainuddin Makhdoom II (born around 1532) of Ponnani during 16th-century CE is the first-ever known book fully based on the history of Kerala, written by a Keralite. It is written in Arabic and contains pieces of information about the resistance put up by the navy of Kunjali Marakkar alongside the Zamorin of Calicut from 1498 to 1583 against Portuguese attempts to colonize Malabar coast.AG Noorani It was first printed and published in Lisbon. A copy of this edition has been preserved in the library of Al-Azhar University, Cairo.A. Sreedhara Menon. Kerala History and its Makers. D C Books (2011)A G Noorani. Islam in Kerala. Books Roland E. Miller.