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}} Marar (Maaraar or Maaraan) is the name given to the temple musicians of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar in the state of Kerala, India whose primary duty was to provide the traditional temple ''Sopanam'' music. Their position in the caste system varies from place to place in Kerala. In Travancore, although they were Ambalavasi they had status intermediate between [Brahman and Nair(Intermediate between inferior Brahmanar and proper Nair ). In Malabar they enjoyed relatively superior status.Their death pollution conducted in 13 days but in the Nair death pollution only 12 days .The house of Marar is called ' Marath' and the women called 'Marasyar'. ==Origin and occupation== Below is an excerpt from the Madras Census Report of 1901 which reports the Maarans as: Edgar Thurston in his "Castes and Tribes of Southern India" states their traditional origin and occupation as follows: Before the days of Sankaracharya their sole occupation was beating the drums in Brahminical Temples. When Sankaracharya was refused assistance in the cremation of his mother by the Namboodiri Brahmins, he is believed to have sought in despair the help of one of these temple servants with whose aid the corpse was divided into eight parts and deposited in the pit. For undertaking this duty which the Namboodiris repudiated from a sense of offended religious feeling, the particular Maran was thrown out of his caste by the general community and a compromise had to be effected by the sage with the rest of the caste who returned in a body on the day of purification along with the excommunicated man and helped Sankaracharya to close his mother's death ceremonies. In recognition of this timely help Sankaracharya is said to have declared the Maran to be an indispensable functionary at the death ceremonies of Namboodiris and Ambalavasis. The traditional occupations of the Maarans was sounding or playing the ''panchavadya'' or five musical instruments in temples known as the "''Sankhu'' (Conch), ''Timila'', ''Chenda'', ''Kaimani'' and ''Maddalam''". The ''Asu'' and ''Pani'' are sounded by the highest dignitaries known as ''Asupani'' Maarans. The beating of the ''Pani'' is the accompaniment of expiatory offerings to the ''Saptamata'' or Seven Mothers of Hindu religious writings namely ''Brahmi'', ''Maheshwari'', ''Kaumari'', ''Vaishnavi'', ''Varahi'', ''Indrani'' and ''Chamunda''. There are certain well established rules regarding the hymns to be recited and the music to be played. So religiously have these rules to be followed that during the ''Utsavabali'' that the priest who makes the offering, the Variar who carries the sacred lamp and the Maaran, all have to fast and dress themselves in the orthodox Brahminical fashion, with the ''Uttariya'' or upper garment tied around their torso like the Sacred thread. The higher classes of Maarans (Asupani Maarans) claim six privileges ''Pani'' or ''Pano'', ''Koni'', ''Thirumuttom'', ''Nadumuttam'', ''Velichor'' and ''Poochor''. ''Pani'' is the right to play the ''Asu'' and ''Pani''. ''Koni'' literally means a ladder and refers to the stretcher made of bamboo and ''kusa'' grass or straw on which corpses of high caste Hindus are laid. ''Thirumuttom'' is the right to sweep the inner courtyard of Temples, a privilege otherwise reserved for the Ambalavasi castes. ''Nadumuttam'' is the right of erecting a small pandal or booth like in the courtyard of a Namboodiri house where oblations are offered to the departed spirit on the tenth day since death. ''Velichor'' is the right to retain remains of the sacrificial rice offered to the manes and ''Poochor'' the right to retain a part of the offering of flowers and food made to the deity. The higher classes of Maarans in Malabar consider themselves superior to other Maarars owing to ritual purity and abstinence from flesh and liquor and also their aloofness from the lower classes who assist at funeral ceremonies and function as priests for the Nairs. During Jati Nirnayam they were classed inferior to Nair proper (the three proper Nair castes: Illakkar, Swaroopakkar & Kiryathil) and hence sometimes considered the lower ranking section of Ambalavasis. In Travancore they continued to be included among the other ''Maarans''.〔Travancore State Manual, V Nagam Aiya〕 Though playing the music in temples is their main vocation, they are indispensable in Namboodiri, Kshatriya and Ambalavasi funeral ceremonies and almost all ceremonies of the Nairs such as ''Kettu Kalyanam''. Some practised sorcery and witchcraft and were also priests in temples dedicated to Bhadrakali. They assisted the Namboodiris and Rajahs during the ''Chowalam'' or tonsure ceremony. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maaran」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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