Mal: ആറ്റിങ്ങൽ ā(tt)ṟṟiṅ(g)al
‘Attingal Queens’ Town, Kerala
Marumakkathayam is a royal and high caste system of matrilineal descent where title and inheritance follows the female bloodline, although the eldest son is still head of the family.
Princess Attingal (of the Kolathiri dynasty of North Kerala) was adopted by the 14thC Venad dynasty when they ran out of female heirs.
She became the Queen of Attingal and Venad, and was given assets and a small independent territory which was subsequently ruled by the senior Venad/Travancore Queens who were always referred to as the ‘Attingal Queens’.
The Koyikkal Kottaram or Attingal Palace, now privately owned, is a stone and wood construction on a plot of over 40,000 sq km with four temples. Sadly, it is now a historical relic [Article: Koyikkal palace fades into history].
Attingal was the site of the Attingal Revolt in 1721 when 149 East India soldiers were massacred. The Revolt preceded the Vellore Mutiny (1805) and is often regarded as the first organized revolt against the British in India.
“The (East India) Company sought to almost annihilate agriculture in the region, leading to a drastic loss of livelihood for the common man. This, coupled with numerous disdainful acts by the British who never lost an opportunity to mock the religious and cultural beliefs and practices prevalent among the locals, angered the natives to such an extent that both Hindus and Muslims came together under Kudaman Pillai to take part in an uprising that later came to be known as the Attingal Revolt.” [Article: Attingal: Common Man’s First Open Revolt Against British Raj Remains Forgotten]
Avanavancherry Sri Indilayappan Temple, Attingal Binoyjsdk