Sanketam

Sanketam was the name given to temple corporations^[1] in medieval Kerala. Land grants given to Brahmins were organized into sanketams, which formed semi-autonomous, self governing bodies.^[2][3] According to M.T. Narayanan, the sanketam was the primary institution through which the Nambudiri Brahmins exerted their influence on the politics of Kerala.

They were the predominant landowning agency of the feudal age, exercising revenue and judicial power. In the region of the sanketam, all temporal authorities were exercised by the temple officials and the local chieftains wielded no control.^[1] M.T. Narayanan classifies sanketams as grama sanketams, which formed the original 32 Brahmin settlements of Kerala and kshetra sanketams, which referred to fresh settlements.

Shneider and Gough distinguish four types of temples among the upper castes of Kerala.^[4] The first of these were the temples belonging to sanketams, whose estates were managed by Nambudiris. These temples were dedicated to pan-India Hindu deities like Siva or Vishnu. Animal sacrifices were forbidden within the temples of the sanketams and they were restricted to the Brahmin population of the village. The priests of these temples were often lower ranking Nambudiri priests.^[4] A few temple-servant castes also used to live in these sanketams. Second were the private temples owned by Nambudiris which were smaller versions of the first. The third and fourth kinds of temples belonged to royal matrilineal lineages and the "common" Nair families and these were often dedicated to Bhagavathi or Bhadrakali.^[4]