Kerala's Hidden History!!

Kerala didn’t begin with temples.
It didn’t begin with kings.
And it definitely didn’t begin with one religion.

Long before names like Shiva, Vishnu, or Kali entered the land, people were already living here.
They hunted.
They farmed.
They buried their dead.
They worshipped forests, animals, hills, and ancestors.

This video traces the linear history of Kerala, starting from the very first humans who lived here, and moving forward — layer by layer — through time.

Not as mythology.
Not as pride.
And not as a political narrative.

But as a sequence of people, belief systems, and power shifts.

We begin in pre-historic Kerala, when animism was the only worldview.
When there were no temples, no priests, and no gods with names.

We then move into early Dravidian agrarian societies, where earth, blood, fertility, and ancestors shaped everyday life.

From there, we enter Sangam-age Kerala — a time when belief was organised not by religion, but by landscape.
Mountains.
Forests.
Farms.
Coasts.
Dry lands.

This is where deities like Kottravai, the fierce war-mother goddess, emerge — long before she would later be transformed into Kali or Bhagavathy.

The video then explores what really happened during Brahmin migration into Kerala.
How older gods were not destroyed, but renamed and absorbed.
How spirit worship became temple ritual.
And how caste hardened into structure.

This is not a video about who is right.
It is a video about who came when, what they believed, and what survived.

Disclaimer: All images in the video was generated with AI and are not accurate representations.

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Pre-Historic Kerala & Early Humans

Edakkal Caves (Overview)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edakkal...

Edakkal Caves – Kerala Archaeology Department
https://www.archaeology.kerala.gov.in...

Edakkal Caves – Kerala Tourism (Official)
https://www.keralatourism.org/destina...

Prehistory of South India – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/place/Sout...

Megalithic Culture & Early Dravidian Society

Megalithic Culture of South India – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/mega...

Dravidian Peoples – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Drav...

Sangam Age, Ainthinais & Early Deities

Sangam Literature – Tamil Virtual Academy (Official)
https://www.tamilvu.org/en/library-l3...

Tamil Literature (Sangam Period) – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/art/Tamil-...

Ainthinai (Five Landscapes) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainthinai

Kottravai – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kottravai

Brahmin Migration, Sanskritization & Temples

Sanskritization – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sans...

Vadakkunnathan Temple – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadakku...

Kerala Temple Architecture – Kerala Tourism
https://www.keralatourism.org/artform...

Buddhism & Jainism in Kerala

Buddhism in South India – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Budd...

Buddhism in Kerala – Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR)
https://kchr.ac.in/article/buddhism-i...

Christianity in Kerala (St. Thomas Christians)

Saint Thomas Christians – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sain...

Christianity in Kerala – KCHR
https://kchr.ac.in/article/christiani...

Judaism in Kerala (Cochin Jews)

Cochin Jews – Jewish Virtual Library
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...

Cochin Jews – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochin_...

Islam in Kerala

Cheraman Juma Masjid – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherama...

Islam in South India – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Isla...

Feudal Kerala, Ritual Arts & Memory

Theyyam – Kerala Tourism (Official)
https://www.keralatourism.org/artform...

Koodiyattam – UNESCO Intangible Heritage
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/koodiyat...

Kathakali – Kerala Tourism
https://www.keralatourism.org/artform...

Colonial Period

European Colonial Period in Kerala – Encyclopaedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/place/Kera...

Social Reform & Modern Kerala

Social Reform Movements in Kerala – KCHR
https://kchr.ac.in/article/social-ref...

Sree Narayana Guru – Official Site
https://sreenarayanaguru.org/

Academic Works Referenced (Books)

M.G.S. Narayanan – Perumals of Kerala
George L. Hart – The Poems of Ancient Tamil
Kamil Zvelebil – The Smile of Murugan
Stephen Neill – A History of Christianity in India