Kerala Iyers
Kerala Iyers, Pattars or Bhattars, are Tamil Brahmins of the Indian state of Kerala — people who were residents in the Kerala region, and also people who migrated from present day Tamil Nadu in different waves from the time of the Chera dynasty. They are Hindus. The community consists of two groups - the Palakkad Iyers and Iyers of the Cochin and Travancore regions. Kerala Iyers, like the Iyers of Tamil Nadu and the Nambudiris of Kerala, belonged to the Pancha-Dravida classification of India's Brahmin community. They mostly belonged to the Vadama and Brahacharanam sub-sects. Iyers were  usually not recruited as the priest (shanthi) in Kerala temples which followed Tantric rituals. So Iyers being Vedic scholars built their own temples in their Agraharams to conduct pooja, since they followed different rituals and not the Tantric rituals of the Nambudiris. Brahmana Samooham. Where ever they settled, the Kerala Iyers lived together in communities. The settlement consisting of array of houses and other amenities developed by Tamil Brahmins in Kerala came to be known as Agraharam as in other parts of South India. Each Agraharam consist of two rows of houses facing each other. There is no courtyard but  only common street. Several such Agraharams together form an organization called "Samooham". There existed 95 Agraharams in Kerala where Brahmins lived in peace, with unity, equality and simplicity. Palakkad Iyers. The Palakkad Iyers were greatly affected by the Kerala Agrarian Relations Bill, 1957 (repealed in 1961 and substituted by The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963) which abolished the tenancy system. Travancore Iyers. During the rule of Travancore kings, many Iyers (Tamil Brahmins) were invited to Thiruvananthapuram for taking part in government service in the Travancore kingdom. Due to their close proximity to British Madras and at the insistence of the  British resident in Travancore who wanted trustworthy watchdogs, Tamil Brahmins were invited for taking part in government administration. Socially, they were not allowed to be priests in traditional Malayali temples. In terms of their interaction with the Namboothiris, Tamil Brahmins were given a status equal to that of other savarna communities who were allowed to approach but not touch the Namboothiris. The migration continued for decades, and thus Iyer population is concentrated around this temple in Trivandrum. Organization. The Kerala Brahmana Sabha is the apex organization of Kerala Iyers.