namboothiris are generally thought of as priest because their predominant profession is preisthood inspite of the small proprtion of mailies that belong to professions like adukkala arangu and kadavu that donot study vedam so that is why predominant profession logic compels nairs to be classified as a martial class and ezhavas as toddy tappers i have given below the different categories that namboothriri families fall in to based on their profession for substantiating this aadu they are specialised in yaagam edu they have the right to acquire knowledge and teach sanskrit vedam linguistics astronomy astrology architecture and so on bhiksha alms symbolising a saint or a samnyaasi they have the right to become a saint or samnyaasi picha also means alms in crude form they are othikkans helping other namboothiris to perform rituals t othu spiritual hymns this class of namboothiris was basically teachers of othu vedam saanthi temple priesthood these namboothiris are priests in temples adukkala these namboothiri families were specialists in large scale cooking and catering arangu stage this special group of namboothiris called chaathira namboothiris was a military group their evening entertainment was panemkali sanghakkali panthi dining structure namboothiris like graamani thangal vaal nambi and ashtavaidyans all mooss families except vaidhyamadham belong to this category kadavu bathing points in the pond elayathu and adikal are namboothiris belonging to this category elayathu helps members of other castes to perform their rituals while adikal uses meat and blood to perform temple rituals