What was the traditional administrative designation given to the assembly of temple trustees and brahmin landlords who managed the socio-religious affairs of major temple settlements (devaswoms) in medieval Kerala?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Uralar constituted the board of trustees or proprietors of temple estates in medieval Kerala, exercising enormous economic and judicial power over temple lands and tenant cultivators. Karanavar represented the senior male head of a matrilineal joint family (tarawad), while Desavali was a local administrative official. Temple committees formed the core of local governance and agrarian resource mobilization during the medieval period.