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Thachudaya Kaimals are a lineage of ruling chiefs in Travancore now in the Indian State of Kerala. HH The Thachudaya Kaimal is considered the spiritual chief and temporal ruler of the Koodalmanikyam Temple and its Estates. The line goes back into antiquity and is mentioned in the Skanda Purana. The Thachudaya Kaimals enjoy considerable immunities by law even in modern times such as being preceded by a personal escort of attendants with lamp and sword. The Ruling Chief has an escort of the Travancore Nayar Brigade. He has no acknowledged superiors and does not rise even in the presence of the King of Cochin, who is the head of the Kshatriyas of Kerala. The Maharaja of Travancore stands with his head bowed and the Raja of Cochin symbolically carries the palanquin of the Thachudaya Kaimal. The residence of the Thachudaya Kaimals is the Kottilakkal Palace in Irinjalakuda. The Arms of the Kaimals bear the insignia of a coiled conch-shell with the words 'Manikkan Keralar'.
Tradition dictates that the Guruvayur temple belonging to the Zamorin of Malabar, the Koodalmanikyam temple of the Thachudaya Kaimal family of Travancore and the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple of the Travancore royal family are the grandest temples in Kerala in terms of size and proportion of offerings.
End of the Princely Order in India
In 1971, the constitution of India was amended. The Princes and Chiefs of India were deprived of their privy purses, the government annuities that had been guaranteed to them both in the constitution and in the covenants of accession whereby their states were merged with the Dominion of India in the late 1940s. The same amendment also deprived them of other privileges, such as diplomatic immunity. With the 26th amendment of the Indian constitution, the Princely Order in India was abolished by Presidential Decree and the Thachudaya Kaimals too lost their claim to the temple and its estates. which is now managed by a Trust managed by the District Collector although a vestige of former power lies in his being the chief trustee of the temple. However, no current members of the family in Trivandrum have staked claim to the position. Previously, an attempt to depose the Thachudaya Kaimal as a ruling chief was instigated by the Raja of Cochin after the Temple Entry Proclamation in Travancore although he was reinstated by the British paramount power with the involvement of the Viceroy and Governor-General of India
The penultimate Thachudaya Kaimal was born on 22 June 1895 in the Mundanad branch of the family in Valiyasala, Trivandrum. He was of a deeply spiritual turn of mind and acquired the mastery of Sankrit very early in life. He was a zealous student of religion and philosophy and was nominated by the Maharaja of Travancore (who had melkoima rights at the temple). Sri Mulam Thirunal of Travancore chose the Kaimal who was to be crowned by the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal as the Thachudaya Kaimal through a ceremony known as Jatakavarodham.