The Namboodiri Brahmins are peculiar to Kerala. Legends say that they were brought from the north by Parasurama, the axe-wielding Brahmin incarnation of the great god Mahavishnu, and settled in the land reclaimed by him from the ocean. It is said that he cast his divine axe into the sea, and the sea receded, exposing the land which is now believed to be Kerala.
