Kurichiya or Kurichiyar also known as Hill Brahmins or Malai Brahmins are a matrilineal tribe of Kerala distributed mainly in Wayanad and Kannur districts of Kerala, India. Kurichiyans are one of the Scheduled Tribes of Kerala practicing agriculture. Source of name The name Kurichiyan was given by the Kottayam Raja to this class of people as they were adepts in archery and shooting. The word Kurichiyan is derived from two words kuri (target) and chiyan (people). Society and culture Generally their houses are found in clusters and cluster of houses in one settlement is called Mittom also known as Tharavadu. A lineage head called Karanavar heads a Mittom. In addition to Karanavan, Kurichiya society includes medicine man, and other social functionaries such as Pittan. Joint family system is common among the Kurichiyan. Society is divided into lineages headed by lineage heads. A female initiation ritual called the pandal pattu is performed before a girl’s menarche and after the ear boring ceremony among the tribe. Wives stay with the husband, but children only until 5–6 years, then they go to their mother's house. Wives stay Among the Kurichiyas, a husband may divorce his wife any time he likes, but the wife has to bring her case before the elders if she wants to leave him, and they decide the case. The Kurichiyans bury their dead; an arrow is buried with the body if a male, and a scythe if a female. The funeral ceremony on a grand scale is observed at any time convenient in the year. They have no priests, instead the elders act for the occasion. The deceased ancestors are remembered and once a year, toddy, meat, etc., are placed in a room for their use and subsequently enjoyed by the Kurichiyans. They occupy the highest status among the Wynad tribes in point of caste, they do not take meals of any castes. Their houses are supposedly polluted if any other caste man should enter the same, and the slightest suspicion is enough to put a man or woman out of the caste. These outcastes have, on such occasion, been taken to the Christian fold. The Kurichiyas worship some of the same deities as other Hindus in Kerala, such as Kuttichathan and Vettakkaran, and Kali (also called Mariamma). The Kurichiyas worship their deceased ancestors, called Nizhal (shadows) as well as a number of deities unique to their tribe. They