A state in southern India, lying between Gokarna, Kanyakumari, Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. There are two stories on Kerala’s origins.
Bhageeratha brought Ganga down from the heavens to purify the ashes of the Kapilaputras, which were lying in patala. Ganga flowed towards the ocean. The ocean rose and submerged coastal areas, including Gokarna. The sages who lived there survived, and wen to Mahendragiri to complain to Parashurama. He went with them to the ocean, but varuna didn’t appear. he became angry, meditated for a while, and weapons strated appearing in his hand. Parashurama said that he was there to reclaim the land the ocean had submerged. Varuna finally agreed. Parashurama sent back the weapons and threw a winnowing basket (shurpa) into the ocean. The ocean went back all the way until that point where it fell and Gokarna was also seen. This is why Kerala is also known as Shurparaka as per Brahmandapurana Chapters 98-99.
Parashurama traveled the earth 18 times and killed all the kshatriyas. He then conducted an ashwamedha and donated the land to brahmins. Kashyapa took it on their behalf and then asked Parashurama to vacate the land. Parashurama used an arrow to reclaim land from the ocean. This was Kerala as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 70.
In the epics, the world is divided into swarga, bhuloka and patala. They were then divided into 14 segments. Swarga is believed to be the lands to the north of the Himalayas. Bhuloka was the area between Himalayas and Vindhyas, and the divisions of patala – Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and Patala could have been names of various regions in southern India. As per the Devibhagavata Ashtamaskanda, beneath Bhumi (bhuloka) is patala, which has one division below another. Within these are beautiful towns and gardens and palaces and houses and various other structures built by Maya. These are inhabited by Daityas, Danavas, Nagas and various kinds of animals, birds, plants and trees. In some respects, patala is better than swarga. Patala, consisting of 7 parts is described as the abode of the nagas. At its centre is a separate region of 33000 yojanas. This is where Tamasi or Vishnukala or Anantha resides. This is another form of Adishesha. The princesses of the Nagas are fair, and beautiful. They were scented perfumes. Aryans called the Dravidians Asuras and Rakshasas as per the Ramayana. That the nagas were former inhabitants of Kerala is indicated by the name Anantha in modern day Thiruvananthapuram, made more significant by the Padmanabhaswami temple. The descriptions of Patala also match portions of Kerala. So it is quite probable that there is some truth to this.
During the swayamwar of Shashikala, the daughter of the king of Kashi, Keralan was among the kings present in addition to Kururaja, Madresha, Sindhuraja, Panchala, Karnataka, Chola, Vidarbha, as per Devibhagavata Tritiyaskanda. In the Mahabharata Bhishmaparva Chapter 9, when the southernmost regions of India are mentioned Dramida, Kerala, Mushika, Karnataka are present. From this, it can be inferred that when Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata, Kerala already existed as a separate region. It is also mentioned among other regions in Brahmandapurana Chapter 54.
As per Agnipurana Chapter 277, in Yadu’s brother Thurvasu’s dynasty, there was a king named Gandhara and from him came Gandharas, Keralas, Cholas, Pandyas and Kolas. The people of Kerala were considered a low caste by the north Indians as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 175. During Rukmini’s swayamwar in Vidarbha, from south India were present Chola, Pandya and Kerala kings as per Bhagavata Dashamaskanda. Karna, in his digvijaya conquered the Kerala king as per Mahabharata Vanaparva Chapter 254 verse 15. Sahadeva also conquered Kerala in his digvijaya as per Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 31. When Sugriva sent his forces south to look for Sita, Kerala is mentioned among the regions. According to Mahabharata Sabhaparva Chapter 51, the king of Kerala gifted Yudhishtira valuable jewels, sandal etc.
In Tirukural, it is mentioned that Chera, Chola, Pandya regions existed from the beginning of civilisation. Though this might be an exaggeration, it points to the fact that these regions existed long before the birth of Christ. In the Tamil work Tholkappiyam too, Kerala is mentioned. Megasthenes, a traveler from 4BC also mentions Kerala. There were five mahasabhas to aid the Kerala king. These were established by Trikkana Utiyan Chera. There was also an advisory board that consisted of the spiritual guru, prime minister, leader of spies, and tax collector. Populations were divided into units for easy governance. Every tara had four elders. 4 taras make a nalpadu, 4 nalpadus make a kazhaka, 4 kazhakas make a perumkazhaka or trikkala. They meet at a kottil, which is usually situated near a huge temple. The temple authorities usually took up the responsibility of this set up too. In one trikkootta, 64 elders (karanavar), 4 kazhaka elders (acha), 64 tandans and 16 nalpadis had to be present. They were all present in their official dresses. With the arrival of the namboodiris the system underwent a transition.