Chempakaraman

[1] It was during the reign of Marthanda Varma that an order akin to that of knighthood, was established as a kind of stimulus to those in the public service.

At the gate, in a hall attached to it, takes place the subsequent ceremony which consists in the presentation of a new piece of a peculiar kind of silk, eight yards long, called Veeravaly Pattu and the wearing of a suit of new clothes.

He is then placed on an elephant and behind him three nobles or other persons invested with similar titles, seats themselves bearing the train of the knight's turban.

The knight then carried in procession, accompanied by a native band, a small detachment of military, together with all the State peons, kariakkar, and other servants.

The new knight is then presented with a quantity of betel leaves and areca nuts, together with a few ripe limes in a silver plate, called thattom or thampalam, and thus ends the ceremony.