In the mist-covered mountains spanning today’s Kollam to Idukki in Kerala, a tribe known as the Kuravas once thrived—not as primitive forest dwellers but as a highly structured, spiritually advanced, and technologically capable community. They were not idol worshippers but venerated cosmic principles through elemental means. The term Kurava itself is etymologically rooted in Kuru → Guru → Teacher, signifying their legacy as carriers of deep esoteric knowledge. Interestingly, even the word Qur’an — often interpreted as “recitation” — in a broader semantic field, aligns with “teaching,” hinting at a distant resonance between these ancient teachers and the preserved oral traditions of Arabia.
The Belief System of the Mountain Kuravas
The Kuravas' spiritual system was rooted in non-iconic, elemental worship. Unlike Vedic traditions that favored temples and anthropomorphic deities, the Kuravas erected square stone foundations from the earth — not for idols, but for invoking pure energy. These structures, often called mandrams, were the original sacred spaces. Their divine system centered around Shiva as “Al”, the hidden one — the Nishkala (formless) consciousness, ever-present yet unseen. In parallel, they revered Kali, the primal feminine, not as a sculpted idol, but as the black-robed void, the devourer of form and destroyer of illusions.
The dress codes of the Kurava rituals held symbolic meaning. White garments represented the male/Shiva principle — “Al,” the hidden presence, untouched by attributes. In contrast, black garments represented Kali, the dark matrix of dissolution. These weren’t colors of caste or custom, but of cosmic representation: Shiva as stillness, Kali as movement; Shiva as eternal presence, Kali as temporal destruction.
The god of the Kuravas was not a deity with features but was known simply as Malanada — “Lord of the Mountain.” Malanada was neither a figure nor an idol, but a state of being, experienced and accessed at sacred sites. Across the regions of present-day southern Kerala, there existed 101 Malanada centers, each governed by a Mooppan, a tribal elder who combined spiritual authority with social leadership.
The Technological and Strategic Significance of Kurava Society
The Kuravas were not isolated ascetics. They played a pivotal role in iron smelting, metallurgy, and weapon craftsmanship, working in conjunction with the Kollan clans, the master blacksmiths of ancient Kollam. Kollam was South India’s epicenter of ironwork and archery, renowned for manufacturing tools, kitchenware, and warfare weaponry. These goods were exported not only across India but across seas — especially to Arabian and Persian regions.
This industrial strength attracted global interest. Among the figures drawn to this region was Sakuni, a character popularly linked with the Mahabharata. In one alternate tradition, Sakuni was a Persian Jew and political strategist who arrived in Kerala not just for dynastic revenge but with the deeper motive of controlling and capturing the weapons trade. His ambition was to convert Kerala’s metallurgy centers into arms trade hubs for the Arabian Peninsula.
Exodus and the Transformation into Kuraish
Following a catastrophic defeat in war — linked to the Pandyas and possibly the events of the Mahabharata — the Kuravas were forcibly displaced. Seeking refuge, many migrated westward, arriving in the Arabian Peninsula. In this desert land, they reconstructed their sacred foundations, keeping their belief system intact in the early stages. Their name evolved through transliteration over generations — Kurava → Kura → Kuraish / Quraysh.
These early migrants from the Western Ghats preserved the ritual patterns: formless veneration, elemental worship, and a refusal to anthropomorphize the divine. Their sacred centers were again square stone bases, and their rites centered around sacrifice, purity, and invocation of primal energy. They still recognized the white and black principles — Shiva and Kali — with no idols but a deep spiritual presence. The Quraysh tribe, before being known for Meccan trade dominance, were custodians of sacred oral traditions, mirroring the guru/kuru lineage from which their name may have originated.
The Revival by Vikramaditya and the Reintroduction of Divine Structures
Centuries later, during a time when these exiled traditions had begun to dilute under regional and cultural intermixing, King Vikramaditya is said to have traveled west and reached Arabia. Aware of the ancient Kurava lineage, he reinstalled the Shiva Linga, representing the ageless cosmic union of Shiva and Shakti. This wasn’t merely a religious gesture, but a metaphysical restoration. He introduced the hidden worship of “Al” — an ancient name for Shiva — into the local cosmology, helping anchor the lost spiritual grammar of the Kurava migrants.
It was during this time that three feminine deities — Al-Lat (Lalitha/Kali), Al-Uzza (Uma/Parvati), and Manat (Manasa or Ganga) — entered into Arabian religious life. These were not foreign goddesses but echoes of the primal energies once preserved by the Kuravas in Kerala. Each of these figures was a phase of Shakti — undiluted by form, yet manifest through cosmic power.
Muruga as the Green Prophet
From the union of Shiva and Kali — the white and the black, the silent and the wild — arises Muruga, the agni-linga, or the fire-pillar of creation. In Kurava thought, Muruga was the cosmic child, the green-bodied bringer of wisdom, fertility, and natural balance. In Arabian lands, his memory persisted as Al-Khidr, the mysterious Green Prophet who appears to guide Moses, teach wisdom, and vanish into the unseen.
Ancient Arab homes and mosques were often painted green, and green flags came to symbolize fertility, life, and divine presence. This color association didn’t emerge from desert culture but was transplanted from the forest rituals of the Kuravas, where Muruga was always dressed in green and surrounded by vegetation.
Re-examining Early Arabia through Kurava Lens
Before the rise of monotheism, pre-Islamic Arabia was not uniformly polytheistic or idol-centric. The Quraysh and associated tribes practiced non-iconic spirituality, venerated abstract feminine powers, and preserved oral teachings as sacred. This aligns seamlessly with the original Kurava practice where no deity was given a human shape, and the Shiva-Kali dynamic was represented only through color, element, and ritual.
Their reverence for teachings (Qur’an) rather than doctrine, and their preference for oral transmission over textual rigidity, resonates with the Guru-parampara of the Kurava lineage. The Kuru-Guru identity was embedded into their very name and practice.
The whiteness of the male robe symbolized the invisible order of Shiva/Al, and the black female robe invoked the destructive and recreative force of Kali, the very womb of time. Together, they upheld a unified cosmic polarity, a truth too primal to be forgotten, and too symbolic to be rebranded.