About us
Malayali (also spelled Malayalee; another equivalent is Keralite) is the term used to refer to the native speakers of the language Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala. The Malayali identity is primarily linguistic, although in recent times the definition has been broadened to include emigrants of Malayali descent who partly maintain Malayali cultural traditions, even if they do not regularly speak the language. While the origins of the Malayali people are in the state of Kerala in India, significant populations also exist in other parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and North America. According to the Indian census of 2001, there were 30,803,747 speakers of Malayalam in Kerala, making up 96.7% of the total population of that state. Hence the word Keralite is often used in the same context, though a proper definition is ambiguous.
Yorkshire Malayali Club was founded in 2007 by a group of Malayali (Keralite) families who settled in and around the west Yorkshire Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees and its operations started from the Historic town of Huddersfield. The founder members of the club were mainly from the towns of Huddersfield, Halifax and Wakefield. The main purposes behind its creation were to provide a platform for malayali’s in these towns and surrounding localities to gather together for religious worship, recreation, artistic and cultural performance, socialising, sports & games, organising pilgrimages and excursions, and also to facilitate integration with people from other communities.
Whilst trying to demonstrate the ethnicity of our Kerala culture and impart a good understanding of our heritage and cultural values to the youth in our community YMC aims to understand and support the cultures and values of other communities in the society that we are a part of. YMC believes that cultural integration is the key to a stable society.
Even though YMC is not a religious organisation it adheres predominantly to Christian faith solely due to the fact that all of its members are Christians.