Tamil Brahmin

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Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana in addition to other regions of India. They can be broadly divided into two denominations: Iyengars, who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism, and Iyers, who follow the Srauta and Smarta traditions.

Tamil Brahmin
A Tamil Brahmin wedding ceremony
Regions with significant populations
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
Languages
Tamil, Sanskrit
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Tamil people

They also constitute nowadays an important portion of the South Indian Tamil diaspora worldwide.

Although they form a tiny minority within their society, the Ceylonese Tamil Brahmins have been integral part of Sri Lankan Tamil community since the foundation of the Jaffna Kingdom by a family of Tamil Brahmins, namely the Aryacakravarti dynasty.[1][2] Their community was mainly strengthened by the more recent settlement of Tamil Brahmins from the Iyer caste in Sri Lanka, mostly from the second half of the 18th century.[3][2][4]

Denominations

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Tamil Brahmins are divided into two major denominations: Iyers, who follow the Smarta tradition, and Iyengars, who adhere to the tradition of Sri Vaishnavism.

Iyer

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Iyers are Shrauta-Smarta Brahmins, whose members follow the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara. They are concentrated mainly along the Cauvery Delta districts of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Tiruchirapalli where they form almost 10% of the total population. However the largest population reside in Nagercoil, making up to 13% of the city's population.[5][6][7] They are also found in significant numbers in Chennai,[8] Coimbatore, Madurai, Thiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Kannur, and Thiruvananthapuram.[9]

Iyengar

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The Iyengars subscribe to the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. They are divided into two denominations: Vadakalai (Northern art) and Tenkalai (Southern art), each with minor differences in religious rites and traditions. They adhere to the tradition of Sri Vaishnavism.[10]

Adi Saivas/Gurukkal

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Brahmins who serve as priests in temples following the Vaishnavite and Shaivite tradition and perform pujas are offered a distinct category classified outside the community by the Government of Tamil Nadu as '703.Adi Saivar' and '754.Saiva Sivachariyar' as distinct from the '713.Brahmanar' (Brahmin) in the list of forward castes. These priests are called "Bhattar" in the Vaishnavite tradition and in the Pandya regions of Tamil Nadu, and "Ayyan" or "Gurukkal" in the shaivite tradition and in northern ones. In Kongu Nadu, they are called Adi Saivas (among other spellings Asishaivas, Adi-Shaivas, etc.; from Sanskrit Ādiśaiva, आदिशैव), or the Sivacharyas. They follow the Agamas and the Vedas.[11]

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Pathmanathan, Sivasubramaniam (1974). The Kingdom of Jaffna: Origins and early affiliations. Colombo: Ceylon Institute of Tamil Studies. p. 27.
  2. ^ a b Sivapathasuntharam, A. (2016). "The Brahmins: A Study on the Traditional Elite in Jaffna with Reference to their Dialect". Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Linguistics in Sri Lanka. University of Kelaniya: 102. ISSN 2513-2954.
  3. ^ "Team - Noolaham Foundation".
  4. ^ Muthiah, Subbiah (22 October 2016). "Madras Miscellany: The Aiyar from Jaffna". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Brahmins seek reservation in education and employment". The Hindu. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  6. ^ G. S. Ghurye, Pg 393
  7. ^ Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 5
  8. ^ Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 15
  9. ^ "Approaching societal issues through the eyes of Ambedkar". dtNext.in. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  10. ^ Dutta, Ranjeeta (September–October 2007). "Texts, Tradition and Community Identity: The Srivaisnavas of South India". Social Scientist. 35 (9/10): 22–43. JSTOR 27644238. (subscription required)
  11. ^ Rajagopal, Sharat Chandrika (1987). Rethinking Hinduism: A Renewed Approach to the Study of "sect" and an Examination of Its Relationship to Caste : a Study in the Anthropology of Religion. University of Minnesota. p. 368.
  12. ^ Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, Appendix III, The Case of Akattiyam; Sanskrit and Tamil; Kankam, Pg 235–260
  13. ^ "Know the Only Indian in Today's Google Doodle? She Could Have Been India's First Female President!". The Better India. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  14. ^ Indian Literature: An Introduction. Pearson Education India. 2005. pp. 125–126. ISBN 9788131705209. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Who was S Chandrasekhar?". The Indian Express. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  16. ^ Dhume, Sadanand (20 August 2020). "What Kamala Harris Isn't Saying About Her Mother's Background - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2021. Ms. Harris's mother also figures in another tale told less often: of India's small and successful Tamil Brahmin diaspora
  17. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 191.
  18. ^ Jon Paul Sydnor (2012). Rāmānuja and Schleiermacher: Toward a Constructive Comparative Theology. Casemate. pp. 20–22 with footnote 32. ISBN 978-0227680247.
  19. ^ Viswanathan, S. (26 February – 11 March 2005). "The patriarch of Tamil". Frontline, Vol. 22, Issue 5. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  20. ^ Pillai, M. S. Purnalingam (1904). A Primer of Tamil Literature. Ananda Press. p. 107.
  21. ^ Srinivasan, Mahadeva (5 June 2012). "Not for him the second fiddle". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Straight from the Heart – Iravatham Mahadevan: Interview with Iravatham Mahadevan". Varalaaru.com.
  23. ^ M. V. Aravindan (2018). உரையாசிரியர்கள் [Commentators]. Chennai: Manivasagar Padhippagam. pp. 348–360.
  24. ^ Ki. Vaa. Jagannathan (1963). திருக்குறள், ஆராய்ச்சிப் பதிப்பு [Tirukkural, Aaraicchi Pathippu] (3 ed.). Coimbatore: Ramakrishna Mission Vidhyalayam.
  25. ^ Colapinto, John (4 May 2009). "Brain Games: The Marco Polo of neuroscience". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 January 2022. In 1991, he became interested in the work of Tim Pons, a neuroscientist at the National Institute of Mental Health, who had been investigating the ability of neurons in the sensory cortex to adapt to change.
  26. ^ "CV Raman Birth Anniversary 2020: Interesting Facts About The Nobel Laureate". NDTV.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  27. ^ Kanigel, Robert (1991). The Man Who Knew Infinity: a Life of the Genius Ramanujan. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-684-19259-8.
  28. ^ Staff Reporter (13 July 2008). "Alladi Ramakrishnan, 85, Scientist, Passes Away". India Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2010.[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ Celarier, Michelle (5 August 2022). "'He's Making Up a World He Wants to Attack': How Vivek Ramaswamy Became a Right-Wing Culture Warrior". The Information. The Ramaswamy family belongs to India's elite Brahmin caste, a fact he mentions several times in his book. 'Kings were below us,' he wrote
  30. ^ "His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj". Divine Life Society. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  31. ^ "From Proofs to Transcendence, via Theorems and Rāgas – Bhāvanā". Retrieved 30 July 2020. We are a Shree Vaishnavite Brahmin family
  32. ^ Kamil Zvelebil (1973), The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India, BRILL, p. 136, ISBN 90-04-03591-5
  33. ^ "Srinivasa Varadhan". Abel Prisen. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018. I came from a Brahmin community, viewed by the government as privileged, and there was reverse discrimination
  34. ^ "How Brahmins became invisible in Tamil Nadu's politics". The Times of India. 12 April 2019. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 July 2024. Though many Brahmins like R Venkataraman, Mani Shankar Aiyar, and Subramanian Swamy shot into prominence in politics in later years, they chose to operate from Delhi.
  35. ^ Rajesh Ramachandran (2 April 2004). "Take 2 for Tambrams". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 3 July 2024.