Tamil Brahmin Explained

Group:	Tamil Brahmin
Popplace:	Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
Langs:	Tamil, Sanskrit
Rels:	Hinduism
Related:	Tamil people

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.

They also constitute nowadays an important portion of the South Indian Tamil diaspora worldwide. A tiny community of Tamil Brahmins from the Iyer caste is also historically settled in Sri Lanka, mostly from the second half of the 18th century.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Denominations

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

See main article: Iyer. 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.^{[4] [5] [6]} They are also found in significant numbers in Chennai,^[7] Coimbatore, Madurai, Thiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Kannur, and Thiruvananthapuram.^[8]

Iyengar

See main article: Iyengar. 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.^[9]

Adi Saivas/Gurukkal

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 Sanskrit: Ādiśaiva, Sanskrit: आदिशैव), or the Sivacharyas. They follow the Agamas and the Vedas.^[10]

Notable people

• Sage Agastya, revered Indian sage of Hinduism, Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, and author of Agattiyam, an early grammar of the Tamil language^[11]
• Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian classical Bharatanatyam dancer, theosophist, choreographer and an activist for animal welfare^[12]
• Subramania Bharati, Indian independence activist and poet^[13]
• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Prize-winning Indian astrophysicist^[14]
• J. Sai Deepak, eminent Supreme Court lawyer most famous for his representations in the case on the entry of women to Sabarimala Temple.
• Shyamala Gopalan, American-Indian biomedical scientist, Mother of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris^[15]
• Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Indian lawyer and member of the Constituent Assembly of India responsible for framing the Constitution of India^[16]
• Ramanuja (c. 1077–1157 CE), Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer.^[17]
• U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, Indian researcher and Tamil scholar^[18]
• Kachiyapper (8th century), Indian poet and Vedantist and the author of Kanda Puranam^[19]
• K. S. Krishnan, Indian physicist, co-discoverer of the Raman scattering^[20]
• Iravatham Mahadevan, Indian epigraphist and civil servant^[21]
• Paridhiyaar, medieval Tamil scholar and Kural commentator^[22]
• Parimelalhagar, medieval Tamil scholar and Kural commentator^[23]
• V. S. Ramachandran, Indian-American neuroscientist specializing in behavioral neurology and known for inventing the mirror box.^[24]
• C. V. Raman, Nobel Prize-winning Indian physicist^[25]
• Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician^[26]
• Alladi Ramakrishnan, Indian physicist and founder of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Matscience) in Chennai^[27]
• Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate in the USA 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries^[28]
• Sivananda Saraswati, Indian yoga guru, Hindu spiritual teacher, and proponent of Vedanta^[29]
• C. S. Seshadri, mathematician.^[30]
• T.N.Seshan, Chief Election Commissioner
• Tolkappiyar, earliest known author and grammarian in Tamil language
• S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, Indian mathematician and Abel Prize laureate^[31]
• Ramaswamy Venkataraman, Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician, who served as the eighth president of India^{[32] [33]}

See also

• Caste system in India
• Gotra
• Vedic priesthood
• List of Brahmins
• List of Iyengars

References

• Witzel. Michael. Toward a History of the Brahmins. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 113. 1993. 2 . 264–268. 10.2307/603031 . 603031. 0003-0279.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Team - Noolaham Foundation .
2. 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 . en . . 102 . 2513-2954.
3. News: Muthiah . Subbiah . S. Muthiah . 2016-10-22 . Madras Miscellany: The Aiyar from Jaffna . 2024-04-27 . . en-IN . 0971-751X.
4. News: Brahmins seek reservation in education and employment. 19 September 2008. 22 June 2019. The Hindu.
5. [#G. S. Ghurye|G. S. Ghurye]
6. [#Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans|Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans]
7. [#Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans|Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans]
8. News: Approaching societal issues through the eyes of Ambedkar. https://web.archive.org/web/20180520193405/https://www.dtnext.in/Lifestyle/Culture/2017/04/09210907/1030961/Approaching-societal-issues-through-the-eyes-of-Ambedkar.vpf. dead. 20 May 2018. 2017-04-10. dtNext.in. 2018-05-20. en-US.
9. Dutta . Ranjeeta . September–October 2007 . Texts, Tradition and Community Identity: The Srivaisnavas of South India . Social Scientist . 35 . 9/10 . 22–43 . 27644238.
10. Book: Rajagopal, Sharat Chandrika . 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 . 1987 . University of Minnesota . 368 . en.
11. [#Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature|Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature]
12. Web site: 2017-03-08. Know the Only Indian in Today's Google Doodle? She Could Have Been India's First Female President!. 2022-01-16. The Better India. en.
13. Book: Indian Literature: An Introduction. University of Delhi. Pearson Education India. 2005. 9788131705209. 125–126.
14. Web site: Who was S Chandrasekhar?. 19 October 2017. The Indian Express. en. 2019-01-13.
15. News: What Kamala Harris Isn't Saying About Her Mother's Background - WSJ. Wall Street Journal. 20 August 2020. 21 January 2021. Ms. Harris’s mother also figures in another tale told less often: of India’s small and successful Tamil Brahmin diaspora. Dhume. Sadanand.
16. Book: Gopal, Madan. India through the ages. 1990. 191. K.S. Gautam. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
17. Book: Jon Paul Sydnor. Rāmānuja and Schleiermacher: Toward a Constructive Comparative Theology. 2012. Casemate. 978-0227680247. 20–22 with footnote 32.
18. Web site: The patriarch of Tamil . Viswanathan . S. . 26 February – 11 March 2005 . Frontline, Vol. 22, Issue 5 . 7 July 2021 .
19. Book: Pillai, M. S. Purnalingam . A Primer of Tamil Literature. 1904. Ananda Press. 107.
20. News: Srinivasan. Mahadeva. 2012-06-05. Not for him the second fiddle. en-IN. The Hindu. 2022-01-11. 0971-751X.
21. Web site: Straight from the Heart – Iravatham Mahadevan: Interview with Iravatham Mahadevan. Varalaaru.com.
22. Book: M. V. Aravindan . உரையாசிரியர்கள் [Commentators] . 2018 . Manivasagar Padhippagam . Chennai . 348–360.
23. Book: Ki. Vaa. Jagannathan . திருக்குறள், ஆராய்ச்சிப் பதிப்பு [Tirukkural, Aaraicchi Pathippu] . 1963 . 3 . Ramakrishna Mission Vidhyalayam . Coimbatore.
24. Brain Games: The Marco Polo of neuroscience . Colapinto . John . John Colapinto . The New Yorker . 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. . 4 May 2009 . 25 January 2022 .
25. Web site: CV Raman Birth Anniversary 2020: Interesting Facts About The Nobel Laureate. 2021-06-23. NDTV.com. en.
26. Book: Kanigel, Robert . The Man Who Knew Infinity: a Life of the Genius Ramanujan . New York . Charles Scribner's Sons . 1991 . 978-0-684-19259-8. 11–12.
27. News: Staff Reporter. Alladi Ramakrishnan, 85, Scientist, Passes Away. 18 August 2010. India Journal. 13 Jul 2008.
28. News: Celarier . Michelle . August 5, 2022 . 'He's Making Up a World He Wants to Attack': How Vivek Ramaswamy Became a Right-Wing Culture Warrior . . 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.
29. Web site: His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj . . 16 January 2022.
30. Web site: From Proofs to Transcendence, via Theorems and Rāgas – Bhāvanā. 2020-07-30. en-US. We are a Shree Vaishnavite Brahmin family.
31. Web site: Srinivasa Varadhan. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161105070617/http://www.abelprisen.no/binfil/download.php?tid=56998. 5 November 2016. 25 March 2018. Abel Prisen. " I came from a Brahmin community, viewed by the government as privileged, and there was reverse discrimination".
32. News: 2019-04-12 . How Brahmins became invisible in Tamil Nadu’s politics . 2024-07-03 . The Times of India . 0971-8257 . 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..
33. News: Rajesh Ramachandran . 2004-04-02 . Take 2 for Tambrams . 2024-07-03 . The Times of India . 0971-8257.