Tamil Brahmin
![]() A Tamil Brahmin marriage ceremony | |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Also Sri Lanka. | |
Languages | |
Tamil | |
Religion | |
Hinduism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Pancha-Dravida Brahmins, Tamil people |
Tamil Brahmins are Tamil-speaking Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, although a few of them have settled in other states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka and other countries. Tamil Brahmins also live in Sri Lanka.[1] They can be broadly divided into three groups, Gurukkals who follow Saivism, Iyers who follow the Srauta and Smartha tradition and Iyengars who follow Sri Vaishnavism.[citation needed]
Groups[]
Tamil Brahmins are divided into three groups -- Iyers, Iyengars and Gurukkal. Iyers form the majority of the Tamil Brahmin population and are Smarthas, while Iyengars are Vaishnavas and Gurukkals are Saivas.
Iyer[]
Iyers are Srauta-Smartha Brahmins, most of whom follow the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara, and are concentrated mainly along the Cauvery Delta districts of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur[citation needed] 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.[2][3][4] They are also found in significant numbers in Chennai,[5] Coimbatore, Madurai, Thiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Palakkad, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Kannur, and Thiruvananthapuram.[6]
Iyengar[]
Iyengars follow the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Sri Vikanasa or Sri Ramanujacharya. They are divided into two sub-sects: Vadakalai (Northern branch) and Thenkalai (Southern branch). They are devout worshippers of Vishnu.[citation needed]
Gurukkal[]
The Gurukkal are priests in Shiva, Shakthi and Vinayaka temples. They follow Shaiva Siddhanta.[citation needed]
Notable people[]
- Viswanathan Anand, Indian Chess Grandmaster
- Rukmini Devi Arundale, Classical Bharata Natyam dancer, theosophist, choreographer and an activist for animal welfare.
- Ravichandran Ashwin, Indian cricketer
- K. Balachander, Indian filmmaker and playwright
- Maadhu Balaji, Indian actor
- Subramania Bharati, Indian independence activist and poet[7]
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist[8]
- Seetha Doraiswamy, Carnatic multi-instrumentalist
- Gemini Ganesan, Indian actor
- Shyamala Gopalan, biomedical scientist, Mother of U.S Vice President Kamala Harris [9]
- Kamal Haasan, Indian actor
- Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Indian Carnatic vocalist
- Shreyas Iyer, Indian cricketer
- U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamil scholar and researcher[10]
- J. Jayalalithaa, politician (List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu), Indian actress
- Ramya Krishnan, Indian actress
- S. Srinivasan, Indian aeronautical engineer
- Janani Iyer, Indian actress
- Trisha Krishnan, Indian actress
- R. Madhavan, Indian actor
- Hema Malini, Indian actress
- Crazy Mohan, Indian actor
- Venniradai Moorthy, Indian actor
- T. S. B. K. Moulee, Indian actor
- Shankar Mahadevan, Indian Singer and Composer
- Nachinarkiniyar, medieval Tamil scholar and commentator of the Tolkāppiyam, Pattuppāṭṭu, Kaliththokai, Kuṟuntokai and Civaka Cintamani[11]
- Nambi Narayanan, Indian aerospace engineer
- Paridhiyaar, medieval Tamil scholar and Kural commentator[12]
- Parimelalhagar, medieval Tamil scholar and Kural commentator[13]
- C. Rajagopalachari, statesman, politician, Indian independence activist, last Governor-General of India
- Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize-winning structural biologist[14]
- C. V. Raman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist[15]
- Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician[16]
- Cho Ramaswamy, Indian actor
- C. S. Seshadri, mathematician.[17]
- Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer
- Padma Subrahmanyam, Classical Bharata Natyam dancer
- Subramanian Swamy, Indian politician, economist and statistician
- Tolkappiyar, earliest known author and grammarian in Tamil language[18]
- Vaali, Indian poet and Lyricist
- S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and Abel Prize laureate[19]
- Vyjayanthimala, Indian actress
See also[]
References[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahmins. |
- ^ "Team - Noolaham Foundation".
- ^ "Brahmins seek reservation in education and employment". The Hindu. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- ^ G. S. Ghurye, Pg 393
- ^ Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 5
- ^ Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 15
- ^ "Approaching societal issues through the eyes of Ambedkar". dtNext.in. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- ^ Indian Literature: An Introduction. University of Delhi. Pearson Education India. 2005. pp. 125–126. ISBN 9788131705209.
- ^ "Who was S Chandrasekhar?". The Indian Express. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ 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
- ^ Viswanathan, S. (26 February – 11 March 2005). "The patriarch of Tamil". Frontline, Vol. 22, Issue 5. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Chitty, Simon Casie (1859). The Tamil Plutarch, containing a summary account of the lives of poets and poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon. Jaffna: Ripley & Strong. p. 57.
- ^ M. V. Aravindan (2018). உரையாசிரியர்கள் [Commentators]. Chennai: Manivasagar Padhippagam. pp. 348–360.
- ^ Ki. Vaa. Jagannathan (1963). திருக்குறள், ஆராய்ச்சிப் பதிப்பு [Tirukkural, Aaraicchi Pathippu] (3 ed.). Coimbatore: Ramakrishna Mission Vidhyalayam.
- ^ "Common root: Tamil Nadu gets its third laureate". Times of India. TNN. 8 October 2009.
- ^ "CV Raman Birth Anniversary 2020: Interesting Facts About The Nobel Laureate". NDTV.com. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "From Proofs to Transcendence, via Theorems and Rāgas – Bhāvanā". Retrieved 30 July 2020.
We are a Shree Vaishnavite Brahmin family
- ^ Kamil Zvelebil (1973), The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India, BRILL, p. 136, ISBN 90-04-03591-5
- ^ "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
- Brahmin communities
- Tamil Brahmins
- Social groups of Tamil Nadu