Tamil Brahmin
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh | |
| Languages | |
| Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pancha-Dravida Brahmins, Tamil people |
Tamil Brahmins, are Tamil-speaking Brahmins primarily living in Tamil Nadu, although a few of them have settled in other states like, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. They can be broadly divided into three religious groups, Gurukkals who follow Saivism, Iyers who follow the Srauta and Smartha tradition and Iyengars who follow Sri Vaishnavism.
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. Advaita Vedanta has been in existence from way before Adi Sankara. In fact, Vedanta refers to itself as Anadi, meaning without beginning[1][2] and 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[3][4][5] They are also found in significant numbers in Chennai,[6] Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Palakkad and Trivandrum.[7]
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). Most of them are devout worshippers of Lord Vishnu.
Gurukkal
The sect of Sivāchārya or Gurukkal form the hereditary priesthood or in the Siva and Sakthi temples in Tamil Nadu. They are Saivites and adhere to the philosophy of Shaiva Siddhanta. They are well versed in Vedas, Agama Sasthras and follow the Agamic rituals of these temples. Because of these cultural differences, intermarriages with other Tamil Brahmanas are rare even to this date. Gurukkals are sub-divided into Tiruvalangad, Conjeevaram and Thirukkazhukunram.
Notable people
- Subramania Bharati, Tamil Poet
- Ramana Maharshi, Sage
- Srinivasa Ramanujan, mathematician
- Akshay Venkatesh, Fields Medalist, mathematician
- Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), Political Administrator
- Raghuram Rajan, economist and central banker[8]
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google[9]
- Indra Nooyi, CEO and chairwoman of PepsiCo[10]
- Sri Srinivasan, American jurist[11]
- Viswanathan Anand, chess grandmaster and world champion[12]
- Kamala Harris, United States Senator from California[13]
- Vasundhara Das, Tamil film actress and playback singer
- M. Night Shyamalan, film director and screenwriter[14]
- V.S. Ramachandran, neurologist and neuropsychologist[15]
- S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and Abel Prize laureate[16]
- CV Raman, Nobel Prize Physics winner.[17]
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize Chemistry winner.
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Nobel Prize Physics winner.
- Jayalalithaa, second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
- K. Srikkanth Opening Batsman, Former Indian Captain.
- Ravichandran Ashwin Off Spinner, Cricketer.
- G.N.Ramachandran, Prof. of Biophysics, discoverer of Collagen structure.
- R. Venkataraman, Former President of India
- K. Balachandar, Dramatist, Director of Tamil Movies, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner
- Gemini Ganesan, Tamil film Actor
- Kamal Haasan, Tamil & Hindi Film Actor
- T. R. Mahalingam, Tamil Film Actor, Singer
- Mani Ratnam, Tamil Film Director
- S. Balachander, Veena Vidwan, Film Director, Actor
- Ajith Kumar,Tamil Film actor
See also
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahmins. |
- ↑ "Iyer". Uttarakhand Information Centre. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ↑ Folk Songs of Southern India, Pg 3
- ↑ "Brahmins seek reservation in education and employment"
- ↑ 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. 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2018-05-20.
- ↑ Venkataramakrishnan, Rohan. "One big reason Swamy attacking Arvind Subramanian is very different to his anti-Rajan campaign". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ Sivakumar, B.; Vasudevan, Shilpa (2015-08-12). "Google CEO Sundar Pichai famous for his phenomenal memory". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ "Forbes India Magazine - Print". www.forbesindia.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ Barry, Ellen (2016-03-15). "With Sri Srinivasan, Indian Town Prays for a 'Son' on Supreme Court". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ "Viswanathan Anand: Who is he?". India Today. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | International | India duo poised for US success". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ "M. Night Shyamalan: The Super Natural". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
- ↑ Anthony, Andrew (2011-01-30). "VS Ramachandran: The Marco Polo of neuroscience | Profile". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
- ↑ http://www.abelprisen.no/binfil/download.php?tid=56998
- ↑ "An interview with social scientist P Radhakrishnan". Rediff. Retrieved 2018-04-18.