Tamil Brahmin
Tamil Brahmins are Tamil-speaking Brahmins, primarily living in Tamil Nadu, although a few of them have settled in other states like, Telangana, 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.
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh | |
| Languages | |
| Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Pancha-Dravida Brahmins, Tamil people |
Groups
A Tamil Brahmin marriage ceremony
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). They are devout worshippers of Lord Vishnu.
Gurukkal
The gurukkal's are priesthood in shiva , Shakthi and vinayakar temple , they put horizontal three ticks ( pattai ) and kungumam in forehead for rituals of lord Shiva , they are also called as Pattar and Shivacharya as well as with Gurukkal . They also performed in Kumbhabhishekam , ganapathy homam , Navakraga Homam . They follow Shaiva Shiddhandham .
Notable people
Spiritual Masters and Religious scholars
- Ramanuja, Indian theologian and philosopher Vishita advaitha sidthantha
- Nambiyandar Nambi, Shaiva scholar and spiritual Guru of Rajaraja I
- Periyalvar, Vaishnava poet-saint of Tamil Nadu
- Sambandar, Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu
- Ramana Maharshi, Sage
- Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, father of modern Yoga
- B. K. S. Iyengar, Founder of the style of modern yoga
- Velukkudi Krishnan, Religious scholar
Poets, Writers and Journalists
- Vaali, Tamil Cinema songwriter.
- V. D. Trivadi, journalist, humorist, poet, and award-winning playwright recognized for his columns and editorials in the Times of India, Illustrated Weekly, Hindustan Times, and Span.
- S. Subramania Iyer, lawyer, jurist and freedom fighter who, along with Annie Besant, founded the Home Rule Movement.
- Subramaniya Siva, Tamil writer and activist
- U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamil scholar and researcher
- R. K. Narayan, Indian writer
- R. K. Laxman, Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist
- G. Subramania Iyer, former proprietor, editor and managing director of The Hindu
- T. V. Ramasubbaiyer, Founder of Dina Malar, Tamil newspaper
- S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist, politician and journalist
- M. Veeraraghavachariar, one of the founders of The Hindu
- Gopalan Kasturi, Indian journalist who served as the Editor of The Hindu
- Kalki Sadasivam,freedom fighter, singer, journalist and film producer
- Ramachandra Guha, Writer, Economist, Amateur Historian, and part time social activist.
- Abhinandan Sekhri, CEO of media critique, news and current affairs website Newslaundry
Music artists
- D. K. Pattammal, veteran carnatic singer
- D. K. Jayaraman ,Carnatic msician
- Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi, one of the pioneering composers in Indian classical Carnatic music
- Papanasam Sivan, composer of Carnatic music and a singer
- Madurai Pushpavanam, veteran carnatic singer
- Tirukkodikaval Krishna Iyer, Carnatic violinist
- Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer, Indian classical musician and Veena player
- Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, Indian Carnatic vocalists
- Madurai Mani Iyer, Carnatic music singer
- Rajam Pushpavanam, veteran carnatic singer
- Maharajapuram Santhanam, was one of the great Carnatic music vocalists of the 20th century
- Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Carnatic vocalist
- Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian Carnatic violinist
- Nagercoil S. Ganesa Iyer, Indian classical music Mridangam player
- Nagercoil Harihara Iyer, Carnatic singer and violinist
- Bombay Sisters, Carnatic music singing duo.
- Sudha Ragunathan, Indian Carnatic violinist
- P. Unnikrishnan, Indian Carnatic vocalist and playback singer
- Nithyasree Mahadevan, playback singer, carnatic singer.
- Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Carnatic music vocalist
- Karaikudi Mani, Indian percussionist
- Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Indian classical music violinist
- Neelakanta Sivan, composer of Carnatic music
- Soolamangalam Sisters, Carnatic music sister-pair vocalists and musicians
- Sid Sriram, playback singer, carnatic singer.
Social activists and politicians
- Subramania Bharati, Tamil poet
- A. Vaidyanatha Iyer, Indian activist, politician who spearheaded the temple entry movement
- Subramaniya Siva, Tamil writer and activist
- Vanchinathan, Indian revolutionary
- Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), Indian politician, independence activist, lawyer, writer, historian, statesman, last Governor-General of India and second Chief Minister of Madras state.
- S. Satyamurti, Indian independence activist and politician
- R. Venkataraman, former President of India
- V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, independence activist
- M. Veeraraghavachariar, Indian journalist and teacher
- Subramanian Swamy, Indian politician, economist and statistician
- Cho Ramaswamy, actor, political satirist
- Janaki Ramachandran, first female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- Jayalalithaa, second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- Nirmala Sitharaman, first woman full-time Minister of Finance of India
Army/Navy/Airforce Chiefs
- Krishnaswamy Sundarji, Chief of Army Staff
- Sundararajan Padmanabhan, Chief of Army Staff
- Laxminarayan Ramdas, Chief of Naval Staff
Bureaucrats
- Sri Srinivasan, American jurist[8]
- S. Venkitaramanan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India[9]
- Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, part-time director of Reserve Bank of India and journalist
- Raghuram Rajan, economist, central banker and former Governor of Reserve Bank of India[10]
- T. N. Seshan, former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India
- N. Gopalaswami, 15th Chief Election Commissioner of India
- T. S. Krishnamurthy, former Indian Revenue Service officer and 13th Chief Election Commissioner of India
- K. Subrahmanyam, prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and former Indian civil servant
- Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs (India), former diplomat &Foreign Secretary.
Scientists
- Srinivasa Ramanujan, mathematician
- Akshay Venkatesh, fields medallist, mathematician
- V. S. Ramachandran, neurologist and neuropsychologist[11]
- S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and Abel Prize laureate[12]
- G. N. Ramachandran, professor of biophysics, discoverer of collagen structure
- C. V. Raman, Nobel Prize Physics winner[13]
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Astrophysicist, Nobel Prize Physics winner
- Nambi Narayanan, ISRO Scientist
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize Chemistry winner
- Rajagopalan Vasudevan, Indian scientist who developed an innovative method to reuse plastic waste to construct better, more durable and very cost-effective roads.
Business Men
- T. V. Sundaram Iyengar, Indian industrialist and automobile pioneer and founder of TVS Group
- S. N. N. Sankaralinga Iyer, Indian industrialist, philanthropist, business magnate and founder of India Cements.
- Varadachary Krishnaswamy Sarma, Indian Businessman and Publisher, founder of The Little Flower Company in 1929, Chennai (Madras).[14]
- Venu Srinivasan, Chairman of Sundaram-Clayton Group
- Indra Nooyi, American Business women[15]
- Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons
- N. Srinivasan, managing director of India Cements Limited, former Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and former President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI)
Sports
- Viswanathan Anand, chess grandmaster and world champion[16]
- K. Srikkanth, opening batsman, former Indian captain
- Ravichandran Ashwin off-spinner, cricketer
- Venugopal Chandrasekhar Arjuna Award winner and table-tennis national champion
Drama and Cinema Industry
- Ajith Kumar Actor.
- F. G. Natesa Iyer, one of the pioneers of modern Tamil drama and Tamil cinema
- K. Balachandar, dramatist, director of Tamil films, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner
- S P Balasubramaniam (SPB) Singer Guinness record holder
- S P Shailaja Singer
- Gemini Ganesan, Tamil film actor
- Kamal Haasan, Tamil and Hindi film actor
- T. R. Mahalingam, Tamil film actor, singer
- K. V. Mahadevan, Film music director
- Mani Ratnam, Tamil film director
- S. Balachander, film director, actor
- Trisha Krishnan, Tamil film actress
- Vidya Balan, Bollywood actress
- Janani Iyer, Tamil film actress
- Mahalakshmi Iyer, singer
- Blaaze, musician
- Poornima Jayaram, Tamil film actress
- Adah Sharma, actress
- Hariharan, playback singer
- S. Ve. Shekher, actor, drama artist
- Ramya Krishnan, actress
- Vasundhara Das, Tamil film actress and playback singer
- R. Madhavan, actor
- Latha Rajinikanth, wife of Tamil super star Rajnikanth
- Anirudh Ravichander, music composer
- Ravi Raghavendra, Indian film actor
- Y. G. Mahendra, Indian dramatist, actor, singer, playwright and comedian
- Raghuram, veteran Choreographer
- jayaram Actor.
- Suhasini Maniratnam, actress, wife of Director Mani Ratnam
- Menaka (actress), Tamil-born actress of Malayalam films
- Gayathri Raguram, actress, choreographer
- Crazy Mohan, actor, drama artist
- Hema Malini, actress
- Vyjayanthimala Bali, actress
- Vaali Poet, Lyricist.
- Abhirami Venkatachalam Actress
See also
References
 |
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". Thehindu.com. 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.
- Barry, Ellen (15 March 2016). "With Sri Srinivasan, Indian Town Prays for a 'Son' on Supreme Court". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- "AIADMK's pick of no-nonsense Girija Vaidhyanathan as Chief Secretary surprises many". 22 December 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- Venkataramakrishnan, Rohan. "One big reason Swamy attacking Arvind Subramanian is very different to his anti-Rajan campaign". Scroll.in. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- Anthony, Andrew (30 January 2011). "VS Ramachandran: The Marco Polo of neuroscience | Profile". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- "Srinivasa Varadhan". Abel Prisen. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- "An interview with social scientist P Radhakrishnan". Rediff. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- "The story of LIFCO, the nearly 90-year-old publishing house in Chennai". The Hindu Businessline. 25 May 2018.
- "Forbes India Magazine - Print". Forbesindia.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- "Viswanathan Anand: Who is he?". India Today. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
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