Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil language-speaking Hindus , 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: , who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism, and Iyers, who follow the Srauta and .
Although they form a tiny minority within their society, the Ceylonese Tamil Brahmins have been an integral part of the Sri Lankan Tamil community since the foundation of the Jaffna Kingdom by potentially a family of Tamil Brahmins, namely the Aryacakravarti dynasty.
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
Iyers are
Srauta-Smartha Brahmins, whose members follow the
Advaita Vedanta 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.
[G. S. Ghurye, Pg 393][Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 5] They are also found in significant numbers in
Chennai,
[Migration and Urbanization among Tamil Brahmans, Pg 15] Coimbatore,
Madurai,
Thiruchirappalli,
Thanjavur,
Palakkad,
Alappuzha,
Kozhikode,
Ernakulam,
Kannur, and Thiruvananthapuram.
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.
[ ]
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 Ādiśaiva, आदिशैव), or the Sivacharyas. They follow the Agamas and the
Vedas.
Notable people
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Agastya, Indian sage revered in Hinduism, Tamil Siddhar in the Shaivism tradition, and author of Agattiyam, an early grammar of the Tamil language
[Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, Appendix III, The Case of Akattiyam; Sanskrit and Tamil; Kankam, Pg 235–260]
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Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian classical Bharatanatyam dancer, theosophist, choreographer and an animal welfare activist
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Subramania Bharati, Indian independence activist and poet
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Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Prize-winning Indian astrophysicist
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J. Sai Deepak, Supreme Court lawyer most famous for his representations in the case on the entry of women to Sabarimala Temple.
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Shyamala Gopalan, American-Indian biomedical scientist, Mother of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris
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Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Indian lawyer and member of the Constituent Assembly of India responsible for framing the Constitution of India
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Ramanuja (c. 1077–1157 CE), Indian Hindu philosopher, preacher and a social reformer.
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U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, Indian researcher and Tamil scholar
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S. Jaishankar, Foreign Minister of India
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Kachiyapper (8th century), Indian poet and Vedanta and the author of Kanda Puranam
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K. S. Krishnan, Indian physicist, co-discoverer of the Raman scattering
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Iravatham Mahadevan, Indian epigraphist and civil servant
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Paridhiyaar, medieval Tamil scholar and Tirukkural commentator
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Parimelalhagar, medieval Tamil scholar and Kural commentator
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V. S. Ramachandran, Indian-American neuroscientist specializing in behavioral neurology and known for inventing the mirror box.
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C. V. Raman, Nobel Prize-winning Indian physicist
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Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician
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Alladi Ramakrishnan, Indian physicist and founder of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Matscience) in Chennai
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Vivek Ramaswamy, American politician and candidate 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries
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Sivananda Saraswati, Indian yoga guru, Hindu spiritual teacher, and proponent of Vedanta
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C. S. Seshadri, Indian mathematician.
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T.N.Seshan, Chief Election Commissioner
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Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister of India (2019-present), former Defence Minister of India
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Tolkappiyar, earliest known author and grammarian in Tamil language
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S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, Indian mathematician and Abel Prize laureate
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Ramaswamy Venkataraman, Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician, who served as the eighth president of India
See also
