Although they form a tiny minority within their society, the Ceylonese Tamil Brahmins have been an integral part of theSri Lankan Tamil community since the foundation of theJaffna Kingdom by potentially a family of Tamil Brahmins, namely theAryacakravarti dynasty.[3][4] Their community was mainly strengthened by the more recent settlement of Tamil Brahmins from the Iyer caste inSri Lanka, mostly from the second half of the 18th century.[5][4][6]
Denominations
Tamil Brahmins are divided into two major denominations: Iyers, who follow theSmarta tradition, and Iyengars, who adhere to the tradition ofSri Vaishnavism.
The Iyengars subscribe to theVisishtadvaita philosophy propounded byRamanuja. 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.[12] Temple priests of the Sri Vaishnavite tradition are called Bhattacharyar or Bhattar.
Adi Saivas/Gurukkal
Brahmins who serve as priests in temples following theShaiva Siddhanta tradition and performpujas 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 thePandya region of Tamil Nadu, and "Ayyan" or "Gurukkal" in the shaivite tradition and in northern ones. InKongu Nadu, they are called Adi Saivas (among other spellings Adishaivas, Adi-Shaivas, etc.; from SanskritĀdiśaiva,आदिशैव), or the Sivacharyas. They follow theAgamas and theVedas.[13]
^Dutta, Ranjeeta (September–October 2007). "Texts, Tradition and Community Identity: The Srivaisnavas of South India".Social Scientist.35 (9/10):22–43.JSTOR27644238.(subscription required)
^Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.).India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 191.
^Colapinto, John (4 May 2009)."Brain Games: The Marco Polo of neuroscience".The New Yorker. Retrieved25 January 2022.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.
^"Srinivasa Varadhan".Abel Prisen. Archived fromthe original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved25 March 2018. I came from a Brahmin community, viewed by the government as privileged, and there was reverse discrimination
^"How Brahmins became invisible in Tamil Nadu's politics".The Times of India. 12 April 2019.ISSN0971-8257. Retrieved3 July 2024.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.
