தமிழர் சமயம்

 20. MODERN BRĀHMINICAL STATUS

The term Brāhmaṇas is rooted in the Vedic tradition of “Seekers of Brahmam”, meaning the ultimate knowledge – Brahmaṇāt Brahmaityuktam. They are “antaṇars” in Tamiḻ who are said to analyse the ultimate truth. Evidently, a Brāhmaṇa is a Vedic follower.

There are several subdivisions among the Brāhmins based on language, and region. Those divided based on language are immigrants from Telugu, Karnātaka, and Vada desa etc. The Telugu speaking Brāhmaṇas came from Andhradesa and speak Telugu at home. Similarly, Karnātaka Brāhmaṇas speak Kannada. They are sometimes called Vaḍugas. There seems to have been migration also from Madhyapradesh.

There is an influential intelligent group of Brāhmaṇas now called “Vāttimās” who claim they came from Madhyama pradesh and were mādhyamikas. They are confined to Tañjāvūr district but spread in 18 grāmas called “Vāttima grāmas”. But they do not speak Hindi as mother tongue, as in the case of Telugus or Karnatakas. Probably, they were speakers of Sanskrit with a mixture of Prākṛt. A study of their spectial attachment to Sanskrit makes it clear they were Sanskrit speakers originally.

There is another group of Brāhmaṇas a little more in number than the Vāttimās, called the Vadamās. It seems there were two major migrations; the first chronologically earlier who were called simply Vaḍamas i.e., the northerners. The second group came later who were called the northern Vadamā (Vadadēsattu Vadamā) who claim purer descend.

There are other groups who were settlers in Cōḻa country who are called Chōḻiyās. Within Chōḻiyas of the Cōḻa country, some were centered around a village named Thiruvīḻimiḻalai who were called as Vīḻiyārs.

There was another division called “Brahad caraṇās” they seem to be greater in number and spread all over Tamiḻnāḍu, Kerala and Andhradesa. They were Vedic scholars performing Vedic Yāgas. They are considered devoted to Śiva, but like all Vedic scholars they were also worshippers of Viṣṇu. Three great scholars Sir. C.V. Raman, and two more from this subdivision have won Nobel prize for their contribution to science.

There were another group of Smārtha Brāhmaṇas called Aṣṭhasahasram group. Aṣṭhasahasram means Eight thousand, eight thousand family or they hailed from a place named Eṇṇāyiram. Evidently, they either formed a group of eight thousand families or they came from the village of that name. There is a village in South Arcot district called Eṇṇāyiram which was a great centre of Vedic learning where a Vedic college was established after Rājarāja Cōḻa by Rājēndra I (see page.347) Rājēndra we know, came to this village, worshipped the Ugra Narasiṁha Mahā Ghorā Murti on his return from Gangetic village. These families were thus famous during the 11th century, and they might have probably spread to other parts and retained the name Eṇṇāyiram as a mark of identity.

There is a specific mention in the Cōḻa times (12th centuries) of a group of Brāhmaṇa from Gauda desa (Bengal), led by a teacher who brought his family and close relatives and settled them around Kāñcīpuram.

Another dominant group are Śaiva temple priests, Ādi Śaivācaryas those who have the privilege of worshipping in Śiva temples, spread throughout Tamiḻnāḍu. They are called Śivabrāmaṇas in all the inscriptions almost from 7th century. All of them are followers of Bodhāyana's sūtras and belong to either, Gautama, Kācyapa, Kaucika, Bharadvāja or Agastya gotra. As the number of Śiva temples are several times greater, their population is very high. By and large, they are deeply devoted and have not only served as regular priests but have played a great role in the economic development of Tamiḻnāḍu. As there were no banking system, they were relied upon by the society which entrusted the money, land or cattle gifted to the temples and requested them to maintain the trust and utilize the interest or proceeds for the maintenance of the temple property. Several thousand inscriptions through several centuries are found attesting to their role as trustees of the temples. As they were attending temple functions daily, it was convenient for others to see the utilities like burning lamps, conducting special worships, flower gardens, or musicial fete etc., regularly and by their sterling conduct won the heart of the people.

In the Viṣṇu temples, we had devoted Vaiṣṇavas who were called Śrī Vaiṣṇnavas, but more as Vaikhānasas in ancient inscriptions. They formed part of the ancient Vedic groups and were great exponents on Śāstras and came to be called Bhaṭṭas. Bhaṭṭa is a generic term used mainly for exponents of Śāstras. In all the ancient Brāhmin Agrahāram, there was always in the centre, the end or entrance to the main street, a temple dedicated to Viṣṇu and so they lived as part of the main Vedic population. It is also due to the popularity of Kṛṣṇa and Rāmāyaṇa among the Vedic scholars their unity with the Brāhmin culture was patent. They were great Sanskrit scholars, and we find that in Cōḻa times the Vaikhānasa system was specially taught in Vedic colleges. Since the time of the Cōḻas, the recitation of Divya Prabhandam in Viṣṇu temples during daily worship grew gradually with the population of Tamiḻ. Even the great Vaiṣṇava Ācārya Śrīmad Rāmānuja lived amidst Vedantic surroundings at Śriraṅgam and concentrated on Brahma Sūtras and Gitā by writing his bhāṣya. As the Tamiḻ Prabandam were lucid and self-explanatory, there was no need at that point of time for many commentaries. Thus, the Vedic tradition continued and continues to hold sway in ancient temples.
20.1. Agrahāram
Modern Agrahārams are the colonies where Vedic Brāhmaṇas lived. Castes and professions were identical from ancient times. The cultivators lived in their own colonies, the merchants, fishermen, the chieftains and Kṣatriyas had their own dedicated colonies. And so were others. Similarly, the Vedic Brāhmaṇas lived in their own colonies which were - called Agrahāram. The word seems to have been derived from “Agrahāram”, .e., the front or forefront of village colonies. The inhabitants studied one or more Vedas, the six aṅgas, and performed Vedic sacrifices. Their profession was guiding people in Dharma or law.
The Agrahārams are known by various names: -
The term Brāhmaṇa stood for “Vedic Brāhmaṇas” meaning those who interested in pursuing the path of Brahmam and enquire into the nature of Supreme truth. They are the “Vedāntins”.
The Brāhmaṇas are broadly divided into three major categories as “Smārtha Brāhmaṇa” (Vedic Brāhmaṇas), “Śiva Brāhmaṇa” (worshipping Śiva in the temple), and “Viṣṇu Brāhmaṇa” (worshipping Viṣṇu in temples they are called Nambudris and Pothis in Kerala). Śiva Brāhmaṇas are also called “Gurukkaḷ” as they were the priests of the village and also of the kings. Viṣṇu Brāhmaṇas are called “Aiyyaṅgār” or “Bhaṭṭas” as they were exponents of Śāstras. All Brāhmaṇas trace their genealogy to one or other Vedic Ṛṣis like Ātreya Kauśika, Kacipa, Bhāradvāja, Gautama, Parāsara or others. They also follow a code of life given by Sūtrakāras such as:
20.2. Brāhmin groups
There are many subgroups among the Brāhmaṇas based on their place of migration, professions, and Vedas: -
Some groups were called by the language like:
Some are called by their Vedic category:
There are some variations in their dress especially among married women. Brāhmin colonies are generally located on the riverbanks, near big tanks or near big temples.

Brāhmin Agrahāram were generally gifted by Kings or chieftains as Bhūmidānas when they performed the 16 Mahādānas and are named after the donor, for instance, Rājarāja-caturvedi-maṅgalam. Their layouts are well planned with built up space in front, ranging from around 800 to 1000 square feet and around 1800 square feet of backyard with fruit bearing trees flowering creepers and other vegetation.
20.3. Tippirājapuram, a Model Aghrahāra
Tippirajāpuram, a village in Kumbakōṇam tāluk, is a model Aghrahāram with two north-south running and two east-west running streets found in this village. Four streets of imposing layout, most with houses in the same format. They are classified as two “kattus”, three “kattus”. Each house with two levels of kattu with slopping roof, a muṟṟam and (an open yard) there are a reḻi with small a tiṇṇai. With front tiṇṇai in all houses - there are two rooms adjacent to the central hall - on the back side of the hall is the kitchen. In bigger houses, there is a bigger room attached to the kitchen which also has an opening passage to the side. All houses have small niche with doors serving as pūjā almirah. Behind this kitchen complex is a well and further behind is a roofed rectangular place where festive cooking could be done. At the back yard, nearly sixty to ninety feet, various fruit trees like coconut, plantain, mango, jack fruit and flower gardens are raised. Beyond this runs a rivulet or a canal. Usually, all Brāhmins are expected to keep cows and their sheds in the backyard. The houses are of attached type where two houses shar a common wall on one side. Three sides of the slopping roof open to the central muṟṟam which gives light, free air, and plenty of waters during rainy season and cool breeze makes living enjoyable. The architecture is so lovely, the house always remains cool as if fully air conditioned. The streets are generally 24 to 30 feet in width. The houses have 24-, 26- or 30-feet width in the front. The entrances are always to the right of the houses. There are some houses with stairs and a room with wooden flooring.
At the front, there is a low flooring projecting from the house called "all Nadai". The Brāhmins of Tañjāvūr district freely feed all vistors in their houses.
All Agrahārams have a Viṣṇu temple on the western side and Śiva temple in the northeast. The temple of Viṣṇu in Tippirājapuram is called Veṅkaṭāchalpathy with Śrī and Bhū where the Brāhmins perform Rādha Kaḷyāṅam and also Sītā Kaḷyāṅam. At Thippirājapuram, the Śiva temple is called Vikramachōḻiśwaram. Kuntalūr, a single Agrāhāra visited by Mahaperiyavāḷ is a Vāttimās grāmam, one of the 18 grāmas.
Viṣṇupuram is a great Agrahāram which has about 90 houses on each row. The entire row is very well maintained without much alteration. A great layout and is a Grāma of the 18 grāmas. Though they claim this forms a part of the group of 18 Vāttima grāma, this village now house has other Brāhminical communities like Vadamās, Brahadcaraṇam, Chōḻiyas, Viḻīyārs, and Kēśiyars (who are the last group that need to be studied. It is learnt that they are found in large numbers near).
20.4. Two Interesting Villages
It is interesting to note that two villages near Madras has retained statistical data for the year 1739 regarding the area of their houses, their back yard and the mānyam received from the village for their livelihoods. The data were collected from the village accounts, recorded on Palm leaves maintained those days by the revenue authorities. It gives the social and economic status of Vedic Brāhmaṇas, temple priests, cultivators, and other inhabitants of two villages. One is the now famous pilgrim centre. Thiruporūr and the other is Vadakkupaṭṭu village, both about 30 km away from Chennai. The data available relate to total area of the village, common lands, house sites of inhabitants, and the payment received by each class of people.

It is seen that both the villages are well laid out and were settled by one authority a few centuries ago and reveal the unitary character of the habitation.

The inhabitants are provided with uniform area of living space and proceeds, calculated based on their regular shares. For example, most of the inhabitants were provided with three kuḻis of house sites (approximately 800 square feet for house. The backyard for most also was of that area but varied to certain extent. Be it a Brāhmaṇa, cultivator, watchman, or other service holder, the area of house site is the same. There were houses in the name of women as well indicating women had independent right to own property.

In Vadakkupaṭṭu village, the cultivators called Veḷḷāḷar, each had on an average residential area double that of others, namely 6 kuḻis house site and six kuḻis of back yards. There was an Agrahāram in the village that consisted of a total 45 houses out of which 43 belonged to Viṣṇu Brāhmaṇas and one Śiva Brāhmaṇas, each had 4 kuḻis of house site and four kuḻis of back yards. Three kulis mentioned earlier were for other Brāhmaṇas living in other parts of the village. There were another group of Veḷḷāḷar called “Payirkūttum Veḷḷāḷar”, 8 numbers who had 5 kuḻis of house sites and equal area of back yards. There were village accountants called Kaṇakkupiḷḷai who were provided with 6 kulis for houses and backyard equal area. There were 25 Paḷḷis in the village, out of whom 11 were provided with 6kulis, house sites each and the rest had 3 kuḻis of house sites. Their backyards varied but all had more than 3 kuḻis. A single Blacksmith, who had 2 kuḻis house site but about 20 kulis of backyard. Similarly, a potter had a long back yard of nearly 20 kuḻis. Obviously, their profession required long yards.

At Thiruporūr, there was a different type of constitution. Thiruporūr being a temple village, there were as many as 9 temples with 6 gurukkaḷs and 46 paṇḍārams (non Brāhmin priests). The village and their population were as below: