IYER- THE GREAT 1 Dear friends,
During my boy hood days thesurname iyer was commonly added to Brahmin names with very few exceptions. Allmy brothers and cousins have Iyer surname with the names. My younger cousinbrother is Narayana Iyer. Most of myfriends from our community have surname Iyer. Some write as Ayyar, some othersas Aiyar some others as Aiyer and many as Iyar or as Iyer. What was in the mind ofparents/guardians is written as the spelling of “IYER” during admission to thefirst standard either by the parents themselves or by the teacher admitting.This is continued. Update- Now we have to give nameto Hospital or Municipality or corporation for getting the birth certificate.If the name is written in a hurry, the name for the child remains so. I am writing from the very beginning as Iyer,when I have to write the name of my father- H. Rama Iyer. This is because in a signature it was clearlywritten as “e” and not “a” in Iyer. So for me the spelling comes as Iyer. For me the surname is not added. Iam told I am named after the local deity-Krishna who is specially worshipped forSanthana labdhi. Whatever be the surname, in thecustomary marriage invitations, normally it is not included for the BRIDEGROOM. Normally chiranjeevi is added in first before the bride groom’s name.However while mentioning of ancestry grand father’s name is mentioned withIYER. Father’s name may or may notinclude iyer. In the present generation mostnames are not having surname. I am notsure how this change has occurred. In addition if Rama is grandfather’s namefor grandson it may be named in line as Ramachandran or Raghu or Raghupathialso. Sometimes Ramachandran furthergets reduced as R. Chandran also. If iyer surname is there, thenKalyana sundara Iyer becomes KS Iyer. R Sankara iyer becomes R. S Iyer. LakshmiNarayana Iyer becomes L N Iyer. My Astrology Guru is more knownas R S Iyer than R. Sankara Iyer. One of the officers by name L N IYER washaving a very lean body like his name! Similarly another officer by name SESHANappeared as lean and short also. Either on those days or today,there are 2nd names or house names for most. Subramonian is very often calledas CHUPPAN and Krishnan is often called as KICHHAN. Narayanan is called as Nanu. Anatha Krishnanis called as Ananthan or Ananthu. Petnames are much more. One is KOANTHA. There are Kontha periappas! Elderly Raman is very oftencalled as Ramaiyyan. The Ramayyan Dalava is the best example. My father wasalso called as Ramaayyan by royal people. Royal people of his age used to callhim Raman himself. One thing is sure – Beforegenerations we (our group- Kerala iyers) in southern Kerala and central Kerala havemigrated from Kallidaikurichi- Ambasamudram side. Most of us have Kula deivamtemple is near kallidaikurichi. Till recently our sasthrikals were fromKallidaikurichi. Those who are in Palghat and nearbyplaces are migrated from Tanjore. Most of them have Kuladeivam a local templelike Manappulli kavu Bhagavathi. Learntmembers can write whether they have Kuladeivam in Tamilnadu also. So the iyers or Paradesi Brahmins inKerala are migrated from Tamilnadu. When I was admitted in school, I wasentered under category- Hindu, Paradesi Brahmin. Mother tongue TAMIL Sage Parasurama brought Brahminsfrom North India for temple priests and in Kerala they were settled in 64 gramsand they are called nampoothiries. We have no such legend of brought up bysages. Only history is Brahmins fromTirunelveli side used to come for providing/selling silk items to royal peopleor such higher level people. Regarding Palghat side Paradesi Brahmins, the Rajaof Palghat had some issues with Nampoothiries and to perform Pooja, Brahminsfrom Tanjore were brought. It is a general observation, Palaghat Brahmins knowmore Vedic rituals and more orthodox than Tirunelveli Brahmins. Paradesi Brahmins are Brahmins from paradesam and MIGRATED TO KERALA. Brahmins in Tamilnadu have alsocome from North before centuries mostly via Andhra. But they are considered aslocal Hindu Brahmin community. I am continuing more with Iyer inthis posting. My main base is Wikipedia reading for this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 5-6-2021 This is a re written posting of an old one posted in February 2014. 1. Iyer- Introduction Iyer is the title given to thecaste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers ofthe Advaita philosophypropounded by Adi Shankara. A vast majority of Brahminsreside in Tamil Nadu. My note- While I was performingupanayanam for my son in Tamilnadu the sasthrikal asked whether we followSankaracharya of kanchi or Sringeri to send money. In Kerala as far as myknowledge goes, samooham sambhavana only was paid in my boyhood days. So Ismiled not knowing to answer either. Sasthrikal took it as Kanchi. I have visited Kanchimatam very late. Later I gathered we are followers of Sringeri Mutt. The title 'Iyer' was used as a designationfor all Tamil Smartha Brahmins during the medieval period duringwhich they were organised into single community. However, during the 11th century, a breakaway sectformed a new community called "Iyengars", worshipping Sri Vaishnava. According to popular tradition,Iyers are descendants of Indo-Aryan migrants from North India. Iyers are sub-divided intovarious sub-sects based on CULTURAL AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES. Like allBrahmins, they are also classified based on their gotra, or patrilinealdescent, and the Veda they follow. My note- Now a day the sub sectsare not seen among Brahmins. This is in normal relations. However through generations there aresome adhering cultural and regional differences among sub sects. A lot of adjustment is requiredis the true fact when marriage etc. arranged with different sub sect. My note- I had a Divisional engineer from Tanjore by nameRajaram at Tirunelveli. His niece was married to a groom from Nagerkovil. Whilehe was going to an area near, he visited the niece. I was accompanying him.After preliminary talks- his first question to niece was Tanjore customs aredifferent from Nagerkovil. By the time could you able to adjust to CERTAIN EXTENT? Thatcertain extent is very important. I used to think about the brain.I write what all I have to do in a paper for not forgetting and strike of whenit is done. Some times in diary pages. But these small these remain in thememory very sharply!! Iyers fall under the Pancha Dravida Brahminsub-classification of India's Brahmin community and share many customs andtraditions with other Brahmins. Yes. We share many customs ofNAMPOOTHRI BRAHMINS. For them Vedic study is more important. Upanayanam isperformed in early age. Nampoothiries are more orthodox in the customs eventoday comparing to Brahmins. Regarding temple priests, Nampoothiries arepreferred. All thanthries are Nampoothiries. 2. Etymology The word Iyer is derived from thetitle Ayyā which is often used by Tamils to designate respectable people. Thereare number of etymologies for the word Ayyā, generally it is thought to bederived from Proto-Dravidian term denoting an elder brother. It is used in thatmeaning in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Yet others derive the word Ayya as a Prakritversion of the Sanskrit word Aryā which means 'noble'. In ancient times, Iyers were alsocalled ANTHANAR.Apart from the prevalent practice of using the title "Iyer" assurname, Iyers also useother surnames as Sāstri or Bhattar. Has pattanmar came fromBhattar? 3. Some interesting details Estimated population 2004:~2,400,000 (Estimated) Regions with significantpopulations -Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka/Bangalorealso. I think Bombay too have a lot of Brahmins for generations migrated fromKerala/Tamilnadu and Andhra. Languages-Brahmin Tamil, Sankethi Religion- Hinduism Related ethnic groups-Pancha-Dravida Brahmins, Tamil people, Iyengar, Madhwa 4. Population and distribution Though Iyers are distributedalmost evenly all over the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, an extensive majorityresides in the CholaNadu region of Tamil Nadu comprising the delta of the River Cauvery whichis the traditional home of the Tamil Brahmin population. Today, Iyers live all over SouthIndia, but an overwhelming majority of Iyers continue to thrive in Tamil Nadu.Tamil Brahmins form an estimated 3% of the state's total population and aredistributed all over the state. However, accurate statistics on the populationof the Iyer community are unavailable. They are concentrated mainlyalong the Cauvery Delta districts of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Tiruchirapalliwhere they form almost 10% of the total population. In Northern Tamil Nadu they arefound in the urban areas of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Sriperum-budurand Vellore. They are almost non-existent in rural areas of NorthernTamil Nadu. Iyers are also found in fairlyappreciable number in Western and Southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Iyers of the far south are called Tirunelveli Iyers andspeak the TIRUNELVELI BRAHMIN DIALECT. I think NEENAGA, VANGA,UKKARUGA etc. come in the Tirunelvelidialect. However I have seen some peopleusing neer, varumetc. in Chennai. One close member once wrote to me these are used with respect.However using it towards them is not relished by them. (Members canrecollect their own experience) 5. Kerala Iyers Iyers have been resident of theprincely state of Travancore from ancient times. The Venad state (present Kanyakumari district) andthe southern parts of Kerala was part of the Pandyan kingdom known as ThenPandi Nadu. There were also many Iyers inVenad which later on grew to be the Travancore state. The old capital ofTravancore was Padmanabhapuram which is at present in Kanyakumari district. There has also been a continuousinflow from Tirunelveli and Ramnad districts of Tamil Nadu which are contiguousto the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Many parts of thepresent Tirunelveli district were even part of the old Travancore state. These Iyers are known today as Trivandrum Iyers. Some ofthese people migrated to Cochin and later to Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.There were also migrations from Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu to Palakkad.Their descendants are known today as Palakkad Iyers. These Iyers are collectively nowcalled as Kerala Iyers. There is no historical record of migration from Thirunelveli and Ramnaddistrict. But the migration from Tanjore district to Palakkad is recorded in manydocuments. They speak a dialect of Tamilknown as Kerala Tamilwhich is heavily influenced by Malayalam. In Coimbatore, there are alarge number of such Iyers due to its proximity to Kerala. Now Pandikkar means otherTamilnadu communities settled in Kerala. Many of them talk Malayalam in line with Corallites. 5. Karnataka Iyers S Ramaswamy Iyer migrated fromGanapathy Agraharam to Mysore in the 19th century and served as the firstAdvocate-General of Mysore Over the last few centuries, alarge number of Iyers have also migrated and settled in parts of Karnataka.During the rule of the Mysore Maharajahs, a large number of Iyers from the thenMadras province migrated to Mysore. The Ashtagrama Iyers are also a prominent group of Iyers in Karnataka. The Sankethi Iyers are anothersub caste who speaks a distinct language called Sankethi which borrows words from Kannada, Tamiland Sanskrit. I will continue in another posting. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to thatha_patty+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1213607765.1663769.1622908135684%40mail.yahoo.com.
