Udayar | |
---|---|
Religions | Hinduism, Christianity |
Languages | Tamil |
Country | India |
Populated states | Tamil Nadu |
Related groups | Tamil people |
The Udayar is a title used by multiple caste in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. [1]
According to Selva Raj, the Udayar are not "socially humbler" than the Vellalar community [2] but, together with the Pallar and Kallar, form the Marava castes, who are quite dominant in the region variously known as Ramnad and the Maravar country. [3]
In Ramnad and the nearby areas of Pudukottai, Madurai, Salem, Namakkal, Tanjore and Trichy, they and their two fellow Maravar caste groups are prominent in their cult worship of the shrine at Oriyur that commemorates John de Britto, a 17th-century Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr. Raj says, "A notable feature of the Britto cult is that it is centered around caste identities rather than religious affiliation", and thus members of the caste-group, irrespective of their religious affiliation regard Britto as their clan-deity. [4]
Some Udayars are Roman Catholic Christians. [5] [4]
Iyers are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Brahmins. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to the Smarta tradition. This is in contrast to the Iyengar community, who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism. The Iyers and the Iyengars are together referred to as Tamil Brahmins. The majority of Iyers reside in Tamil Nadu, India.
Kaarkaathaar is a subcaste of Vellalar Hindu caste in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Ramanathapuram, also known as Ramnad, is a city and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town in Ramanathapuram district.
Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 districts an administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai districts, it touches the Western ghats and bordered with the state of Kerala and east by Bay of Bengal. It was the largest district on that time. The town of Ramanathapuram is the district headquarters. Ramanthapuram District has an area of 4,123 km2. It is bounded on the north by Sivaganga District, on the northeast by Pudukkottai District, on the east by the Palk Strait, on the south by the Gulf of Mannar, on the west by Thoothukudi District, and on the northwest by Virudhunagar District. The district contains the Pamban Bridge, an east–west chain of low islands and shallow reefs that extend between India and the island nation of Sri Lanka, and separate the Palk Strait from the Gulf of Mannar. The Palk Strait is navigable only by shallow-draft vessels. As of 2011, Ramanathapuram district had a population of 1,353,445 with a sex-ratio of 983 females for every 1,000 males. The district is home to the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram and tourist spot Dhanushkodi, an abandoned town.
Sivaganga District is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state, India. This district was formed on 15 March 1985 by trifurcation of Ramanathapuram district into Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Sivaganga districts. Sivaganga is the district headquarters, while Karaikudi is the most populous city in the district, administered by the Karaikudi Municipal Corporation. It is bounded by Pudukkottai district on the Northeast, Tiruchirappalli district on the North, Ramanathapuram district on South East, Virudhunagar district on South West and Madurai district on the West. The area's other larger towns include Sivaganga, Kalayar Kovil, Devakottai, Manamadurai, Ilaiyangudi, Thiruppuvanam, Singampunari and Tiruppattur. As of 2011, the district had a population of 1,339,101 with a sex ratio of 1,003 females for every 1,000 males.
The Pallar, who prefer to be called Mallar, are an agricultural community from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Pallars traditionally inhabited the fertile wetland area referred to as Marutham in the literary devices of the Sangam landscape. Today, they are the dominant Dalit community of southern Tamil Nadu and have developed a reputation for being assertive about their rights. Due to the demand of the pallar community to classify them under a more dignified generic name Devendrakula Velalar, recently they together with six other related castes have been given the name Devendrakula Velalar; however their original caste name remains valid and they are still part of the Scheduled Caste list.
Maravar are a Tamil community in the state of Tamil Nadu. These people are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy. Members of the Maravar community often use the honorific title Thevar. They are classified as an Other Backward Class or a Denotified Tribe in Tamil Nadu, depending on the district.
Agamudayar are a Tamil community found in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, they are considered as one of the three castes which make up the Thevar or Mukkulathor community. According to the anthropologist Zoe E Headley, the three communities are the "numerically dominant rural backward castes of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu". Agamudayars are listed in the national commission of backward caste lists for Tamil Nadu as "Agamudayar including Thozhu or Thuluva Vellala". Agamudayar consider themselves to be descendants of the Chera dynasty.
The Mukkulathor people, who are also collectively known as Thevar, are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. They comprise the Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar communities that share a common myth of origin and claim to have once been members of various ancient South Indian dynasties.
The Ramnad riots or the Mudukulathur riots were a series of violent clashes that occurred between July and September 1957 in the Ramnad district and in southern Tamil Nadu, India. The violence was between Thevars supporting the Forward Bloc, and pro-Congress Dalit Devendrakula Velalar, and was triggered by a by-election held in the aftermath of the Madras Legislative Assembly elections of earlier that year. 42 Dalits were killed during the riots.
John de Britto, SJ, also known as Arul Anandar, was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr, often called "the Portuguese St Francis Xavier" by Indian Catholics.
Orur is a small village located in Tiruvadanai taluk, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated 35 km from Devakottai, Sivagangai. As of the 2011 Census of India, the village had a population of 5,065 across 1,171 households. There were 2,470 males and 2,595 females.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, also known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Velankanni, is a Christian shrine located at the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India. The shrine is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Vanniar or Vanniyar was a title borne by chiefs in medieval Sri Lanka who ruled in the Chiefdom of Vavuni regions as tribute payers to the Jaffna vassal state. There are a number of origin theories for the feudal chiefs, coming from an indigenous formation. The most famous of the Vavni chieftains was Pandara Vannian, known for his resistance against the British colonial power.
The Rowther are a distinct Muslim community living largely in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are descent from the Turkic people who came to settle in chola kingdom for horse trade and cavalry and majorly people who converted to Islam by preacher Nathar Shah in the 10th to 11th century. Even after conversion they retained their Ravuttar caste name. They were elite cavalrymen of the Chola and Pandya kingdoms. They were traditionally a martial clan like the Maravars, and constitute large part of the multi-ethnic Tamil Muslim community. Rowthers have also been found as Tamil polygars, zamindars and chieftains from the 16th to 18th centuries. The traditional homelands of the Rowthers were in the interior of Southern Tamilakam.
Kallar is one of the three related castes of southern India which constitute the Mukkulathor confederacy. The Kallar, along with the Maravar and Agamudayar, constitute a united social caste on the basis of parallel professions, though their locations and heritages are wholly separate from one another.
Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast in AD 52. In the colonial age many Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians came to Tamil Nadu. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonisers but also to spread the Christian faith among the non-Christians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
Kataragama temple in Kataragama, Sri Lanka, is a temple complex dedicated to Buddhist guardian deity Kataragama deviyo and Hindu War God Murugan. It is one of the few religious sites in Sri Lanka that is venerated by the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and the Vedda people. For most of the past millennia, it was a jungle shrine very difficult to access; today it is accessible by an all-weather road. The shrines and the nearby Kiri Vehera are managed by Buddhists, the shrines dedicated to Teyvāṉai and Shiva are managed by Hindus and the mosque by Muslims.
Qutb al-Majeed Fard al-Waheed Imam al-Awliya as-Syed Abdul Qadir Shah al-Hamid Khadir Wali Suhrawardi was a mystic saint, Islamic preacher in Tamil Nadu and a 13th generation descendant of the renowned Sufi saint, Syed Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. His resting place is located at Nagore, Tamil Nadu, India.
The Basilica of St. John de Britto is a Catholic church and pilgrimage centre in Tamil Nadu. The church was built over the site of the martyrdom of St. John de Britto in Oriyur. The church has two tall towers that are visible from afar.