Sri Vaishnava Brahmins of Tamilnadu

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This research work, taken up in 1984, on "SRI VAISHNAVA BRAHMINS OF TAMILNADU-A HISTORICAL STUDY, has been motivated by the Pioneering works done by great scholars of History, of South as well as North India. S.Krishnaswamy Aiyangar, B.V.Ramanujam, V.Rangacharya, A.Govindacharya, T.A.Gopinatha Rao, N.Jagadeesan, K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, V.Varadachari, J.Gonda, Suvira Jaiswal, R.GBhandarkar, Hemachandra Raychaudhuri are a few such eminent scholars, who have made Such pioneering study on Sri Vaishnavism and giving a list of all scholars, who have laboured on this and related fields of study is avoided in view of brevity. The History of Sri Vaishnavism in the South, merits a separate study, for the South has made its own distinct contribution to Indian Culture and Hindu Religion. In the south, especially in Tamilnadu the Sri Vaishnavites have contributed much and the part played by the Sri Vaishnava Brahmins in it, has been quite considerable, which certainly merited and warranted a research.

The Madras Government Museum under the British rule released "New series" Bulletin and Diwan Bahadur,K.Rengachari, M.A., L.T., who was Anthropological Assistant in the Madras Museum, then, had contributed a paper entitled "The Sri Vaishnava Brahmans" in that bulletin published in the year 1931. The editor of this bulletin, in the 'Preface' has stated that "This study of the Sri Vaishnava Brahmans aims at recording the customs of the people with which it deals as they are regarded within the community itself, the community to which the author belongs and within which he has therefore spent his long life. Outside authorities may disagree with some of his conclusions. But the paper is intended not as a critical study so much as a record of traditions, customs and ceremonies as understood by those who adhere to them and as interpreted by one of their number, who is also an anthropologist". Hence this paper prompted me initially to undertake the research work on this community of 'Sri Vaishnava Brahmins of Tamilnadu', firstly toestablish the traditional belief-as even K.Rangachari mentions-that this community has been existing as a separate class from very early times, though it came to be specifically called as 'Sri Vaishnava Brahmins in the post-Ramanuja period only i.e. after the 11th Century A.D. Secondly the contributions made by this community to the country and to the Tamil society have been commendable and hence need recognition by bringing them to light. Thirdly, the community has been facing challenges to which it has been responding positively and politely by adaptation methods, which have been brought to light in this research work. The introductory chapter deals with all other details, which need not be mentioned here.

It is with the intention of minimising the need for the reader to revert to the table of Glossary, much care has been taken in giving meanings then and there to non-English words (mainly Sanskrit and Tamil in this work) within brackets, following such words and even explanations to them in the references at the end of each chapter. Hence the list of words in the Glossary is restricted to only important words.

I am greatly indebted and grateful to Dr.R. Venkatraman Reader in Ancient History, Department of Art History Aesthetics and Fine Arts, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, who has been my guide throughout this period of nearly a decade of my research work. I am proud to have enjoyed such a rare privilege to have been one of his wards amongst several of his foreign research scholars, who have been successfully guided by him. In addition to being my guide, he was a source of encouragement to me in my work, for which I am indebted.

As a regular reader of books, periodicals and journals, even when I was in service, it became more so after my retirement from service. While so, I got introduced to Prof. Dr. R Rajagopalan, M.A., BT, Ph.D., (retired professor of History from the Tamilnadu Government Collegiate service) through Dr. A.M. Padmanabhan Ph.D., (Rtd), (Finger print expert, S.P/Director, Tamilnadu Finger Print Board). I am happy to note that Dr. R. Rajagopalan, took to part-time research, when he was in service in the department of History of Rajah Dorai Singam, Government Arts College, Sivaganga, affliated to the Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. It did not surprise me to know that he had chosen "SRI VAISHNAVA BRAHMINS-A HISTORICAL STUDY" for his research work, as he is born in this community. That he was awarded the Ph.D., degree for this research work by the M.K. University itself, is proof of the high quality of the contents of this research work. Now he has taken the right decision to bring this Thesis, to book-format and publish the book. He has slightly modified the title as "SRI VAISHNAVA BRAHMINS OF TAMILNADU" (A historical research study, with references to the origin, the ancestry of all the Brahmins of Tamilnadu, the challenges to them and their response).

I had the pleasure of going through this research work. I am of the honest opinion that, the aim of the author is to spread knowledge among all the Brahmins of Tamilnadu, by publishing this book, will bear fruit. It is also a book of knowledge to the rest of the people of India.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages