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Saurashtra people

January 19, 2023

For the people currently living in Saurashtra (region), see Gujarati people. For other uses, see Saurashtra (disambiguation).

The Saurashtra people, or Saurashtrians,[2][3] are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic Hindu Brahmin community of South India who speak the Saurashtra language, an Indo-Aryan language, and predominantly reside in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.[4]

Saurashtra people
Total population
c. 2 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
Languages
Saurashtra as mother tongue
Sanskrit as liturgical language.
Tamil, Kannada, Telugu or Malayalam as secondary language based on native state may be sometimes spoken outside home.
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Pancha-Gauda Brahmins, Gauda Brahmins, Girnara Brahmin, Chitpavan Brahmins, Deshastha Brahmins, Saraswat Brahmins, Konkani people, Sanketi people, Tamil Brahmins and Telugu Brahmins

Saurashtrians trace their ancestry to the historical region of Saurashtra in Western India. Their migration to Southern India owes to the forays and desecration of the Somnath temple triggered by the frequent Muslim invasions, most notably by Mahmud Ghazni. They were a prominent industrious and prosperous mercantile community of merchants and weavers in southern India until the 20th century.[5][6]

Saurashtrians are Brahmins,[7][8] and are also referred to as Saurashtra Brahmins.[2][9][10][11][12][13] Further, like all traditional orthodox Brahmins, they are classified based on their gotra, or patrilineal descent. The majority of the people are Vaishnavas, though there is a significant proportion of Shaivas as well. They are prominently known by their unique family names and also use the titles Sharma,[14] Rao,[15] Iyer,[15] Iyengar and Achary[16] as their surnames but belong to linguistic minorities.[17]

Names

Their name has many alternate spellings, including Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sowrastra and Sourashtri.[4] Saurashtrians are colloquially called as Palkar among themselves.[18] They have also been known as Patnūlkarar, but the term is obsolete.

Etymology

The word Saurashtra literally means "a good state". It is derived from Su meaning good, Rashtra meaning state and the other compound of Saura and Rashtra, meaning "the land of the Sun".[19] These people were once sun worshipers and have built sun temples. The people worshiping Surya or Saura and inhabiting the land of the Sun are called as Saurashtrians.[20]

The Tamil name by which these people were also known in Tamil Nadu is Patnūlkarar,[21] which means silk-thread people,[22] mostly silk-thread merchants and silk weavers,[23] since the early settlers set up silk-weaving guilds and were involved in the trade of silk clothes and diamonds to the royal families of Tamil country.[24] After the Gupta dynasty, silk became the attire of royal families, the Saurashtrians were patronized by several dynasties across North India and the Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara, Nayak and Thanjavur Maratha rulers patronized them in ancient South India.[25] Their specialty was considered so honorable and complicated that they were in some cases exchanged as a major aspect of marriage settlements or as endowments to neighbouring kingdoms.[18]

These people are first mentioned as Pattavayaka, the Sanskrit equivalent of Patnūlkarar in the Mandasor (present day Madhya Pradesh) inscriptions of Kumaragupta I belonging to the 5th century CE. They are also mentioned by the same name in the Patteeswaram inscriptions of Thanjavur belonging to the mid 16th century CE[26] and in the inscriptions of Rani Mangammal of Madurai belonging to the 17th century CE.[7][8][27][28][29]

Identity

Saurashtrians are well assimilated in Tamil society, without any outward differentiation. Apart from certain religious adherences, brahminism and vegetarianism, their culture is similar to the rest of Tamil Nadu. Though their physical features are not similar to Tamils, they have Tamil names and are essentially a part of Tamil people, yet distinct in their ethnic identity and can be called as Saurashtrian Tamils.[30][31][32][33]

Origin

See also: Saurashtra Kingdom

The Bhagavata Purana mentions that the ancient Abhiras were the rulers of Saurashtra Kingdom and Avanti Kingdom and they were followers of the Vedas, who worshiped Vishnu as their supreme deity.[34] These ancient provinces as depicted in the epic literature of Mahabharata roughly corresponds to the present day Saurashtra region of southern Gujarat and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh.

Their origin is Dwarka, land of Lord Krishna,[2] the origin of the name date backs to the time when the ancestors of these people inhabited the Lata region of Saurashtra in southern Gujarat.[7][8][35] Saurashtrians are originally Gauda Brahmins and belong to Pancha-Gauda Brahmins.[7][8][36] After their southward migration they have been called as Saurashtra Brahmins.[2][9][21][24][37][38] They had their original homes in present-day Gujarat and migrated to South India over a millennium ago.[39] They are currently scattered over various places of Tamil Nadu and are mostly concentrated in Madurai, Thanjavur and Salem Districts.[40]

History

See also: Saurashtra (state)

Saurashtrians migrated from southern Gujarat in 11th century CE after the fall of Somnath Temple[41] when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India. It is said that the Saurashtrians lived in Devagiri, the present day Daulatabad of Maharashtra during the regime of the Yadava kings up to 13th century CE. After the fall of Yadavas in 14th century CE they moved to Vijayanagar Empire, with its capital at Hampi in present-day Karnataka by the invitation of the Kings. The expansion of Vijayanagar empire brought the Saurashtrians into South India in 14th century CE, since they were highly skilled manufacturers of fine silk garments and were patronized by the Kings and their families.[25][42] After the fall of Vijayanagar empire they were welcomed by the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur during mid 16th century CE[26] and Madurai during 17th century CE and were allowed to settle near the Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace.[1][43][44][45][46]

Social Division

Occupation, divisions, sects and gotras

From the view point of an outsider the community may be seen as a homogenous one. However, in reality many subdivisions exist among them at various levels. Occupationally, the Saurashtrians may be classified broadly as priests, merchants and weavers.[11]

Divisions

When the Saurashtrians settled in the South, they reproduced the institutions of their mother country in the new land, but, owing to the influence of the Southern Dravidians, some of the institutions became extinct. During their migrations, the men were under the guidance of their leader and the process of migration tended to increase the power of kinship.[47][48]

The people were divided into 5 heads –

  • Goundans (Chiefs);
  • Soulins (Elders);
  • Voyduns (Physicians);
  • Bhoutuls (Religious men);
  • Karesthals (Commons).[48][49]

Traces of this institution still survive. The Goundans were the judges in both civil and criminal affairs. They were aided in deciding cases by a body of nobles called Soulins. The office of the Soulins is to make enquiries, and try all cases connected with the community, and to abide by the decision of the chiefs. The Voyduns (vaidyas) and Bhoutuls (pandits, joshis and kavis) also ranked with Voyduns and had their honours on all important occasions, and they are placed in the same rank with the elders. The Karesthals (commons), are the whole body of masses. Their voice is necessary on certain important occasions, as during the ceremonies of excommunication, prayaschittas for admitting renegades, and during periodical meetings of the community.[47][48][49]

Sects

The Saurashtrians may further be divided into three sects on a religious basis. viz.,

  • Vaishnavites, who wear the vertical Vaishnavite mark, and call themselves northerners;
  • Smarthas, who wear horizontal marks;
  • Madhvas, who wear gopi (Sandal paste) as their sect mark.

All the above three divisions intermarry and interdine, and the religious difference does not create a distinction in the community. The Saurashtrians classify their ancestors as originally belonging to the two lines of Thiriyarisham and Pancharisham descent groups. They follow Apastamba Dharmasutra and belong to the Ahobila and Sankaracharya Mathas. Their religion is Hinduism, they follow Yajurveda,[8] and they were originally Madhvas. After their settlement in Southern India, some of them, owing to the preachings of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya, were converted into Saivites and Vaishnavites respectively.[26][44]

Gotras

See also: Pravaras

Saurashtrians, like all other Hindu Brahmins, trace their paternal ancestors to one of the seven or eight sages, the saptarishis. They classify themselves into gotras, named after the ancestor rishi and each gotra consists of different family names. The gotra was inherited from Guru at the time of Upanayana, in ancient times, so it is a remnant of Guru-shishya tradition, but since the tradition is no longer followed, during Upanayana ceremony father acts as Guru of his son, so the son inherits his father's gotra. The entire community consists of 64 gotras.[46][50]

Saurashtrians belong to following gotras.[16]

Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited.[29][40][46][50]

Kuladevatas

See also: Iṣṭa-devatā (Hinduism)

Every Saurashtrian family has their own family patron deity or the Kuladevata. This deity is common to a lineage or a clan of several families who are connected to each other through a common ancestor. The practice of worshiping local or territorial deities as Kuladevata began in the period of the Yadava dynasty.[citation needed]

Culture

Saṃskāras, rituals and Festivals

Saurashtrians have been traditionally an orthodox and closely knit community. They are essentially northern in their customs, manners and social structure. Traditionally, joint family was a social and economic unit for them. Moreover, the pattern of joint family helped them transmit their traditional culture to the younger generations.[44][46]

Saṃskāras

Saurashtrians strictly adhere to all the Ṣoḍaśa Saṃskāra or 16 Hindu Samskaras,[24] out of which, the main social customs among them consist of six social ceremonies in the life of a person. (1) the naming ceremony; (2) the sacred thread ceremony; (3) puberty; (4) marriage; (5) the attainment of the age of sixty; (6) the funeral rites.[44][46][51]

The rites that are performed following the birth of a child are known as jathakarma. The naming ceremony in particular is known as namakaranam. The main aim of performing these birth ceremonies is to purify and to safeguard the child from diseases. These rituals are believed to check the ill effects of Planetary movement. The above rites were carried out on the eleventh day after birth of the child. Grandfather's name was much preferred for a male child and the name of a female deity was suggested for female child.[46]

The vaduhom ceremony (sacred thread ceremony) of Saurashtrians is basically the upanayanam ceremony. This ceremony is exceedingly important among them. This is performed between seventh and thirteenth years. In rare cases when the sacred thread ceremony was not held in the young ages, it would be performed at the time of marriage. The goal of this ceremony was to highlight their Brahminical status. During this ceremony there was much feasting and entertainment which lasted for four days.[46]

Among the Saurashtrians, attaining puberty was the greatest event in a girl's life. They also perform a pre-puberty marriage.[51]

The wedding ceremony lasted 11 days with as many as 36 rituals. All these rituals were conducted by the Saurashtrian priests who were a separate clan in the community.[2] The Saurashtrians have their own marital arrangements. Before a marriage is fixed, a long negotiation takes place between the parents of both partners. Being traditional orthodox Brahmins they are very much particular in matching the horoscope of the couple. A man may claim his maternal uncle's daughter as his wife, and polygamy is permitted. Girls get married at an early age. Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited among them.[24][40][51][52]

Death rituals are termed as abarakkirigai or andhiyaeshti in the Saurashtrian community. Andhiyaeshti means the last or final fire. These rituals are carried out by the eldest son of the deceased. In case of no son, the relatives carry out the last rites. Kartha is the name given to the one who carries out this rite. The performance of the rite signifies the belief that the life is continuous and does not end by one's death. Further, the deceased are believed to reach the level of the deities. The period of mourning lasts for ten days, but it is repeated every year in the form of sraddha ceremonies.[24][44]

Festivals

The Saurashtrians are of a religious bent of mind and they value morality and high character. The chief divinity of Saurashtrians is Venkateshwara of Tirupati. Among other Gods they worshipped Sun God, Rama etc. They made regular visits to Meenakshi temple. They celebrate Kolattam, Chithirai festival and Ramanavami with great enthusiasm, and observe Deepawali, Ganesh Chathurthi, Dussehra, Vaikunta Ekadasi and Avani Avittam as important religious days.[2] Their present social customs differ markedly from the traditional pattern and bear a close resemblance to those of Tamils. Only some orthodox well-to-do merchant families stick to their older customs.[40][45][46][51]

Attire

The way of living of the Saurashtrian men resembles to that of Iyengar Brahmins and the living of Saurashtrian women resembles to that of Telugu Brahmins.

Saurashtrian men wear dhoti or veshti with a shirt and scarf called khesa just like other Brahmin men. The men keep the hair-knot or sikha on the head with a vermilion mark or naamam on their forehead.

The Saurashtrian women wear saree in a different manner than the Tamil women. The unmarried ones wear in Bengali style, while the married ones wear in Marathi style. The shape and size of the ornaments worn by the Saurashtrian women are similar to that of Telugu Brahmin women. The ornaments are mostly made of precious diamonds and gold. The women also put vermilion mark on their foreheads just like the males but in smaller length and also decorate their head with flowers called as veni.[11]

Cuisine

See also: Tamil cuisine

The Saurashtrian cuisine is famous for its mixed rice dishes that includes puliyotharai (tamarind rice), tomato rice with a hint of cinnamon, kalkandu (sugar candy) rice, sakkarai pongal[53] (a dessert made of cotton seed milk)[53] and lemon rice.[54][55] Apart from these dishes Saurashtrians have special liking towards halva and poli.[56] Other South Indian delicacies such as dosas, idli, sambar and rasam etc. are also favored by the Saurashtrians. Rasam believed to have originated in the 16th century in Madurai by Saurashtrians. They prefer calling it ‘Pulichaar’ which means tart or tamarind.[57] Several historians believe that it was Saurashtrian textile merchants who introduced idly to South India during the 10th and 12th centuries. There are even claims that a mix of rice and urad dal ground together and later steamed to form cakes had its origins in Gujarat. This was called Iddada.[58] Another dish that the Saurashtrian traders brought to Madurai in the 16th century is a vada made from deep-fried spinach, it became the keerai vadai and remains a specialty of Madurai.[59][60]

Diet

Traditionally, Saurashtrians are vegetarian and those who are involved in priesthood activities adhere to strict vegetarianism. Rice is their staple food along with sambar, gojju & amti (rasam). However, nowadays, some occasionally take non-vegetarian food.[61]

Demographics

See also: Ethnic groups of Tamil Nadu

There are three group of Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu. First migrants came to Salem and settled there, second group of migrants settled in Thanjavur and its surrounding places and later third group of migrants settled in Madurai and its surrounding places. Saurashtrians maintain a predominant presence in Madurai, a city, also known as 'Temple City' in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. Though official figures are hard to come by, it is believed that the Saurashtrian population is anywhere between one-fourth and one-fifth of the city's total population.

They are present in significant numbers in Ambur, Ammapettai, Ammayappan, Aranthangi, Arni, Ayyampettai, Bhuvanagiri, Chennai, Dharasuram, Dindigul, Erode, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Karaikudi, Kottar, Krishnapuram, Kumbakonam, Namakkal, Nilakottai, Palani, Palayamkottai, Paramakudi, Parambur, Periyakulam, Puducherry, Pudukkottai, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Rasipuram, Salem, Thanjavur, Thirubhuvanam, Thiruvaiyaru, Thiruvarur, Thuvarankurichi, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Illuppur, Thiruvappur, Trichy, Vaniyambadi, Veeravanallur, Vellanguli, Pudukkudi, Kilakukulam, Krishnapuram, Vellore, Walajahpettai in Tamil Nadu.[4]

They are also present in Trivandrum and Kochi in Kerala, Bengaluru in Karnataka,[4] Hyderabad in Telangana and Tirupati, Vizianagaram, Vijayawada, Nellore, Srikakulam, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh[4] are said to house several Saurashtrian families, known as Pattusali.[62]

Language

Main article: Saurashtra language
See also: Saurashtra script

The mother tongue of Saurashtrians is Saurashtra (alternate names and spellings: Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sourashtri, Palkar), a dialect of Gujarati with the amalgamation of present-day Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Kannada, Telugu & Tamil but most of them are bilingual[14] and can speak either Tamil or Telugu or one of the local languages.

Saurashtra, an offshoot of Sauraseni Prakrit,[14] once spoken in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, is spoken today chiefly by the population of Saurashtrians settled in parts of Tamil Nadu.[63] With the Saurashtrian language being the only Indo-Aryan language employing a Dravidian script and is heavily influenced by the Dravidian languages such as Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. However, Census of India places the language under Gujarati.

Genetics

See also: Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia and Y-DNA haplogroups in populations of South Asia

Organisation

The prominent leaders among the community arose in the late 19th century and felt the need of organizing the community. At first, the Madurai Saurashtra Sabha was formed in the year 1895 and it was formally registered in the year 1900 with many objectives. The formation of this Sabha was the first step towards social mobilization. The Sabha's administration is carried out by elected Councillors and office bearers. It has its own rules and regulations regarding holding of elections, rights and duties of office bearers and celebration of social functions. The election to the Sabha is held once in three years. The social life of the Saurashtrians is controlled almost wholly by the Saurashtra Sabha. This organisation is a committee of the leading men of the community, which manages and controls all the schools and public institutions, the temple and its worship, and all political, religious, and social questions among the Saurashtrians.

The Saurashtra Madhya (central) Sabha, which has its headquarters at Madurai now remains as the cultural center for all the Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu. Many well-to-do merchants and philanthropists of the community have contributed substantially to the growth of these institutions. Today, the Saurashtrians are represented in white collar jobs and professions in large numbers.[2][40][64]

In 2009, Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and the current and 14th Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the Research Institute of Saurashtra Heritage and Immigration (RISHI), a project in association with Saurashtra University, Rajkot.[41]

Politics

In the second decade of 20th century, the Saurashtrians emerged as a dominant group in social and political life of Madras Presidency. The Saurashtrians emerged as the dominant social group because of their collective mobilization, intellectual leadership, education, wealth, trade and enterprise. There are several instances when the leaders of the community organised the weavers and made social and economic protests. The well-to-do merchants of the community made donations to TNCC for Salt Satyagraha and welcomed any form of Swadeshi agitation which favoured Indian cloth.[65]

The leaders who came to lead the community were not always from the upper class. L. K. Thulasiram, who led the community in Madurai, was not born into the aristocratic family. With his own efforts he travelled abroad which brought prosperity to himself and to the community in general. Thulasiram at first supported the non-Brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu. When he earned the displeasure of his community members who were fighting for Brahminical status, he changed his mind and supported the cause of his own people.[65] He got elected as Municipal Chairman in 1921 amidst a fierce contest. During his tenure he brought many reforms within the community. He introduced free mid-day meal scheme in community owned school for the first time in the country which was later emulated by the Government of Tamil Nadu during the period of K. Kamaraj in the name of noon-meal scheme in Government schools.[64] When he lost his hold in Municipal Council, he became a prominent organizer of non-cooperation movement. Later he impressed the Congress Party and became the leader of the merchants. In this capacity he strove hard to raise the prestige and position of his community.[66]

N.M.R. Subbaraman, another leader of the community, financed and led the Civil Disobedience Movement In Madurai from 1930 to 1932. He worked for the advancement of the depressed classes. He, along with A. Vaidyanatha Iyer, organised a temple entry conference and helped the people of the depressed classes to enter Meenakshi Amman Temple. He was involved in the Bhoodan movement and donated his 100 acres of land to the movement. He contributed to establishing the first Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai.[67] Later he expressed his dissatisfaction with Civil Disobedience. He felt unhappy about the expenditure incurred on the agitational activities. He mobilized his followers into Municipal politics with the help of Venkatamarama Iyer faction under the Congress banner.[66]

S.R. Radha, former Minister and one of the founding members of the AIADMK, who also led the community in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur. He was attracted to Periyar E. V. Ramasamy's rationalist ideas and was drawn to the Dravidian movement and later joined the DMK and subsequently, the AIADMK. He was one among those who signed the party document when AIADMK was launched in 1972 by M.G. Ramachandran after his expulsion from the DMK. Mr. Radha was first elected to the state assembly constituency of Kumbakonam, later, in 1983 he became a member of the Legislative Council. When M.G. Ramachandran was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, In March 1985, he was appointed as Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK. After the death of the AIADMK founder, Mr. Radha supported J. Jayalalithaa’s leadership of the party. In recognition, she appointed him Leader of the Opposition. But the rise of Jayalalithaa's associate V.K. Sasikala and members of her family in the AIADMK made Radha's continuation in the party untenable and was later expelled from the AIADMK.[68][69][70]

Portrayal in popular media

Notable people

Religion

Cinema

Literature

Politics

Academics

Educational Institutions

Temples

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Chintaman, Vinayak Vaidya (1924). History of Medieval Hindu India: (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.). Oriental Book Supplying Agency.
  • Bulletin of the Institute of Traditional Cultures. University of Madras. 1967. p. 71.
  • K.V, Padmanabha Iyer (1942). A History of the Sourashtras in Southern India. Sourashtra Literary Society (Madras, India).
  • Ganapathy Palanithurai, R. Thandavan (1998). Ethnic movement in transition: ideology and culture in a changing society. Kanishka Publishers, Distributors. p. 34. ISBN 9788173912474.

External links

  • Palkar Community
  • Sourashtra Madhya Sabha
  • Karnataka United Sourashtra Organisation
  • Sourashtra Time

January 19, 2023
saurashtra, people, people, currently, living, saurashtra, region, gujarati, people, other, uses, saurashtra, disambiguation, saurashtrians, indo, aryan, ethno, linguistic, hindu, brahmin, community, south, india, speak, saurashtra, language, indo, aryan, lang. For the people currently living in Saurashtra region see Gujarati people For other uses see Saurashtra disambiguation The Saurashtra people or Saurashtrians 2 3 are an Indo Aryan ethno linguistic Hindu Brahmin community of South India who speak the Saurashtra language an Indo Aryan language and predominantly reside in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu Kerala Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka 4 Saurashtra peopleFrom top left to right Venkataramana Bhagavathar L K Thulasiram M N Rajam M V Venkatram Vennira Aadai Nirmala and T M SoundararajanTotal populationc 2 million 1 Regions with significant populationsTamil Nadu Kerala Andhra Pradesh KarnatakaLanguagesSaurashtra as mother tongue Sanskrit as liturgical language Tamil Kannada Telugu or Malayalam as secondary language based on native state may be sometimes spoken outside home ReligionHinduismRelated ethnic groupsPancha Gauda Brahmins Gauda Brahmins Girnara Brahmin Chitpavan Brahmins Deshastha Brahmins Saraswat Brahmins Konkani people Sanketi people Tamil Brahmins and Telugu BrahminsSaurashtrians trace their ancestry to the historical region of Saurashtra in Western India Their migration to Southern India owes to the forays and desecration of the Somnath temple triggered by the frequent Muslim invasions most notably by Mahmud Ghazni They were a prominent industrious and prosperous mercantile community of merchants and weavers in southern India until the 20th century 5 6 Saurashtrians are Brahmins 7 8 and are also referred to as Saurashtra Brahmins 2 9 10 11 12 13 Further like all traditional orthodox Brahmins they are classified based on their gotra or patrilineal descent The majority of the people are Vaishnavas though there is a significant proportion of Shaivas as well They are prominently known by their unique family names and also use the titles Sharma 14 Rao 15 Iyer 15 Iyengar and Achary 16 as their surnames but belong to linguistic minorities 17 Contents 1 Names 2 Etymology 3 Identity 4 Origin 5 History 6 Social Division 6 1 Occupation divisions sects and gotras 6 1 1 Divisions 6 1 2 Sects 6 1 3 Gotras 6 1 4 Kuladevatas 7 Culture 7 1 Saṃskaras rituals and Festivals 7 1 1 Saṃskaras 7 1 2 Festivals 7 2 Attire 7 3 Cuisine 7 3 1 Diet 8 Demographics 9 Language 10 Genetics 11 Organisation 12 Politics 13 Portrayal in popular media 14 Notable people 14 1 Religion 14 2 Cinema 14 3 Literature 14 4 Politics 14 5 Academics 15 Educational Institutions 16 Temples 17 See also 18 References 19 Further reading 20 External linksNames EditTheir name has many alternate spellings including Sourashtra Sowrashtra Sowrastra and Sourashtri 4 Saurashtrians are colloquially called as Palkar among themselves 18 They have also been known as Patnulkarar but the term is obsolete Etymology EditThe word Saurashtra literally means a good state It is derived from Su meaning good Rashtra meaning state and the other compound of Saura and Rashtra meaning the land of the Sun 19 These people were once sun worshipers and have built sun temples The people worshiping Surya or Saura and inhabiting the land of the Sun are called as Saurashtrians 20 The Tamil name by which these people were also known in Tamil Nadu is Patnulkarar 21 which means silk thread people 22 mostly silk thread merchants and silk weavers 23 since the early settlers set up silk weaving guilds and were involved in the trade of silk clothes and diamonds to the royal families of Tamil country 24 After the Gupta dynasty silk became the attire of royal families the Saurashtrians were patronized by several dynasties across North India and the Chola Pandya Vijayanagara Nayak and Thanjavur Maratha rulers patronized them in ancient South India 25 Their specialty was considered so honorable and complicated that they were in some cases exchanged as a major aspect of marriage settlements or as endowments to neighbouring kingdoms 18 These people are first mentioned as Pattavayaka the Sanskrit equivalent of Patnulkarar in the Mandasor present day Madhya Pradesh inscriptions of Kumaragupta I belonging to the 5th century CE They are also mentioned by the same name in the Patteeswaram inscriptions of Thanjavur belonging to the mid 16th century CE 26 and in the inscriptions of Rani Mangammal of Madurai belonging to the 17th century CE 7 8 27 28 29 Identity EditSaurashtrians are well assimilated in Tamil society without any outward differentiation Apart from certain religious adherences brahminism and vegetarianism their culture is similar to the rest of Tamil Nadu Though their physical features are not similar to Tamils they have Tamil names and are essentially a part of Tamil people yet distinct in their ethnic identity and can be called as Saurashtrian Tamils 30 31 32 33 Origin EditSee also Saurashtra Kingdom The Bhagavata Purana mentions that the ancient Abhiras were the rulers of Saurashtra Kingdom and Avanti Kingdom and they were followers of the Vedas who worshiped Vishnu as their supreme deity 34 These ancient provinces as depicted in the epic literature of Mahabharata roughly corresponds to the present day Saurashtra region of southern Gujarat and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh Their origin is Dwarka land of Lord Krishna 2 the origin of the name date backs to the time when the ancestors of these people inhabited the Lata region of Saurashtra in southern Gujarat 7 8 35 Saurashtrians are originally Gauda Brahmins and belong to Pancha Gauda Brahmins 7 8 36 After their southward migration they have been called as Saurashtra Brahmins 2 9 21 24 37 38 They had their original homes in present day Gujarat and migrated to South India over a millennium ago 39 They are currently scattered over various places of Tamil Nadu and are mostly concentrated in Madurai Thanjavur and Salem Districts 40 History EditSee also Saurashtra state Saurashtrians migrated from southern Gujarat in 11th century CE after the fall of Somnath Temple 41 when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India It is said that the Saurashtrians lived in Devagiri the present day Daulatabad of Maharashtra during the regime of the Yadava kings up to 13th century CE After the fall of Yadavas in 14th century CE they moved to Vijayanagar Empire with its capital at Hampi in present day Karnataka by the invitation of the Kings The expansion of Vijayanagar empire brought the Saurashtrians into South India in 14th century CE since they were highly skilled manufacturers of fine silk garments and were patronized by the Kings and their families 25 42 After the fall of Vijayanagar empire they were welcomed by the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur during mid 16th century CE 26 and Madurai during 17th century CE and were allowed to settle near the Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace 1 43 44 45 46 Social Division EditOccupation divisions sects and gotras Edit From the view point of an outsider the community may be seen as a homogenous one However in reality many subdivisions exist among them at various levels Occupationally the Saurashtrians may be classified broadly as priests merchants and weavers 11 Divisions Edit When the Saurashtrians settled in the South they reproduced the institutions of their mother country in the new land but owing to the influence of the Southern Dravidians some of the institutions became extinct During their migrations the men were under the guidance of their leader and the process of migration tended to increase the power of kinship 47 48 The people were divided into 5 heads Goundans Chiefs Soulins Elders Voyduns Physicians Bhoutuls Religious men Karesthals Commons 48 49 Traces of this institution still survive The Goundans were the judges in both civil and criminal affairs They were aided in deciding cases by a body of nobles called Soulins The office of the Soulins is to make enquiries and try all cases connected with the community and to abide by the decision of the chiefs The Voyduns vaidyas and Bhoutuls pandits joshis and kavis also ranked with Voyduns and had their honours on all important occasions and they are placed in the same rank with the elders The Karesthals commons are the whole body of masses Their voice is necessary on certain important occasions as during the ceremonies of excommunication prayaschittas for admitting renegades and during periodical meetings of the community 47 48 49 Sects Edit The Saurashtrians may further be divided into three sects on a religious basis viz Vaishnavites who wear the vertical Vaishnavite mark and call themselves northerners Smarthas who wear horizontal marks Madhvas who wear gopi Sandal paste as their sect mark All the above three divisions intermarry and interdine and the religious difference does not create a distinction in the community The Saurashtrians classify their ancestors as originally belonging to the two lines of Thiriyarisham and Pancharisham descent groups They follow Apastamba Dharmasutra and belong to the Ahobila and Sankaracharya Mathas Their religion is Hinduism they follow Yajurveda 8 and they were originally Madhvas After their settlement in Southern India some of them owing to the preachings of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya were converted into Saivites and Vaishnavites respectively 26 44 Gotras Edit See also Pravaras Saurashtrians like all other Hindu Brahmins trace their paternal ancestors to one of the seven or eight sages the saptarishis They classify themselves into gotras named after the ancestor rishi and each gotra consists of different family names The gotra was inherited from Guru at the time of Upanayana in ancient times so it is a remnant of Guru shishya tradition but since the tradition is no longer followed during Upanayana ceremony father acts as Guru of his son so the son inherits his father s gotra The entire community consists of 64 gotras 46 50 Saurashtrians belong to following gotras 16 Agasthiya Angeerasa Aruni Asitha Athreya Bhageeratha Bharadwaja Bhargava Chyavana Dadheecha Devala Durvasa Galava Gargeya Gowthama Gowthsa Haritha Hothra Idhmavaaha Jabali Jaimuni Jamadagni Jannhu Kanva Kavasa Khasyaba Koumanda Koundinya Kousika Kupitha Maandavya Mandabala Mareesi Markandeya Mathanga Medhatithi Moudgalya Mounjanya Mythreya Ourva Pailava Parasara Pippala Pramathi Saaliga Sakthi Sandialya Sarabhanga Soomantha Soubari Shazhiya Sounaka Srivathsa Upamanyu Usena Uthanga Vaathsaayana Vaisampayana Valmiki Vamadeva Vasista Vathsa Viswamithra Vyasa Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited 29 40 46 50 Kuladevatas Edit See also Iṣṭa devata Hinduism Every Saurashtrian family has their own family patron deity or the Kuladevata This deity is common to a lineage or a clan of several families who are connected to each other through a common ancestor The practice of worshiping local or territorial deities as Kuladevata began in the period of the Yadava dynasty citation needed Culture EditSaṃskaras rituals and Festivals Edit Saurashtrians have been traditionally an orthodox and closely knit community They are essentially northern in their customs manners and social structure Traditionally joint family was a social and economic unit for them Moreover the pattern of joint family helped them transmit their traditional culture to the younger generations 44 46 Saṃskaras Edit Saurashtrians strictly adhere to all the Ṣoḍasa Saṃskara or 16 Hindu Samskaras 24 out of which the main social customs among them consist of six social ceremonies in the life of a person 1 the naming ceremony 2 the sacred thread ceremony 3 puberty 4 marriage 5 the attainment of the age of sixty 6 the funeral rites 44 46 51 The rites that are performed following the birth of a child are known as jathakarma The naming ceremony in particular is known as namakaranam The main aim of performing these birth ceremonies is to purify and to safeguard the child from diseases These rituals are believed to check the ill effects of Planetary movement The above rites were carried out on the eleventh day after birth of the child Grandfather s name was much preferred for a male child and the name of a female deity was suggested for female child 46 The vaduhom ceremony sacred thread ceremony of Saurashtrians is basically the upanayanam ceremony This ceremony is exceedingly important among them This is performed between seventh and thirteenth years In rare cases when the sacred thread ceremony was not held in the young ages it would be performed at the time of marriage The goal of this ceremony was to highlight their Brahminical status During this ceremony there was much feasting and entertainment which lasted for four days 46 Among the Saurashtrians attaining puberty was the greatest event in a girl s life They also perform a pre puberty marriage 51 The wedding ceremony lasted 11 days with as many as 36 rituals All these rituals were conducted by the Saurashtrian priests who were a separate clan in the community 2 The Saurashtrians have their own marital arrangements Before a marriage is fixed a long negotiation takes place between the parents of both partners Being traditional orthodox Brahmins they are very much particular in matching the horoscope of the couple A man may claim his maternal uncle s daughter as his wife and polygamy is permitted Girls get married at an early age Marriage within common gotra is strictly prohibited among them 24 40 51 52 Death rituals are termed as abarakkirigai or andhiyaeshti in the Saurashtrian community Andhiyaeshti means the last or final fire These rituals are carried out by the eldest son of the deceased In case of no son the relatives carry out the last rites Kartha is the name given to the one who carries out this rite The performance of the rite signifies the belief that the life is continuous and does not end by one s death Further the deceased are believed to reach the level of the deities The period of mourning lasts for ten days but it is repeated every year in the form of sraddha ceremonies 24 44 Festivals Edit The Saurashtrians are of a religious bent of mind and they value morality and high character The chief divinity of Saurashtrians is Venkateshwara of Tirupati Among other Gods they worshipped Sun God Rama etc They made regular visits to Meenakshi temple They celebrate Kolattam Chithirai festival and Ramanavami with great enthusiasm and observe Deepawali Ganesh Chathurthi Dussehra Vaikunta Ekadasi and Avani Avittam as important religious days 2 Their present social customs differ markedly from the traditional pattern and bear a close resemblance to those of Tamils Only some orthodox well to do merchant families stick to their older customs 40 45 46 51 Attire Edit The way of living of the Saurashtrian men resembles to that of Iyengar Brahmins and the living of Saurashtrian women resembles to that of Telugu Brahmins Saurashtrian men wear dhoti or veshti with a shirt and scarf called khesa just like other Brahmin men The men keep the hair knot or sikha on the head with a vermilion mark or naamam on their forehead The Saurashtrian women wear saree in a different manner than the Tamil women The unmarried ones wear in Bengali style while the married ones wear in Marathi style The shape and size of the ornaments worn by the Saurashtrian women are similar to that of Telugu Brahmin women The ornaments are mostly made of precious diamonds and gold The women also put vermilion mark on their foreheads just like the males but in smaller length and also decorate their head with flowers called as veni 11 Cuisine Edit See also Tamil cuisine The Saurashtrian cuisine is famous for its mixed rice dishes that includes puliyotharai tamarind rice tomato rice with a hint of cinnamon kalkandu sugar candy rice sakkarai pongal 53 a dessert made of cotton seed milk 53 and lemon rice 54 55 Apart from these dishes Saurashtrians have special liking towards halva and poli 56 Other South Indian delicacies such as dosas idli sambar and rasam etc are also favored by the Saurashtrians Rasam believed to have originated in the 16th century in Madurai by Saurashtrians They prefer calling it Pulichaar which means tart or tamarind 57 Several historians believe that it was Saurashtrian textile merchants who introduced idly to South India during the 10th and 12th centuries There are even claims that a mix of rice and urad dal ground together and later steamed to form cakes had its origins in Gujarat This was called Iddada 58 Another dish that the Saurashtrian traders brought to Madurai in the 16th century is a vada made from deep fried spinach it became the keerai vadai and remains a specialty of Madurai 59 60 Diet Edit Traditionally Saurashtrians are vegetarian and those who are involved in priesthood activities adhere to strict vegetarianism Rice is their staple food along with sambar gojju amp amti rasam However nowadays some occasionally take non vegetarian food 61 Demographics EditSee also Ethnic groups of Tamil Nadu There are three group of Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu First migrants came to Salem and settled there second group of migrants settled in Thanjavur and its surrounding places and later third group of migrants settled in Madurai and its surrounding places Saurashtrians maintain a predominant presence in Madurai a city also known as Temple City in the southern part of Tamil Nadu Though official figures are hard to come by it is believed that the Saurashtrian population is anywhere between one fourth and one fifth of the city s total population They are present in significant numbers in Ambur Ammapettai Ammayappan Aranthangi Arni Ayyampettai Bhuvanagiri Chennai Dharasuram Dindigul Erode Kancheepuram Kanyakumari Karaikudi Kottar Krishnapuram Kumbakonam Namakkal Nilakottai Palani Palayamkottai Paramakudi Parambur Periyakulam Puducherry Pudukkottai Rajapalayam Ramanathapuram Rasipuram Salem Thanjavur Thirubhuvanam Thiruvaiyaru Thiruvarur Thuvarankurichi Tirunelveli Tiruvannamalai Illuppur Thiruvappur Trichy Vaniyambadi Veeravanallur Vellanguli Pudukkudi Kilakukulam Krishnapuram Vellore Walajahpettai in Tamil Nadu 4 They are also present in Trivandrum and Kochi in Kerala Bengaluru in Karnataka 4 Hyderabad in Telangana and Tirupati Vizianagaram Vijayawada Nellore Srikakulam Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh 4 are said to house several Saurashtrian families known as Pattusali 62 Language EditMain article Saurashtra language See also Saurashtra script The mother tongue of Saurashtrians is Saurashtra alternate names and spellings Sourashtra Sowrashtra Sourashtri Palkar a dialect of Gujarati with the amalgamation of present day Sanskrit Hindi Marathi Konkani Kannada Telugu amp Tamil but most of them are bilingual 14 and can speak either Tamil or Telugu or one of the local languages Saurashtra an offshoot of Sauraseni Prakrit 14 once spoken in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat is spoken today chiefly by the population of Saurashtrians settled in parts of Tamil Nadu 63 With the Saurashtrian language being the only Indo Aryan language employing a Dravidian script and is heavily influenced by the Dravidian languages such as Tamil Telugu and Kannada However Census of India places the language under Gujarati Genetics EditSee also Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia and Y DNA haplogroups in populations of South AsiaOrganisation EditThe prominent leaders among the community arose in the late 19th century and felt the need of organizing the community At first the Madurai Saurashtra Sabha was formed in the year 1895 and it was formally registered in the year 1900 with many objectives The formation of this Sabha was the first step towards social mobilization The Sabha s administration is carried out by elected Councillors and office bearers It has its own rules and regulations regarding holding of elections rights and duties of office bearers and celebration of social functions The election to the Sabha is held once in three years The social life of the Saurashtrians is controlled almost wholly by the Saurashtra Sabha This organisation is a committee of the leading men of the community which manages and controls all the schools and public institutions the temple and its worship and all political religious and social questions among the Saurashtrians The Saurashtra Madhya central Sabha which has its headquarters at Madurai now remains as the cultural center for all the Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu Many well to do merchants and philanthropists of the community have contributed substantially to the growth of these institutions Today the Saurashtrians are represented in white collar jobs and professions in large numbers 2 40 64 In 2009 Narendra Modi the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and the current and 14th Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Research Institute of Saurashtra Heritage and Immigration RISHI a project in association with Saurashtra University Rajkot 41 Politics EditIn the second decade of 20th century the Saurashtrians emerged as a dominant group in social and political life of Madras Presidency The Saurashtrians emerged as the dominant social group because of their collective mobilization intellectual leadership education wealth trade and enterprise There are several instances when the leaders of the community organised the weavers and made social and economic protests The well to do merchants of the community made donations to TNCC for Salt Satyagraha and welcomed any form of Swadeshi agitation which favoured Indian cloth 65 The leaders who came to lead the community were not always from the upper class L K Thulasiram who led the community in Madurai was not born into the aristocratic family With his own efforts he travelled abroad which brought prosperity to himself and to the community in general Thulasiram at first supported the non Brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu When he earned the displeasure of his community members who were fighting for Brahminical status he changed his mind and supported the cause of his own people 65 He got elected as Municipal Chairman in 1921 amidst a fierce contest During his tenure he brought many reforms within the community He introduced free mid day meal scheme in community owned school for the first time in the country which was later emulated by the Government of Tamil Nadu during the period of K Kamaraj in the name of noon meal scheme in Government schools 64 When he lost his hold in Municipal Council he became a prominent organizer of non cooperation movement Later he impressed the Congress Party and became the leader of the merchants In this capacity he strove hard to raise the prestige and position of his community 66 N M R Subbaraman another leader of the community financed and led the Civil Disobedience Movement In Madurai from 1930 to 1932 He worked for the advancement of the depressed classes He along with A Vaidyanatha Iyer organised a temple entry conference and helped the people of the depressed classes to enter Meenakshi Amman Temple He was involved in the Bhoodan movement and donated his 100 acres of land to the movement He contributed to establishing the first Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai 67 Later he expressed his dissatisfaction with Civil Disobedience He felt unhappy about the expenditure incurred on the agitational activities He mobilized his followers into Municipal politics with the help of Venkatamarama Iyer faction under the Congress banner 66 S R Radha former Minister and one of the founding members of the AIADMK who also led the community in Kumbakonam Thanjavur He was attracted to Periyar E V Ramasamy s rationalist ideas and was drawn to the Dravidian movement and later joined the DMK and subsequently the AIADMK He was one among those who signed the party document when AIADMK was launched in 1972 by M G Ramachandran after his expulsion from the DMK Mr Radha was first elected to the state assembly constituency of Kumbakonam later in 1983 he became a member of the Legislative Council When M G Ramachandran was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Subsequently In March 1985 he was appointed as Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK After the death of the AIADMK founder Mr Radha supported J Jayalalithaa s leadership of the party In recognition she appointed him Leader of the Opposition But the rise of Jayalalithaa s associate V K Sasikala and members of her family in the AIADMK made Radha s continuation in the party untenable and was later expelled from the AIADMK 68 69 70 Portrayal in popular media EditIn a 1967 Tamil mystery thriller movie Athey Kangal Bhaskar portrayed by Ravichandran the hero and his friend portrayed by Nagesh are found speaking Saurashtra in a famous song Pombala Oruthi Irundhalam 71 In a 2014 Tamil movie Naan Than Bala Vaishali portrayed by Shwetha Bandekar one of the main characters her father speaks Saurashtra thereby suggesting that she is from a Saurashtrian family 72 In another 2014 Tamil comedy gangster movie Jigarthanda Kayalvizhi portrayed by Lakshmi Menon the heroine and her mother portrayed by Ambika are found speaking in Saurashtra thereby suggesting that they are Saurashtrians 73 In a 2019 Tamil language drama film Kanne Kalaimaane Bharathi portrayed by Tamanna Bhatia the heroine speaks to her brother in Saurashtra thereby suggesting that she is a Saurashtrian 74 Notable people EditReligion Edit Venkataramana Bhagavathar 1781 1874 a direct disciple of Saint ThyagarajaCinema Edit T M Soundararajan 1924 2013 Tamil Playback singer 75 P V Narasimha Bharathi 1924 1978 Tamil film Actor 76 Kaka RadhaKrishnan 1925 2012 Veteran actor S C Krishnan 1929 1983 Tamil Playback singer M S Sundari Bai 1923 2006 Tamil film Actress Sumathi Tamil film Actress Prabhakar Tamil film Actor T K Ramachandran Tamil film Actor M N Rajam Tamil film Actress 76 A L Raghavan Tamil Playback singer 76 Vennira Aadai Nirmala Tamil film Actress 76 Seetha Tamil film Actress 76 Jagadeesh Kanna Tamil film ActorLiterature Edit Sankhu Ram 1907 1976 Saurashtrian poet translated the Tirukkural into Saurashtra M V Venkatram 1920 2000 Tamil writer Sahitya Akademi Award granted for his Kathukal Novel Politics Edit N M R Subbaraman 1905 1983 Tamil politician amp Freedom fighter S R Eradha 1934 2021 Tamil politician Former Minister amp Opposition Party Leader AIADMK S K Balakrishnan Tamil politician amp Former Mayor A G Subburaman Tamil politician amp Former MP A G S Ram Babu Tamil politician amp Former MP 77 Academics Edit T S Chandrasekar Awarded Padma Shri by the Govt of India Founder MedIndia Chennai K Amarnath Ramakrishna Superintending Archaeologist involved in Keezhadi ExcavationsEducational Institutions EditSourashtra College Madurai K L N College of Engineering Madurai Vaayusastra Aerospace IIT Madras Research park ChennaiTemples EditSri Kothanda Ramaswamy TempleSee also EditPattegar Pathare Prabhu Daivadnya Brahmin Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Thanjavur Marathi people Naramdev Brahmin Vadama Iyers PattusaliReferences Edit a b Vandhana M 14 April 2014 Madurai s Sourashtrians are a disappointed lot The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 19 February 2018 a b c d e f g M R Aravindan 17 March 2003 Where they have come to stay The Hindu Retrieved 7 September 2019 Shanmugam Kavitha 2014 Girls Don t Say AYAYYO Here Anymore www telegraphindia com Retrieved 2 September 2018 a b c d e Saurashtra Ethnologue Retrieved 20 February 2018 Mahadevan Raman 1984 Entrepreneurship and Business Communities in Colonial Madras 1900 1929 in D Tripathy Ed Business Communities of India Monohar Publications pp 210 225 Lucassen Jan Moor Tine De Zanden Jan Luiten van 2008 The Return of the Guilds Cambridge University Press p 115 ISBN 9780521737654 a b c d Jan Lucassen Leo Lucassen 27 March 2014 Globalising Migration History The Eurasian Experience 16th 21st Centuries BRILL pp 109 112 121 ISBN 9789004271364 a b c d e Ramaswamy Vijaya 5 July 2017 Migrations in Medieval and Early Colonial India Routledge pp 172 190 ISBN 9781351558242 a b Pereira Ignatius 18 December 2013 The mountain trails of a divine legend The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 7 January 2019 Kolappan B 7 January 2016 20 more keerthanas of Tyagaraja s disciple discovered The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 18 September 2018 a b c Saurashtrians The Genuine Aryans Part Three IndiaDivine org Retrieved 10 February 2018 The Hindu Entertainment Chennai Personality Illustrious disciple of saint poet www thehindu com 2005 Retrieved 16 April 2018 Suryanarayana M Reddy P Sudhakar Gangadharam V 2002 Indian Society Continuity Change and Development in Honour of Prof M Suryanarayana Commonwealth Publishers pp 93 95 99 ISBN 9788171696932 a b c Vannan Gokul 9 June 2016 Custodians safeguard Saurashtra language Deccan Chronicle Retrieved 22 March 2018 a b Arterburn Yvonne J 1982 The loom of interdependence silkweaving cooperatives in Kanchipuram Hindustan Pub Co pp 44 47 50 53 ISBN 9780391027497 a b Baby K Socio Economic Conditions of Saurashtras in Kanyakumari district rjisacjournal com Retrieved 26 December 2018 Minority front to field 8 candidates The Hindu 29 April 2009 ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 28 February 2018 a b Doshi Vidhi 31 May 2016 Indian film makers try to save vanishing language from extinction The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 9 June 2019 Singhji Virbhadra 1994 The Rajputs of Saurashtra Popular Prakashan p 29 ISBN 9788171545469 The Possibility of Developing an Oldest Language by T A Ramesh www boloji com Retrieved 27 January 2019 a b Singh Mahavir 2005 Home Away from Home Inland Movement of People in India Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies pp 105 106 ISBN 9788179750872 Sivarajah Padmini 2016 Believe it or not the Gujarati vote is key in Madurai South Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 9 March 2018 M Mhaiske Vinod K Patil Vinayak S Narkhede S 1 March 2016 Forest Tribology And Anthropology Scientific Publishers p 148 ISBN 9789386102089 a b c d e Joseph Ashish 2016 Meet three of Chennai s oldest communities from the north Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 27 March 2018 a b J Arockiaraj History woven into this silk lane Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 25 January 2019 a b c Sethuraman K R 1977 Tamilnatil Saurashtrar Muzhu Varalaru in Tamil Saurashtra Cultural Academy pp 10 15 Singh Kumar Suresh India Anthropological Survey of 2001 People of India Anthropological Survey of India p 1303 ISBN 9788185938882 Heredia Rudolf C Ratnagar Shereen 1 January 2003 Mobile and Marginalized Peoples Perspectives from the Past Manohar p 93 ISBN 9788173044977 a b Jensen Herman 2002 Madura Gazetteer Cosmo Publications pp 109 112 ISBN 9788170209690 Venkatesh M R 15 July 2019 How India s cultural pluralism is better seen by business leaders Deccan Chronicle Retrieved 22 July 2019 Clothey Fred W 2006 Ritualizing on the Boundaries Continuity and Innovation in the Tamil Diaspora Univ of South Carolina Press ISBN 9781570036477 Textile and silk trade have to be encouraged The Hindu 4 August 2019 ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 11 August 2019 Gujarat minister hails contribution of Sourashtrian Tamils The Times of India 4 August 2019 Retrieved 14 August 2019 Yadav J N Singh 1 October 1997 Yadavas Through the Ages Sharada Publishing House p 146 ISBN 9788185616032 J S Venkatavarma Sourashtra Charitra Sangraham Madura 1915 Tumbe Chinmay 20 July 2018 India Moving A History of Migration Penguin Random House India Private Limited ISBN 9789353051631 Dvivedula Anamtapadmanaabham 2005 Aaraamadraavida Vamsacharitra Arama Dravida Brahmins Mana Sanskriti www vepachedu org Retrieved 9 March 2018 Krishnan Lalithaa 28 April 2016 Like a cloud of steam The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 2 April 2018 Diep Francie 2013 How A Gene For Fair Skin Spread Across India Popular Science Retrieved 2 April 2018 a b c d e The Saurashtra Community in Madurai South India Albert James Saunders The American Journal of Sociology Vol 32 No 5 Mar 1927 pp 787 799 published by The University of Chicago Press a b Rohith S Mohammed 28 May 2014 Sourashtra community in celebration mode The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 22 March 2018 Srikumaran K 2005 Theerthayathra A Pilgrimage Through Various Temples Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan pp 125 126 ISBN 9788172763633 T K Ramesh The Unwritten History of the Saurashtrians of South India Boloji Retrieved 19 February 2018 a b c d e Randle H N 1949 The Saurashtrians of South India Madurai K V Padmanabha Iyer a b Gopalakrishnan M S 1966 A Brief Study of the Saurashtra Community in the Madras State Madras The Institute of Traditional Cultures Madras p 42 a b c d e f g h Dave Ishvarlal Ratilal 1976 The Saurashtrians in South India Their Language Literature and Culture Saurashtra University a b Mitra Debashish In search of Hegemony Comparative Case study of Brahmins of North And South India www researchgate net Retrieved 26 December 2018 a b c Thurston Edgar 1909 Castes and Tribes of Southern India Volume VI of VII Madras Government Press This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain a b Randle H N 1944 The Saurashtrians of South India Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 76 3 4 151 164 doi 10 1017 S0035869X00099020 ISSN 1356 1863 S2CID 162402332 a b The Illustrated Weekly of India Published for the proprietors Bennett Coleman amp Company Limited at the Times of India Press 1976 a b c d Ucida Norihiko 1979 Oral literature of the Saurashtrans Simant Publications India What Makes Sourashtra Weddings Unique in Their Own Ways India Post 28 May 2019 Retrieved 29 June 2019 a b Das Rajashree 3 May 2018 Forgotten foods of Tamizhagam The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 24 December 2018 10 Restaurants to Visit in Madurai and What to Order NDTV Food Retrieved 19 October 2018 The best meals to have in Madurai Conde Nast Traveller India 22 August 2018 Retrieved 19 October 2018 Taste of Kanchipuram at Coimbatore Retrieved 19 October 2018 TN Chef Makes Rasam Viral in US The Story of South India s Grand Old Dish The Better India 4 December 2020 Retrieved 8 April 2021 Celebrating the moon faced health food on World Idli Day OnManorama Retrieved 19 October 2018 Ghosh Madhusree 16 February 2019 Tried and tasted Food walks bring history alive in Dehradun Madurai Kolkata Hindustan Times Retrieved 14 June 2019 Tried and tasted The Navhind Times 29 February 2020 Retrieved 1 March 2020 Parmar Vijaysinh 2016 Gujaratis who settled in Madurai centuries ago brought with them a unique language Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 21 March 2018 People of India A G Volume 4 Oxford Univ Press 1998 p 3189 ISBN 9780195633542 Kolappan B 24 December 2016 Akademi award for TN writers who revived Sourashtra literature The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 8 March 2018 a b Kavitha S S 8 October 2007 Standing tall in all fronts The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 24 March 2018 a b Irschick Eugene F Studies University of California Berkeley Center for South and Southeast Asia 1969 Politics and Social Conflict in South India The Non Brahman Movement and Tamil Separatism 1916 1929 University of California Press pp 9 138 L K Tulsiram a b Backer C J 1976 The Politics of South India 1920 1937 New Delhi Vikas Publishing House pp 143 217 Throwing light on the life of Madurai Gandhi The Hindu 20 August 2006 ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 11 April 2018 Former Minister S R Radha dead The Hindu Special Correspondent 9 December 2020 ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 13 January 2021 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint others link MGR s close associate SR Eradha passes away at 87 The New Indian Express Retrieved 13 January 2021 Kolappan B 11 June 2018 When a politician said no to money The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 13 January 2021 Man who rocked Tamil pop yodelling into hearts Chennai News Times of India The Times of India 23 June 2020 Retrieved 21 January 2021 Rangan Baradwaj 14 June 2014 Naan Than Bala Friends with benedictions The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 29 September 2018 Jigarthanda Movie Review The Times of India 29 May 2016 Retrieved 4 October 2018 Making offbeat cinema is like cycling against the wind Seenu Ramasamy Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 1 June 2019 Dec 25 2019 Ist 4 21 Why non Tamil singers dominated Kollywood for more than 60 years Chennai News Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 8 January 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link a b c d e Saravanan T 30 November 2016 Linguistic confluence The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 15 April 2018 Weaving their way into Madurai Times of India The Times of India Retrieved 21 February 2018 Further reading EditChintaman Vinayak Vaidya 1924 History of Medieval Hindu India being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A D Oriental Book Supplying Agency Bulletin of the Institute of Traditional Cultures University of Madras 1967 p 71 K V Padmanabha Iyer 1942 A History of the Sourashtras in Southern India Sourashtra Literary Society Madras India Ganapathy Palanithurai R Thandavan 1998 Ethnic movement in transition ideology and culture in a changing society Kanishka Publishers Distributors p 34 ISBN 9788173912474 External links EditPalkar Community Sourashtra Madhya Sabha Karnataka United Sourashtra Organisation Sourashtra Time Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Saurashtra people amp oldid 1133597225, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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