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Tamil Brahmins, are Tamil-speaking Brahmins primarily living in Tamil Nadu, although a few of them have settled in other states like, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. They can be broadly divided into three religious groups, Gurukkals who follow Saivism, Iyers who follow the Srauta and Smartha tradition and Iyengars who follow Sri Vaishnavism.

Groups

A Tamil Brahmin marriage ceremony

Tamil Brahmins are divided into three groups -- Iyers, Iyengars and Gurukkal. Iyers form the majority of the Tamil Brahmin population and are Smarthas, while Iyengars are Vaishnavas and Gurukkals are Saivas.

Iyer

Iyers are Srauta-Smartha Brahmins, most of whom follow the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara. Advaita Vedanta has been in existence from way before Adi Sankara. In fact, Vedanta refers to itself as Anadi, meaning without beginning^[1][2] and are concentrated mainly along the Cauvery Delta districts of Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur^{[citation needed]} and Tiruchirapalli where they form almost 10% of the total population. However the largest population reside in Nagercoil, making up to 13% of the city's population^[3][4][5] They are also found in significant numbers in Chennai,^[6]Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Palakkad and Trivandrum.^[7]

Iyengar

Iyengars follow the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Sri Vikanasa or Sri Ramanujacharya. They are divided into two sub-sects: Vadakalai (Northern branch) and Thenkalai (Southern branch). Most of them are devout worshippers of Lord Vishnu.

Gurukkal

The sect of Sivāchārya or Gurukkal form the hereditary priesthood or in the Siva and Sakthi temples in Tamil Nadu. They are Saivites and adhere to the philosophy of Shaiva Siddhanta. They are well versed in Vedas, Agama Sasthras and follow the Agamic rituals of these temples. Because of these cultural differences, intermarriages with other Tamil Brahmanas are rare even to this date. Gurukkals are sub-divided into Tiruvalangad, Conjeevaram and Thirukkazhukunram.

Notable people

• 
  Subramania Bharati, Tamil poet


• 
  Ramana Maharshi, sage


• 
  V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, Independence activist


• 
  Srinivasa Ramanujan, mathematician


• 
  Akshay Venkatesh, fields medallist, mathematician


• 
  Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), political administrator


• 
  Raghuram Rajan, economist and central banker^[8]
  


• 
  Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google^[9]
  


• 
  Indra Nooyi, CEO and chairwoman of PepsiCo^[10]
  


• 
  Sri Srinivasan, American jurist^[11]
  


• 
  Supreeth Shankarghal, Hedge Fund Manager


• 
  Viswanathan Anand, chess grandmaster and world champion^[12]
  


• 
  Vasundhara Das, Tamil film actress and playback singer


• 
  V.S. Ramachandran, neurologist and neuropsychologist^[13]
  


• 
  S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and Abel Prize laureate^[14]
  


• 
  CV Raman, Nobel Prize Physics winner^[15]
  


• 
  Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize Chemistry winner


• 
  Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Nobel Prize Physics winner


• 
  Janaki Ramachandran, first female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu


• 
  Jayalalithaa, second female Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu


• 
  K. Srikkanth, opening batsman, former Indian captain


• 
  Ravichandran Ashwin off-spinner, cricketer


• 
  G.N.Ramachandran, professor of biophysics, discoverer of collagen structure


• 
  R. Venkataraman, former President of India


• 
  K. Balachandar, dramatist, director of Tamil films, Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner


• 
  Gemini Ganesan, Tamil film actor


• 
  Kamal Haasan, Tamil and Hindi film actor


• 
  T. R. Mahalingam, Tamil film actor, singer


• 
  Mani Ratnam, Tamil film director


• 
  S. Balachander, film director, actor


• 
  Trisha Krishnan, Tamil film actress


• 
  Vidya Balan, Bollywood actress


• 
  Janani Iyer, Tamil film actress


• 
  Mahalakshmi Iyer, singer


• 
  Poornima Jayaram, Tamil film actress


• 
  Adah Sharma, actress

• 
  Hariharan, Playback singer

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahmins.