Mulukanadu Brahmins
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| Mulukanadu | |
|---|---|
| Total population | 2006: (approx) 500,000[citation needed] |
| Regions with significant populations | Rayalaseema: XXXX Old Mysore:XXXX Tamil Nadu: XXXX |
| Language | Mother tongue is the 'Mulukanadu' dialect of Telugu, which is specific to the community.
Nearly every member of the community is proficient in either Kannada or Tamil, due to generations of domicile in Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, as the case may be. English education is pervasive in the community and used for professional purposes. Sanskrit is used for religious purposes. |
| Religion | Hinduism of the Smarta tradition. |
| Related ethnic groups | Brahmin
|
Mulukanadu Brahmins are a sub-sect of Telugu speaking Vaidiki Smartha Brahmins. Variations of the name of the community include Muluknadu, Mulukanadu, Mulakanadu, Moolakanadu and Mulikinadu (not listed in any order). Eminent members of the community have included the saint-composer Sri Thyagaraja, Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swami of Avadhoota Datta Peetham, the statesman and scientist Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah, the author Devudu Narasimha Sastry and Justice H V Nanjundaiah. All three Jagadguru Shankaracharyas of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham between 1879 and 1989 (the 33rd, 34th and 35th of that succession) hailed from the Mulukanadu community. The Tamil film actor Gemini Ganesan, as also his daughter, the actress Rekha, belong to this community.
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[edit] Etymology
The name Mulukanadu follows the usual conjoint formulation of similar Brahmin communities: the word Naadu means "country" in all the south Indian languages; this is suffixed to the country whence the community hails, being in this case "Muluka". Thus, Muluka+Naadu=Mulukanadu, "people of the Muluka land." Ironically, the geographic specifications of the 'Muluka' country are unknown and it is not possible, at this point, to identify with certainty the area of origin of this community. The issue is taken up in the succeeding section.
[edit] Provenance
Telugu language is the mother-tongue of all members of this community. Apart from relatively large population of this community in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, the Mulakanadu sub-sect is also domiciled in huge numbers in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Indeed, the community tends to define itself in terms of being expatriate from Andhra Pradesh.
A community of people have been referred to in various texts as the "Moolakas" but no definite inference of their origin or domicile can be drawn. It is known that a central portion of the present-day state of Maharashtra, being the district of Aurangabad and surrounding areas, was once known as the "Mulaka" land[1]. This region lay to the north of the Godavari river, west of Vidarbha and south of the 'Rishika' country, now called Khandesh. This region, and its capital city of Pratishthana (modern Paithan), is mentioned extensively in Pali literature. However, no memory whatsoever of association with the Marathi country currently abides in the Mulakanadu community.
[edit] Language amongst the Kannada, Tamil domiciled Population
Adherence to the Telugu language is still common in the community, which however has developed a distinct dialect of its own, one that features numerous loan-words from Tamil and Kannada, and a remarkable paucity, in comparison with standard Telugu, of loan words from Urdu. However, there are many differences between this dialect and standard Telugu that cannot be explained by the influence of other languages; one is led to speculate upon whether the community preserves features of a dialect of Telugu that was once common in some region of the Telugu country, and which is now forgotten in that area, while being preserved by the expatriate Mulukanadu community. The dialect spoken by the community is one of great anthropological significance, since it is a language defined by community rather than geography. This dialect has not received the attention it deserves from the scientific community; indeed, even the name Mulukanadu Telugu has not received recognition, although it differs significantly from standard Telugu.
Usage of the dialect is somewhat on the decline, since the community is of late required to speak not only the language of the area of residence (Tamil, Kannada) but also the English and Hindi languages.
Recent decades have witnessed the gradual erosion of the hold of tradition across India. The incidence of wedding alliances being arranged, even in orthodox Smartha brahmin families, in defiance of traditional norms that precluded marriage outside the specific sub-caste, are on the rise. Such weddings all too often result in the abandonment of the Mulukanadu Telugu dialect in favour of the language of the spouse. The relatively small size of the Mulukanadu community; its tendency, given its expatriate background, of settling in urban areas; and the fact that it resides largely outside the Telugu-speaking country, have all united to render the Mulukanadu community perhaps more than ordinarily susceptible to this phenomenon. This is certainly another reason for decline in usage of the Mulukanadu Telugu dialect.
Sanskrit is used by the Vedic scholars as well as laymen of this community for religious reasons, e.g., chanting Vedas, performing rituals and studying theological and philosophical texts of the Smarta tradition.
[edit] Culture
The Mulukanadu community has always placed a strong emphasis on education. It was among the communities that earliest embraced English education and graduated from traditional vocations to the modern professions. Consequently, it has always been strongly represented in administration, academia, the judiciary, the government services and in the modern professions, such as medicine and engineering. The same emphasis on education has contributed in recent years to a large scale emigration of well-educated youngsters to the west, where they have contributed richly to many nascent fields, such as computer engineering, information technology and specialized medicine. The community has tended to eschew commercial pursuits.
It is a fact little known outside the community that Sri Thyagaraja belonged to a Mulukanadu brahmin family. From Sri Thyagaraja to the litterateur Devudu Narasimha Sastry, the Mulukanadu community has regularly produced many eminent personages who may, without exaggeration, be termed cultural reference points.
[edit] Theology
The Muluknadu community has produced some great vedic scholars. Indeed, three of the last four Jagadgurus (Pontiffs) of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham have hailed from the community:
- Abhinava Vidyatirtha, 35th Jagadguru of Sringeri
- Chandrashekhara Bharati III, 34th Jagadguru of Sringeri
- Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Narasimha Bharathi, 33th Jagadguru of Sringeri
[edit] Carnatic Music
The community's contribution to Carnatic music has been phenomenal. A body known as the Mulukanadu Sabha released a souvenir in 1947 to mark the centenary of the demise of Sri Thyagaraja. That publication listed some of the prominent Carnatic musicians who hailed from the Mulukanadu community. The list includes:
- Giriraja Kavi (the grandfather of Sri Tyagaraja)
- Melattur Arunachalaiah
- Karur Devudu Brothers
- Sadhu Ganapathi Sastrulu
- Pallavi Gopalayya
- Pratapam Gopalakrishnan
- Tanjore Govindaswami Bhagavatar
- Paidala Gurumoorthy Sastry
- CS Krishnaswamiah (Patnam's disciple)
- Guddi Krishnaiah
- Tallagalli Krishnaiah
- Kavi Matrubhootayya
- Sutram Nayarana Sastrulu
- Swaragath Narayanaswamaiah
- Kalidas Narayanaswamaiah
- Tiruvayyaru Panchapakesaiah
- Puducheri Rangaswamy Iyer
- Moovanur Sabhapatayya
- Pallavi Seshayya
- KN Srikantaiah (Papa's father)
- Manambucchavadi Venkatasubbaiyya
- Swarakadu Venkatasubbayyah
If that was a list of past musical greats of the past, the souvenir goes on to cover more recent day musicians from this community. The list includes:
- Karur Chinnaswamiah
- Pratapam Natesayyah
- Papa Venkataramaiah
- Alathur Venkatesa Iyer [2]
- T. K. Jayarama Iyer
- Sivasubramania Iyer
- Madurai Subramanya Iyer
- Manjari Narayan
- Prof. Mysore V. Ramarathnam
This is the contribution of this "unsung" community to the world of Carnatic music. Its contribution to other fields of human excellence is no doubt on a similar scale.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
Sastry, Dr. T.V. Venkatachala (2000). Mulakanadu Brahmanaru (in Kannada). Bangalore, India: Mulakanadu Mahasangha.
