Shivalli Brahmins
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[edit] Shivalli
Shivalli is a place near Udupi, which was known much earlier to setting of Sri Krishna Temple at Udupi and Udupi itself. Shivalli in fact is a village near Udupi towards Manipal. Manipal before coming under Udupi municipality was coming under Shivalli grama (village) panchayat.
Shivalli takes its name from the Tulu construction Shiva-Halli meaning the town of Shiva. Legend has it that Shivalli has an origin in the old Sanskrit name Shivaroopya (where roopya is silver, or bolli in Tulu). In later years, it came to be known as Shivabolli, Shibbolli, Shivolli, and the present name, Shivalli. Another legend is that Udupi has two shiva temples near to krishna matha, probably name is derived because of shiva 's halli meaning shiva 's village. Shivahalli might have got corrupted to shivalli. Even today all swamiji's of ashtamatha's first enter Chandramouleshwara temple and then Ananteshwara temple before entering Krishna Matha on auspicious occasions.
[edit] Shivalli Madhva Brahmins
The brahmins who follow Dwaita philosophy founded by Vaishanva saint Sri Madhvacharya ( Poornaprajna or Anandathirta) of Udupi are known as Shivalli Madhwa Brahmins . Not all follow Madhva's philosophy. Other Shivalli Brahmins follow Advaita philosophy and are known as Shivalli Smarta Brahmins. The name might have been given because to distinguish from other Madhva brahmins or to indicate their origins in and around shivalli. Shivalli brahmins speak Tulu language that is slightly different from the Tulu spoken from other communities. The shivali brahmin (brahmana ) community has now spread all over the world. Shivalli brahmins are pioneers of world famous "Udupi hotels" concept. They started Udupi hotels, vegetarian restaurants serving typical south Indian dishes and foods like idli, vada, dosa, shira and upma etc. This concept of hospitality is now copied by others all over the world. Shivalli brahmins have unique style of serving and eating meals. The meal is served on plantain ( banana ) leaf kept on ground, where all dishes are served in a particular place, fashion, and sequence and eaten by hand..The meal is wholesome and nutricious consisting of pulses, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins which are essential for human body.
[edit] Rituals and Customs of Shivalli Brahmins
Shivalli Brahmins males have to undergo Brahmoupadesham ( Upanayana in Tulu ). It is a ceremony where young boys are put sacred thread across left shoulder. Three threads are put when boy is unmarried. After marriage, he has to put six threads made from pure cotton. He has to perform japa or sandyavandana daily.
There are no equivalent ceremonies for Shivalli Brahmin girls. In fact, although North Indian Brahmin women take part significantly in the ritualistic process of Hinduism, Shivali Brahmin women have no important role in these ceremonies. They have no religious education, and no rite of passage into adult society other than the rather dubious role in a marriage arranged by their parents. The reasons for the marked difference between women's role in Brahmin culture amongst other groups (which is quite limited in itself) and the Shivali Brahmins has been a source of much debate. It is currently thought that the lowly role amongst the latter was due to an attempt at maintaining line purity by the first Shivali Brahmin men who migrated to the South and married local (non-Brahmin) fisher women.
Shivalli Madhwa Brahmins also follow Upakarma ceremony where sacred thread ( yajnopavita or janivara ) is changed and mudradarana is done. Mudradarana is ritual where signs of Lord Vishnu's symbols ( Mudra ) like counch ( Shanka ), chakra ( wheel ) are itched on bodies. This is done by placing hot metal moulds of these symbols mainly on hand, stomach ( perhaps a form of vaccination ).
Present day marriages of Shivalli Madhva brahmins are three day affair ,sometimes becoming one day due to fast pace of today's life. In three day affair,the process of marriage starts with Naandi ( literally meaning strart ).During Naandi, which takes place in groom's and bride homes separately at a particular time of that particular day, Ceremony is done where bride and groom are applied coconut oil and turmeric and bathed in hot water followed by other puja.Marriage ( Madimae in Tulu ) takes place at common agreed place may be temple,hall,auditorium followed by lunch. All cermonies are held as per horoscopes of bride and groom at a particular time called muhurtha.Generally nextday after marriage, A ceremony is held called Bigara authana( Some sort of reception cermony) at groom's place preceeded by Satyanarayana puja. The Shivalli Madhwa brahmin have ritual from birth to death at every stages of life. Many of the customs, traditions and rituals followed by Shivalli Madhva Brahmins have scientific reasons to it. Extensive research must be done to unweil reasons behind them.
Shivalli brahmins are famous not only as priests and cooks , but also Engineers, scientists,teachers, bankers, doctors and administrators.
[edit] Gotra's of Shivalli Madhva Brahmins
Every shivalli brahmins belong to a particular gotra.Gotra can be roughly said to be a clan. The gotra are names of great sages or rishi's of Hindu religon.Hence gotra indicates to sage to which a brahmin belongs to. Marriage is not allowed between bride and groom if both belong to same gotra ( Sagotra in Tulu ).This might be to avoid same blood group marriage , as it is believed in old days ,people of same gotra belong to same family.Gotra's in Tulu brahmins are as follows;Bhargava,Jamadagni, Vishwamitra ,Bhardwaja,Vashista,Aangirasa, Kashyapa and Haritsa.
[edit] Surnames of Shivalli Brahmins
(This list is incomplete. There are nearly 500 surnames)
- Acharya or Achar
- Adiga
- Aggithaya
- Aithal/Ithal
- Ballal
- Barvathaya
- Bhat
- Hebbar
- Kakarnayar
- Kakkillaya
- Kalluraya
- Kedilaya, Saralaya and surnames ending with letters "aya".
- Kodancha
- Kudrethaya/Kudhrethaya/kudrathaya
- Moodillaya
- Nidwannaya
- Pejathaya
- Rao
- Samaga
- Sharma
- Shastri
- Sheppillayar
- Tantri
- Udupa
- Yadapadithaya
[edit] Restricted items of food
Shivalli Madhwa Brahmins are not expected to eat following vegetables and fruits and of course nonvegetarian .Today these restrictions are mostly followed in Ashta matha's and some temples of South Canara.These vegetables and friuts are not considered to be origin of Parshurama kshetra.
- Tomato * Onion * Garlic * Potato ( Sweet potato or kelang is okay )
- Papaya * Brinjal ( Matti Gulla is okay )
- French beans ( Cluster Beans or Alasande is okay )
- Carrot * Beet root * Pine apple * Radish * Cabbage * Cauliflower
[edit] Famous Shivalli Madhwa Brahmins
- Bannanje Govindacharya Sanskrit scholar
- Dr U.R.Rao Former ISRO Chairman
- U.R.Bhat Financial consultant and business columnist
- Dr.Bhaskarananda Kumar
- Dr.K.M.Hebbar
- Dr.B.R.Samaga
- Dr.B.S.Samaga
- K.V.Irniraya Retd IAS
- Suresh Kalmadi MP from Pune
- Dr.V.S.Acharya ,Minister of Medical Education in Government of Karnataka.
- K.Raghupathi Bhat , MLA from Udupi
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Also see gazateers of 1894 and 1938 of South Canara districts.
