Mudumbai

Mudumba, Mudumbai, Mudumbi, Mudumby, Mudumbye, Mudumbe, Mudumbaiyer, Mudumbaiyar, also called Mudumbai Chakravarthi's or Mudumbaiyers, are, by heritage, a sub-sect of South Indian Brahmins known as Sri Vaishnavas or Iyengars.^[1] Their mother tongue is typically Telugu, Tamil or, infrequently, Kannada. There have spread all over South India, mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, some even to Karnataka. In the past 100 years, many have migrated abroad from India to United States, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. There are many well-known persons with the surname Mudumbai/Mudumbi/Mudumby in various fields, mostly in scientific disciplines such as mathematics, medicine and computer science. One such person is an eminent mathematician Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan, widely known as M. S. Narasimhan.

History

Progenitors of Mudumbai people are Mudumbai Nambi (முடும்பை நம்பி) and Mudumbai Ammal (முடும்பை அம்மாள்) from the early 12th century A.D, ordained by Sri Ramanujacharya (Ramanuja) as one mudhali (முதலி)(Simhasanadhipathi) among 74 Iyengars, to guard and propagate Sri Vaishnava's philosophy, the Visishta Advaitam.^[2] All Mudumbais having common paternal heritage, belong to the gotram Sri Vatsa, though not all persons belonging to Srivatsa are Mudumbais. Of Mudumbais, there are both vadakalai (வடகலை-Northern) and thenkalai (தென்கலை-Southern).

The ordainment by Sri Ramanajucharya took place in Madhurantakam, Tamil Nadu. It has been suggested that Mannargudi (மன்னார்குடி) is the origin of the Mudumbaiyars. The Mudumbai village is thought to be near Kanchipuram (திருக்கச்சி (காஞ்ஜீபுரம்)) in Tamil Nadu. It is believed that Mudumbais spread to Tanjore (தஞ்சாவூர்) and then on to the Ramanathapuram (இராமநாதபுரம்) area. As with all Iyengars, Mudumbais have acquired the language inherent to the region in which they have settled. Being that Madhurantakam was a region in which both Tamil and Telugu learning were present, these languages were highly retained by the descendants. For example, many Mudumbais of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka recite the Tiruppavai daily, some even being able to retain reading ability of Tamil all the while maintaining exceptional proficiency of Telugu and Kannada.

In addition to the surnames Mudumbai, Mudumbi, Mudumby, in modern times, some Mudumbais have settled abroad in India with the general Iyengar surname Chari, Chary, Charyulu or Acharya.

References