Religion structure of the Gounders:
The Kongu Vellalars are followers of the (Dvaita) Saiva Siddhanta maargam of Hinduism. It is one of the oldest existing school of thought in Shaivism. A sizeable population seems to have taken followed the Samana faith (Jainism) (temples are found even today at Vijayamangalam, Jinapuram, Vellode, Perundurai, Palani, Aivarmalai and Poondurai). They were later brought back to Hindusim by the Siddhars (most of the Siddhars lived in Kongunadu).
The Kongu Vellalars follow the system of Kootam/Gotra keeping with
their Kshatriya tradition, in which persons from the same Kootam are
considered brothers and sisters and hence do not marry one another. Each
Kootam has its own Kulaguru (or popularly saamiar- a brahmin
- for example, the Kulaguru of Melkarai Poonthurai Nadu Kootam is Pasur
Akilanda Dikshitar), who is traditionally respected. Every Kootam also
has one or more Kuladeivams or a Clan Deities.[119]
Some of the different customs followed by the pious, observant Kongu Vellalar families are:
1) Ancient and Pre-historical Tamil vestiges (reverence for Tamil language, feeding the Tamil scholars, Puzhavars with milk and fruit mash, worship of demi-gods, etc.,)
2) Kshatriya vestiges (Gotra system, Annamar vazhipadu (hunter-warrior conflict), Kannimar Vazhipadu (sapta kanyas), Udankattaiyeral (sati) (banned and not in practice), Kuladeivam, Kulaguru, benovalence, marriage customs, holding the marriage ceremony in the bride's house, giving handicapped children to Modavandis thereby eliminating weak genes, etc.,), (eating before dark, white saree (vella seelai) for widows, preference for white dress, cooking meat outside the house, etc.,)[120]
Some of the different customs followed by the pious, observant Kongu Vellalar families are:
1) Ancient and Pre-historical Tamil vestiges (reverence for Tamil language, feeding the Tamil scholars, Puzhavars with milk and fruit mash, worship of demi-gods, etc.,)
2) Kshatriya vestiges (Gotra system, Annamar vazhipadu (hunter-warrior conflict), Kannimar Vazhipadu (sapta kanyas), Udankattaiyeral (sati) (banned and not in practice), Kuladeivam, Kulaguru, benovalence, marriage customs, holding the marriage ceremony in the bride's house, giving handicapped children to Modavandis thereby eliminating weak genes, etc.,), (eating before dark, white saree (vella seelai) for widows, preference for white dress, cooking meat outside the house, etc.,)[120]
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Ancient and Pre-historical Tamil vestiges (reverence for Tamil language, feeding the Tamil scholars, Puzhavars with milk and fruit mash, worship of demi-gods, etc.,)
KulaGuru tradition of Gounders
The Bhagavat purana attributes the foundation of the city(Dwarka) to Anrita, the brother of Ikshwaku, of the Solar Race
Source for slokas : Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.1.2-3
Yo ‘sau satyavrato nāma, rājarṣir draviḍeśvaraḥ
jñānaḿ yo ‘tīta-kalpānte, lebhe puruṣa-sevayā
sa vai vivasvataḥ putro, manur āsīd iti śrutam
tvattas tasya sutāḥ proktā, ikṣvāku-pramukhā
Translation:
That saintly king and ruler (king) of the Dravida Countries who was known by the name of Satyavrata, at the end of the last kalpa (before the Pralaya) .. received knowledge by service to The Purusha, he indeed was Vaivaswata Manu, the son of Vivaswan, his sons have been proclaimed as the kings, famous as the Ikshvakus.[121] The Gounders hold their Kulagurus equal and sometimes greater than God. The acharya of all Kongu Nadu Kulagurus as to all South Indians is the Sringeri Sharada Peetham.
Source for slokas : Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.1.2-3
Yo ‘sau satyavrato nāma, rājarṣir draviḍeśvaraḥ
jñānaḿ yo ‘tīta-kalpānte, lebhe puruṣa-sevayā
sa vai vivasvataḥ putro, manur āsīd iti śrutam
tvattas tasya sutāḥ proktā, ikṣvāku-pramukhā
Translation:
That saintly king and ruler (king) of the Dravida Countries who was known by the name of Satyavrata, at the end of the last kalpa (before the Pralaya) .. received knowledge by service to The Purusha, he indeed was Vaivaswata Manu, the son of Vivaswan, his sons have been proclaimed as the kings, famous as the Ikshvakus.[121] The Gounders hold their Kulagurus equal and sometimes greater than God. The acharya of all Kongu Nadu Kulagurus as to all South Indians is the Sringeri Sharada Peetham.
Agastya and the southern migration of the Veilr
The story of the southern migration of the Velir from Dvaraka under the leadership of Agastya is narrated by Naccinarkkiniyar in his commentary on Tolkappiyam (pa$yiram ; Porul|.34).According to this legend, the gods congregated on Mount Meru as a result of which the earth tilted, lowering Meru and raising the southern quarter. The gods thereupon decided that Agastya was the best person to remedy this situation and requested him to proceed to the South. Agastya agreed and, on his way, visited ‘Tuvarapati’ (Dvaraka) and led the descendants of netu-muti-annal (Visnu or Krisna) including ‘eighteen kings, eighteen families of the Velir and the Aruvalar’ to the south, where they settled down ‘clearing the forests and cultivating the land’. The sage himself finally settled down on the Potiyil hill. The fact of Agastya’s leadership of the Velir clan rules out the possibility that he was even in origin an Aryan sage. The Ventar-Velir-Velalar groups constituted the ruling and land-owning classes in the Tamil country since the beginning of recorded history and betray no trace whatever of an Indo-Aryan linguistic ancestry. The Tamil society had of course come under the religious and cultural influence of the north even before the beginning of the Can^kam Age, but had maintained its linguistic identity. As M. Raghavaiyangar (2004: 27), has pointed out veilr, means ‘one who performs a sacrifice’ (namely a ‘priest’). The Agastya legend itself can be re-interpreted as nonAryan and Dravidian even in origin and pertaining to the Indus Civilisation.
