- Halenadu Karnataka Brahmin
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Halenadu Karnataka Brahmin
ಹಳೆನಾಡು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು/ಮೂಗೂರು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರುRegions with significant populations Southern districts of Karnataka Languages Religion - Divisions based on sect:
- Smarthas
- Divisions based on Veda:
Related ethnic groups Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins (HKBs) (Kannada: ಹಳೆನಾಡು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು) are a sect of Kannada speaking Smartha Brahmins and follow Advaita Vedanta propounded by Adi Shankaracharya. They are also known as Moogoor (Mugur, Mooguru) Karnataka Brahmins (Kannada: ಮೂಗೂರು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು). HKBs are essentially Rig Vedic brahmins and are known to follow Dharmaśāstra extensively in their life.
Contents
Etymology
The term Halenadu Karnataka comes from two words Halenadu meaning old region and Karnataka which obviously refers to the state of Karnataka. Both these words refer to the regions. Historically brahmins, especially Smartha Brahmins in Karnataka are divided on regional lines. Hence most of the Smartha Brahmin communities in Karnataka are also recognized by their region. For example Hoysala Karnataka Brahmins mainly concentrated in regions ruled by Hoysala kings, Badaganadu Brahmins orginating from Northern part of South Karnataka, Sirinadu Brahmins concentrated in Tumkur District. Going by this system of naming Smartha Brahmin communities it can be concluded that Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins belong to Halenadu region in Karnataka. The general consensus of scholars is that Halenadu refers to Mysore region conmprising of Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar of modern Karnataka state. Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins are also concentrated in this region. Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins are also known as Muguru Karnatka Brahmins. Muguru is a village in T.Narasipura taluk of Mysore district. Once upon a time T.Narasipura and its surrounding areas were the center of political activities.
However there are some arguments against the above conclusion. The main reason is the name "Halenadu Karnataka" is of fairly recent in origin. Halenadu Karnataka is the name by which Sringeri Mutt recognizes the community though Muguru Karnataka is also equally known. Sringeri Mutt records show these names from 18th century onwards. So, many people conclude "Halenadu" signifies that HKBs are one of the first brahmin communities to come into existence in Karnataka.
Origin of Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins
Scholars are split in their opinion on the origin of Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins. But general consensus is that Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins originated in Karnataka and mostly natives of Karnataka from the beginning or at least well settled in Karnatka since very long period. One can see word "Karnataka" suffixed to name of community in almost all records in the history which refers to the community makes it pretty conclusive that the community belongs to Karnataka.(Halenadu Karnatakas are one of the two brahmin communities to use this word as part of community name till date; the other being Hoysala Karnataka Brahmins)
There are two theories of origin which are known.
Southern Origin Theory
According to this theory Muguru Karnataka/Halenadu Karnatakas originated in South Karnataka comprisng of Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar of modern Karnataka state. Some people identify the region to include northern part of Tamil Nadu which was ruled by Pandyas of Madurai in their peak period. Many HKB families have settled in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu indicates this. There is also a belief that Halenadu Karnatakas were in the court of Pandya kings. However, no concrete evidence is available so far to confirm this.
The biggest argument which supports this theory is that almost all Halenadu Karnatakas were settled in South Karnataka including Hassan district in the beginning of 19th century. The other supporting argument in favour of this theory is that historically HKB/MKBs occupied prominent positions in the court of kings and regional chieftains in South Karnatka. HKB/MKBs were backbone of the administration and occupied various official and quasi-judicial positions in the kingdom of these regional chieftains including Wodeyars of Mysore. Normally only local Brahmin communities were appointed by kings/chieftains to do this work because the local chieftains and kings used to trust only local Brahmin communities who have lived there for centuries. Since almost all villages in Halenadu region had MKBs/HKBs as administrators, accountants etc it is very likely that Halenadu Karnatakas are the natives of South Karnataka. This view is strongly supported by Tagaduru Ramachandra Rao, veteran freedom fighter and prominent leader of community in his book on the MKB community.
There is one interesting incident in history which show some light on the origin and elevation in the status MKBs in society in medievel period.
During the rule of Mysore Wodeyars in the 17th century, the brahmins in the court of then Mysore King had a scholarly debate. One group of 64 brahmin scholars lost the debate. These 64 brahmin scholars wanted to regain their prestige in the court after the loss. So, they went in search of a vedic scholar. There was a scholar by the name of Jagannatha Acharya who was well versed in vedas and also believed to have intutive powers. The '64 brahmins' learnt vedashastras under Jagannatha Acharya for several years and became scholars. After returning to Mysore, they invited other brahmins who had won against them for another debate in the court. This time 64 brahmins could win the debate on vedashastras. The king was pleased after their victory and granted many gifts, positions and other facilities for these 64 brahmins. As a result this group of 64 brahmins elevated in the status and occupied key positions in the administration and also they were identified separately as Muguru Karnataka Brahmins/Halenadu Karnataka brahmins. Interestingly, the name of MKB/HKBs do not occur in any records or epigraphs till 18th century. The records in Sringeri Mutt and Mysore Gazetteer of British mention the name of MKBs only from 18th or early 19th century onwards. It is not clear whether MKBs were known as MKBs before 17th century or it was the name given to '64 brahmin scholars' after they demonstrated their knowledge in the royal court.
North Karnataka Origin
Some community members believe that they were earlier residents of northern Karnataka and migrated towards South Karnataka after the fall of Vijayanagar empire. They support their arguments by referring to Kuladevatas of their families which are located in north Karnataka. But there is not much support to this theory as only a small percentage of Halenadu Karnatakas worship deities located in north Karnataka as Kuladevathas. However, it is likely that when Vijayanagara kingdom was at its peak many MKBs were spread across north Karnataka and later migrated towards South Karnataka.
Geographical Distribution
Majority of the Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins reside in the southern districts of Karnataka - Chamrajanagar, Mysore, Mandya, and Bangalore, though Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins have moved to different parts of India and abroad. Some HKB families are settled in Hassan district of Karnataka and Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. HKBs speak Kannada as their mother tongue. HKBs settled in Tamil Nadu speak Tamil but their mother tongue continues to be Kannada.
There are some evidences to suggest that Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins were spread across much broader geographic area earlier including north Karnataka. However today most of the HKBs are concentrated in South Karnataka. The collapse of Vijayanagara empire could be the reason for many Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins from other areas to settle down in South Karnataka. The brahmin families that settled South of River Kaveri, in and around the place Mugur are called Mugur Karnataka brahmins. Those who settled North of River Kaveri, in a place called Sosale are called Sosale Karnataka brahmins.
Geographical Location of Mugur, Karnataka.
Population
It is difficult to ascertain the population of MKBs as even caste based census is not conducted in India let alone sub castewise census. However, based on the community organizations and census conducted by British, it can be estimated at 30,000 to 35,000. (According to British census records in the middle of 19th century the number of MKBs were rounghly around 7500 to 8000 with 5/6th of them living in Mysore, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts)
Occupation
Historically Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins occupied high positions during the rule of Vijayanagara kings and later during the rule of Wodeyars of Mysore. They were also involved in the administration of Pandya kings of Madurai. Apart from the administration, sizeable number of HKBs had agricultural land. Today most of HKBs have migrated to cities like Mysore, Bangalore and Mumbai. As a result agriculture is not the main profession.
One special aspect about HKBs is that almost all of them pursue secular professions like teaching, accounting, law, engineering or medicine. Though there are quite a few number of HKBs who are performing priestly activities, these are mainly to cater to the need of vedic rituals within the community.
Faith
HKBs worship The One Universal God in many aspects and forms as per the tradition of Advaita. The presiding deity of Moogur is Lalita Tripura Sundari. Some of the Kula Devatas (Kuldevta) are
- Sapthamathruka (chowdeswari), Kamarawadi, Chamarajanagar District(1 branch temple at Vijayanagar, Mysore)
- Srikanteswara (Nanjangud Nanjundeswara)
- Badami Banashankari - worshipped mainly by families belonging to Srivatsa gotra
- Hulaganamaradi Venkataramanaswamy (deity worshipped as Venkateshwara, Srinivasa)
- Biligiri Rangaswamy (deity worshipped as Venkateshwara, Srinivasa and Ranganatha)
- Talakadu Vaidyanatheshwara & Parvathi Devi
- Mudukuthore Mallikarjuna & Bhramaramba Devi
- Kandegala Parvathi Devi and Ishwara
- Himavad Gopalaswami (Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta)
- Haralukote Anjaneya Swami
- Venu Gopala swami
- Tirupati Venkateshwara Swami
- Sowmya keshva, Belur, Hassan
Gotra
Gotra indicates the Rishi or sage who was the patrilineal forebearer. HKBs follow the Brahmin gotra system and affiliation of a brahmana consists (1) gotra, (2) pravaras (3) sutra (Kalpa) and (4) shakha.
Gotras of HKBs are as below.
- Atri - Atreya
- Bharadwaja
- Kashyapa
- Srivatsa
- Kaundinya
- Kaushika
Marriages within the same Gotra (Sagotra) is not prescribed.
Surnames
Common surnames include Rao, Atreya, Prasad, Sharma, Shastri, Pandit, Murthy, Kashyap, Bharadwaj.
Community Links
a) You may wish to join the google group: http://groups.google.com/group/moogur. Email: moogur@googlegroups.com.
b) For folks with account in social networking site Orkut, there is a Moogur Karnataka Brahmins community.
c) Moogur Karnataka Brahmana Sangha (MKBS) in Mysore (Sharadaniketana).
d) Pragna Pratishtana, Hanumanthanagar, Bangalore. Contact: Shri V.K.Ramanna. Every year many functions and events are organized including Rig Vedic Upakarma, Ganesh Chaturthi. Pragna Pratishtana is also one of the best managed schools where students learn both Vedas and formal education. It provides accommodation and boarding facilities for the brahmacharis from different parts of Karnataka during their school education.
Noted Halenadu Karnataka Brahmins
- "Mysore Gandhi" Tagaduru Ramachandra Rao - Founded the Khaddar Sahakara Sangha in 1925 and called the "Father of Political Unrest" in princely Mysore. Ramachandra Rao was arrested for opposing the visit of the Simon Commission to India in 1928 and became the first political prisoner in Mysore State.
- Gundu Rao - ex-CM of Karnataka
- Kumar Malavalli - Founder of Brocade Communications (www.brocade.com).
- E. S. Venkataramiah - Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from 19-June-1989 to 17-December-1989.
- Nataraj V Kote - Hotel & Conference Centre Waterfront Plaza (Clarion Hotel) Indianapolis, USA, also Joint Treasurer of AKKA
- S. A. Ramdas - Minister for Higher Education, Karnataka State and MLA from Krishnaraja constituency, Mysore
- T.V.Shrinivasa Murthy - Former Member of Legislative Council (MLC), Karnataka State
- C.S. Vishwanath - Founder of Torsteel Research Foundation, Bangalore
- S.V. Jayasheela Rao - Former Chief Reporter of Prajavani and Founder-Editor of Munjaane
- Shri Sheshanarayana - veteran Kannada novelist, Winner of many literary awards
- H.S. Subba Rao - Famous storywriter and scriptwriter in Kannada film industry who has written stories/scripts for movies like Bandhana, Onti Salaga etc.
- Dinesh Gundu Rao - Congress MLA from Gandhinagar and son of Late Gundu Rao
- Murali M V - Noted Architect and Consultant, MURALI & RAO, Jayanagar, Bangalore
- S. Srivatsa, Leading Businessman and Social worker, Jayanagar, Bangalore
- Shankaranarayana, Social Worker, Vidyaranyapuram, Mysore
Feel free to add more noted halenadu karnatakans you know.
Categories:- Social groups of Karnataka
- Kannada Brahmins
- Karnataka society
- Divisions based on sect:
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