It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with sengunthar. (Discuss)

Sengunthar or Kaikolan or Kaikolar are a large Tamil socially backward caste Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Sengunthar - Kaikolar Sengunthar or Kaikolan or Kaikolar are a large Tamil and Telugu socially backward caste[1][2] of weavers in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh in southern India. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Kaikolan. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Kaikolan. ... Languages Tamil Religions Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism Related ethnic groups Dravidian people Brahui people Kannadigas Malayalis Tamils Telugus Tuluvas Gonds The Tamil people are an ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ...

Origin

The Kaikolars also called as Sengunthar, are a large Tamil socially backward caste^[1][2] of weavers in the state of Tamil Nadu, in southern India. Their name comes from a mythical hero and from the words "kai" (hand) and "koi" (shuttle). They consider the different parts of the loom to represent various gods and sages. Languages Tamil Religions Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism Related ethnic groups Dravidian people Brahui people Kannadigas Malayalis Tamils Telugus Tuluvas Gonds The Tamil people are an ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent with a recorded history going back more than two millennia. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ...

They are also known as Sengundar, which means a red dagger, which is traced to the legend of the earth being harassed by demons, which led to the people asking the god Shiva to help them. He was furious with the demonic giants and sent six sparks from his eyes. Parvati, his wife became frightened and retired to her chamber but dropped nine beads from her anklets. Shiva converted those beads into nine women, each giving birth to a hero, complete with moustache and daggers. These nine led by Subramanya, with a large army destroyed the demons. Kaikolans or Sengundar claim descent from one of the nine heroes. There are seventy-two subdivisions (nadu or desams).These legends were created at a time when the weaver community had lost its social status and the formuale were efforts at self-glorification^[3].

The research articles clearly define Kaikolars as the Sengunthar-Kaikolars of the terinja-Kaikolar Padai of the Chola empire. There is absolutely no question of ambiguity regarding their identity.

Community Legends and festivals

The Sura Samhara festival is a ritual tradition practised by the Kaikolars to sustain the myth of the divine origin of the weavers with the intention of exalting their caste in the face of actual social inferiority^[3]. According to the mythology of weaver community, the Kaikolars weavers were born out of nine gems that were scattered from Parvati's anklet. At the Sura Samhara festival, they dress up as the nine warriors of Virabahu, the lieutenant of Lord Karthikeya and enact the killing of the demon Narakasura^[3]. These legends were created at a time when the weaver community had lost its social status and the formuale were efforts at self-glorification^[3].

Gods/Goddesses

Kaikolars are predominantly Shaivites. They possess a Clan God as most of the castes in Tamil Nadu. Mostly, it is some form of Amman i.e Parvati or Murugan. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Kaikolan. ... Saivite: of Saivism; belonging to Saivism, the Hindu denomination that worships God Siva as the Supreme God. ... For other meanings, see Amman (disambiguation) and Ammann. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Muruga (also Murugan) (Tamil: ) is perhaps the most popular Hindu deity amongst Tamils of Tamil Nadu state in India, Sri Lanka and in the Tamil diaspora. ...

Kootam/kulam

Kootam defines birth from a single male ancestor. Kootam is transferred patrilineally i.e., via the father of a person. Hence people belonging to the same kootam are considered brothers and sisters. So marriage between a male and female belonging to the same kootam is prohibited however distantly they may be related.

Historically there were 72 kootams in Kaikolan. Each kootam had a leader. The head leader in Kanchipuram was the head for all these leaders. This was used to manage disputes within the community.

Nowadays, the kootams have merged into one another and there is no well defined leader for each kootam. It is used only for setting up marriage alliances.

A list of Kootam has been removed from this section awaiting authentication by accurate reference material.

Historical Personalities

Ottakoothar was a court poet of three Chola kings namely Vikrama Chola. Kulotunga-II and Rajaraja II. He wrote poems in praise of these three kings namely Vikrama Cholan Ula, Kulothunga Cholan Ula and Rajarajan Ula. Ottakoothar had also written Kulothungan Pillai Tamil in praise of Chola king Kulothunga II and Saraswathy Andhadhi in praise of Saraswathi the Goddess of learning. Sekizhar the minister of chola dynasty wrote periyapuranam his native is kundrathur near chennai kambar who wrote ramayana in tamil he is also from chola empire kamban veetu kattu tharium kavipadum

Culture and Customs

The culture and customs of the Kaikolans is similar to most Tamil. However there are differences in customs between the various kootams of Sengunthar. The significant difference is that some Sengunthars are more kootam conservative than other Sengunthar groups when it comes to marriage partners.

Associations

There are many associations for Sengunthars.

They are:

Socio Economic Service Society (SES) in Nungambakkam - Chennai.

Sengunthar Mahajana Sangam.

Tiruppur Kumaran Tiruppur Kumaran (1904 - 1932) was a Indian revolutionary, who participated in the Indian independence movement. ...

CN Annadurai C.N.Annadurai (1909 to 1969), popularly called Anna (which means elder brother in Tamil language) was the first non Congress Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India. ...

EVKS Sampath? He belongs to EVR's family

P. S. Veerappa

Thillairajan

Vellaivaarananaar

Bharathidasan Bharathidasan (April 29, 1891 - April 1, 1964; also spelt Bharatidasan) was a twentieth century Tamil poet and rationalist whose literary works handled mostly socio-political issues. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.tn.gov.in/bcmbcmw/bclist.htm
2. ^ http://ncbc.nic.in/backward-classes/ap.html
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Weaver Folk Traditions as a Source of History, Vijaya Ramaswamy, Indian Economic & Social History Review, Vol. 19, No. 1, 47-62 (1982), http://ier.sagepub.com/cgi/content/citation/19/1/47?ck=nck, register here for free->http://www.sagepublications.com/sjofreeaccess/