Vettuva Gounder

Vettuva Gounders are two related castes in the Other Backward Class and Denotified Community or Konga-thali section. They are said to have been called in from Poddapi Nadu in Rayalaseema to quell the Kalabhra rebellion in Chera Nadu at the request of the Chera King. This was the era of Thirugnanasambandar.
The minority section fall in the caste numbers 232 and 252 of the see List of denotified communities of Tamil Nadu They were settled around the Karur region after the era of Sundaramoorthi Nayanar.
Later during the Chola era, under their head Pattakaran Kali of Thalaiyur, the Siru-thali section unsuccessfully fought the Chola incursions into Kongu Nadu under the repatriate Kongu Vellalar barons Ponnar Shankar.
The Perun-thali section worships Ponnar Shankar as their Kula Deivam at Nadandai, Vadamugam Vellode and Elumathur in shared temples with Kongu Vellalars. The Siru-thali section is said to abhor the worship and foster animosities with ballad singers who sing such ballads. M.Karunanidhi's Ponnar Shankar further portrayed the entire Vettuva Gounders as rivals of the Kongu Vellalars which was due to his ignorance as an outsider and his party's political stance. The film had to face legal hurdles before release.
posed at the behest of their Kulaguru Umapathi Desikar, an Adi Saiva, describes both the migrations in detail.
Appichimar
Sixty newly wed adolescent warriors hailing from the Vettuva Gounder caste of Pillaikaraiattur of Valavandi Nadu in Namakkal sacrificed their lives for their friends and allies, the Kongu Vellala Nattars of Pundurai Nadu, in their war with the Vettuva Gounder tyrant, Pothi Pattakarar of Puvaniya Nadu, Taramangalam. The border war happened in Alathur, Komarapalayam. Their brides died in Sati with them at Kappara Malai nearby. Two Muslim brothers, sons of a lady Masari also perished in the war. The heroes are deified at various places called Appichimar Madams, the famous ones being at Thingalur, Singanallur and Tidumal. While the sixty Vettuvans are vegetarian deities, the Muslim heroes are offered separate animal sacrifices. They are deified as a Kula Deivam by the Kongu Vellala Gounder Nattars of Pundurai Nadu and Perun-Thali section of the Vettuva Gounders alike. The ancient ballad Appichimar Kaviyam is about them.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu