Topic started by karthikdevan (@ sb.nic.in) on Thu Aug 22 09:46:22 .
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Na.mu.Venkatasamay Nattar says that the Piramalai Kallars moved from the chola country and settled in the Usilampatti and surrounding areas .It is said that they occupied the land belonging to Karkatha Vellalars and established the 'Kallar Nadugal' there.
Thurstan says that they originally were from kanchipuram and moved to Melur and then moved to Usilampatti.
Another theory prevalent is that they moved from Tirupathy(Thiru vengadam)...even before some 100 years the Usilampatti Kallars have names denoting the Thirupathy Vishnu like Thirumalai Pinna Thevar etc.Thirumaliruncholai is called 'Then Venkatam' and the God(Vishnu) is called "Kallazhagar".In the temple festival there, the Piramalai Kallars traditionally were having special rights.There are some folk songs being sung by Kallars which denotes that the 'Kallazhagar' was born in Thiruvengadam.
The Kallars had these "nadus":
1)Keezh Nadu
2)Vellalur Nadu
3)Mela Nadu
4)Sirugudi Nadu
5)Naduvi Nadu
6)Piranmalai Nadu
i)Thidiyan - God : Sonai Karuppu(Vishnu)
ii)Vaalanthur- God:Kalyana Karuppaswamy(Vishnu)
iii)Puthur -God:Kumara Gur Natha Swamy(MUrugan)&Meenakshi(Shakti)
iv)Karumathur -God: Brahma(virumandi),Vishnu(Mayandi),Rudra(Peyandi)& Kaliyuga Chidambareswarar.
v)Pappapatti- God: Ochchandamman(Parvati)
vi)Kokkulam-God:Ganapathy& Pekkamman,Ammachiyamman(Shakti)
vii)Veppanoothur-God:Pinnoor Iyer Puthur Malai Perumal Swami(Vishnu).
viii)Thummakundu-God:Ochchandamman(Parvati).
The Piramalai Nattu Kallars traditionally had the 'Kallar Panchayat' which used to meet in Karumathur Moonuswami Koil( the name is due to the Trinity present there.. the three Vedic Gods of Rudra,Vishnu&Brahma are in that temple..here the first 'maryadai' is for the Piramalai Kallars).
The Thidiyan Nadu's chief Thoonga Thevar assisted the Thirumalai Nayakkar in controlling the Valangai.vs.Idangai fight in Cholavandan near Madurai and due to this, he was given the title of "Padi Kappan" by the King at Madurai.Thoonga Thevar was having the right to collect Padi Kappan tax from the Valangaiyars.
Yusuf Khan tried controlling the Piramalai Kallars and its said that his army plundered the Kallar temples and destroyed Azhagapuri.In one day 500 Kallars were hanged.But lateron due to the resistance of Kallars , there was some understanding by which Kallars were given exemption from Tax(its not clear as to this is the 'Jizziya' tax usually levied by muslim rulers on non-muslims in their areas).
Lateron Britishers tried forcing the Piramalai Kallars to pay taxes which was resisted with violence by them.It is said that in 1755 Captain .Rumli killed 3000 Kallars on one single day.
In 1760 Rev. Peter Martin in a letter mentions that the Kallars captured Madurai for a brief period and administered the city.He also mentions that some Kallars had been converted as christians.Lateron these christian converts helped the Britishers(only a minority section among the christian kallars) in establishing their supremacy over the Piramalai Kallars , who were hitherto uncontrolled by any power for a long period and were rewarded with land grants by the Britishers.
Later on around 1915, the Britishers declared the Kallars as Criminal Tribes based on the CT ACT promulgated in 1911.There was heavy resistance and in a violent protest many Piramalai Nattu Kallars died.'Lavlock report' recommended the removal of Kallars as a caste from the purview of this CT Act.Lateron due to the efforts of Pasumpon Muthu Ramalinga Thevar, the CT Act was abolished in 1946.Till date the Piramalai Kallars worship MUthuramalinga Thevar for this deed.
One distinctive feature of the Piramalai Kallars is the 'Koil system' which acts as a 'gothra'....those who worship the same temple are considered as brothers & sisters..marriage is forbidden.
Often one can see a PK mentioning that he is related to Bharathiraja because he also worships the 'Karumathur Koil' ..... even the christian converts, visit their (Hindu) Temples during the festival seasons as its a social identity for them.
I request the hubbers to share any information they have come across on Piramalai Kallars as this will enhance our understanding about the social history of tamils since the Piramalai Kallars are having some customs which are very ancient and uncorrupted by the recent influences.
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