Ashtagrama Iyer

The Ashtagrama Iyers are a group of Vadama Iyers or South Indian Brahmins with their roots in the Ashtagrama villages situated in the Kolar district of Karnataka.

History

The history of this community is not clearly known, but it is believed that in the early 17th century 8 Brahmins presented themselves in the court of Balaji Baji Rao II, Pradhan, Pune and were, at the time, gifted 8 villages by him. These Brahmins are believed to come from areas such as Trichy, North Arcot and the Tanjavur districts of Tamil Nadu. These Brahmins soon transformed this land from a once poor community, into a well-educated and prosperous one.

Ashtagrama

Ashtagrama (literally,'eight villages') now consists of more than the original 8 villages. The 10 villages, which are located in the Valley of the Palar River, which flows through the Kolar district into Tamil Nadu. These 10 villages are on the North side of the river are Cholagunte, Doddiganahalli, Devarayasamudra, Gangigunte, Honnagaanahalli, Kothamangala, Minijenahalli, Thattangunte, Vijalapura and Yelagundanahalli. The remainder of the villages, Aralakunte, Chamarahalli, Gangapura, Hunkunda and Shillangeri are on the southern side of the river. Though the Iyers form the majority of the population all these villages show communal diversity.

Within the business community, Ashtagram Iyers have been present in all walks of life and are integrated into the fabric of present-day Karnataka. Many have migrated abroad to places such as the United States and United Kingdom where they connect with each other as a community. They have also been known to be entrepreneurial and have invested in such things as restaurants, many of them scattered across southern Karnataka.

Major population of Ashtagram Iyers thrive in the Kolar district as well as Bangalore. Their language is handed down through word of mouth and is a combination of Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and even part of Malaylam on occasion due to the relationships with Palakkad Iyers through marriage. Depending on the make up of the family, each family will identify themselved more with being either Tamilian, Kannadiga or Andhrite, though all three are valid due to the diverse nature of the community. A book by the Honorable (late) Shri. Y.M.C.Sharma of Jayanagar, Bangalore was published in both Kannada and English detailing the known history of this community titled "Kolar Iyers".

Customs and beliefs

Most of the customs of the Ashtagrama Iyers remain the same as that of their Iyer counterparts elsewhere but some of them are derived from the Brahmin customs of Karnataka. Most Iyers follow both the solar calendar of Tamil Nadu and the lunar calendar of Karnataka. For example, the lunar tithis are followed for celebrating festivals while the solar day is taken into account for Shraddh or death ceremonies. Similarly, on 14/15 January both Sankranthi and Pongal are celebrated.

Ashtagrama Iyers worship both Lord Shiva and Lord Mahavishnu, celebrating all Hindu festivals.

Language

Ashtagrama Iyers have a good knowledge of Kannada, Tamil and sometimes Telugu (Kolar being on the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border). Also a dialect of Tamil is spoken which varies significantly from the way the other Iyers speak.

Not necessarily all Ashtagrama Iyers speak Tamil. Kannada and English are now the predominant languages of the new generation and many have no knowledge of Tamil.

Some examples are:

Pure Tamil	How Ashtagrama Iyers say it	How other Iyers say it	How other Tamils say it	English Meaning
Varugireergala?	Vareengla?	Varela?	Vareengala?	Are you coming?
Pogireergala?	Poreengla?	Porela?	Poreengala?	Are you going?
Engal veetil, Engal Agathil	Enga ullale	Enga athilae	Enga veetla	In our house
Yengai?	oonga?	Yengai?	Yengai?	where?
Engey poreer	Oonga pora	Engey porel	Engey poringo	Where are you going?
Sirithu Nazhigai	Konchu Pod	Setha Nazhi	Konja Neram	For some time

List of famous Ashtagrama Iyers

• V. S. Krishna Iyer, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. Member of Lok Sabha from Bangalore South (1984–1989)
• Padmashree Dr. T. S. Satyan, world-renowned photographer
• Bhaga Sathya Narayana,
• Shatavadhani Ganesh, a renowned scholar and winner of President Gold Medal for contribution to Sanskrit
• Soundarya (1971–2004), South Indian film actress.
• Y.V.Ramachandran (2 December 1907 to 23 August 1973), He was a freedom fighter and participated in many satyagraha's during freedom struggle.
• Prof. Y.M.L. Sharma, Former Chief Conservator of Forests for Karnataka. Founder of present-day Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore South.
• Sri K.S. Sachhidananda murthy, Resident editor of popular periodical "The WEEK".
• Sri K.V. Iyer was a world renowned Scholar and was a Masseur to His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore.
• Sri Y.M.C Sharma, Retd. District and Sessions Judge; Family court counsellor
• Sri Regret Iyer, Freelance journalist and Proprietor of Regret Iyer Publications, Bangalore
• Sri Minijenahalli Jayaram Iyer, Advocate (7 June 1920 - 20 March 2013)
• Sri V N Vishwanathan, Advocate
• Sri D. Venkataramanan, Forest Officer and great painter. His painting of Dr. Rajkumar has been displayed at Rajkumar's fan's association.
• Sri Kolar Krishna Iyer writer

External links

• http://www.ashtagrama.com
• http://kolariyers.com/index.htm
• Prof K V Iyer, information on legendary Prof. K V Iyer