Vatul.net :: Vatul

What is Vatula Gothram?

Little is published about the people and practises of the South Indian society I hail from, i.e. Tamil Hindu Brahmin Iyers. My hope is to provide some background and documentation on this impressive community, and in a small way, to bestow some respect on the foreparents of whom I have heard numerous enchanting stories. For instilling in me this value for family and culture, I credit my mother and grandmothers.

Despite the futuristic nature of VatulNet, it also serves as a knowledge repository of the past. Knowledge of culture, customs, trends and drivers of the past help us understand our journey thus far, and serve as a foundation for reaching upwards and outwards.

Start research sequence ...

Scientific Classification

For the sake of thoroughness and perspective, let us not forget that we are Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Homininae Homo sapiens sapiens

The Question of Race

Race is a tricky subject. Aside from fitting conveniently into the pigeonholes of human taxonomy, I see no advantage to conceptualizing race as subspecies simply because we cannot scientifically quantify racial intermingling through the millenia. In addition, Indians are a difficult bunch to classify; we can recognize one another most of the time, but don't really look like each other at all. The same can be said for Americans or any emergent mixed population. As pertains to this exercise, let it suffice that we are South Asian from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, which entails a mixture of Aryan (northern) and Dravidan (southern) characteristics.

Iyer

"Iyer is the name given to a community of Brahmins (members of the priestly class / caste) of India whose members migrated from the Northern part of India to settle in Tamil Nadu. Iyers are therefore Tamil Brahmins. Though Iyer is used as a suffix to names, it does not strictly constitute a family name." See here for the rest of this fairly accurate description of Iyer. Iyers are primarily Siva worshippers. Our counterparts who venerate Vishnu are referred to as Iyengar. Vatul Iyers and Iyengars are further subdivided into clans known as gothra, which serve as lines of descent - to discourage inbreeding, marriage between members of the same gothram is strictly forbidden. Vatula was a rishi (sage) who gave his name to one such gothram.

As Mr. Lakshmi Narasimhan Madhavan informs, "[Vatula] gothram is prevalent both in Iyers and Iyengars." This may be explained by the presence of Bhargava, a Vaishnava rishi in our abhivaadaye (formal introduction to elders and at temple). The three main rishis of Vatula Gotram are Bhargava, Vaitahavya and Saavedasa. Mr. Madhavan continues, "Bhargava refers to the lineage of Bhrigu Maharishi, the foster father of Goddess Lakshmi worshipped as Bhargavi."

Still rather tenuous to me is the connection between Vatula and the three rishis. As for Vatula himself, he was reportedly prone to great distraction, which some ascribe to deep, consciousness-expanding meditation. A possible meaning of Vatul from Banglapedia.

Genealogy

I now own a scanner, have interviewed both grandmothers several times, purchased Family Tree Maker and continue to fill in the blanks with incoming details. That counts for something, right?