Sengunthar

Sengunthar - Kaikolar

The Sengunthar also called as Kaikolar, are a large Tamil and Telugu socially backward caste of weavers in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in southern India.

Origin

Their name comes from a mythical hero and from the words "kai" (hand) and "koi" (shuttle). 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 . They consider the different parts of the loom to represent various gods and sages. There are seventy-two subdivisions (nadu or desams).

Traditionally, one girl in every family was set apart to be dedicated to temple service and becomes a Devadasi (meaning female servant of god). In the temple, the girl is considered married to the temple deity, often the Hindu destroyer god Shiva but in practice becomes a prostitute, especially to the Brahmans and she learns traditional music and dancing.

Religion, Culture and Customs

Most of the Kaikolans practice the Hindu religion and are followers of the god Shiva and a few follow god Vishnu. They take part in the annual festival at Tirupati in honour of the goddess Gangamma. During the festival of Subramanya on Siva Samharam Day, they commemorate the legend of their origin and dress up to represent the nine heroes.

Other names

Kaikolar, Sengunthar, Karikalabhakthulu, Kaikali, Sengundam, Sangunther. Apparently there are a lot of tamil speaking sengunthars in Chittor district of AP.

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 distant they may be related.

citation needed

Ancestral origin and Gods/Goddesses of various Kootam/kulam

The ancestral origin and Gods/Goddesses of various kootams of Sengunthar are removed as there is no reference available.

Though there are various kootams of sengunthar originally 72, there are no longer any solid reference material available. So following wikipedia policy this is being removed.

citation needed

Associations

There are many associations for Sengunthars.

They are:

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

Sengunthar Mahajana Sangam.

Notable persons

Tiruppur Kumaran

CN Annadurai

EVKS Sampath? He belongs to EVR's family: EVR is Naicker.

P. S. Veerappa

Thillairajan

Vellaivaarananaar

Bharathidasan

Books

The warrior merchants : textiles, trade, and territory in South India by Mattison Mines