The Protectors Of Land, People And Honour Of Kongu Region-the Gounders

By Author: Raja Babu
Total Articles: 17
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Gounders are one of the thriving communities in South India having their roots in the Sangam age. They flourished under the suzerainty of Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers, the Kongu Veliers dominated the Tamil kingdoms as valiant chieftains and royal patrons. From the time immemorial the Kongu veliers have also been the rulers of their respective areas. The last seven patrons known as Kadaiyelu Vallals were actually Kongu Veliers. Adiyaman Neduman Anji was one such Velier who was known for his selfless donation of an elixir fruit to the Tamil Poet Avvayar evidencing his love and respect for Tamil language. After the extinction of three ruling clan the system of decentralized Panchayat administration emerged in Tamil Nadu, where the Gounders became the Village Headman community.

When it comes to matrimony, the Gounder community exhibits the peculiarities like: The marriage function spans for 3 days like Brahmin marriages, there’s the absence of officiating priest and the marriage is usually conducted by Arumaikaarar- A respected elder of the community, this custom speaks volume about the Gounder community’s depth of ...
... rationality and self civilized lifestyle. The nuances of Gounder marriage was elaborated by the medieval poet Kavichakravarthi Kambar in his acclaimed work Kongu Mangala Vazhthu. Gounders as a community were appreciated for their courteous and respectful behaviours and also for their noticeable quality of simplicity, politeness, and sincerity in their manners and customs. Their straight forwardness and the quality of up keeping their promises have earned them the title “Satya-putras”, - Sons of Truth.
Gounder community is broadly classified into two namely Nattu Gounder a sub-sect of the Sendalai Gounders who are from the Pattagar gotras and Vellala Gounder belonging to agrarian sub-sect. There have been 36 titled royal families of the Kongu region, known as the Pattakarars.

The western belt of Tamil Nadu is known as Kongu Nadu which comprises the districts like Coimbatore, Gobichettipalayam, Pollachi, Tirupur, Erode, Thiruchengode, Namakkal, Karur, Kallakurichi, Palani and western parts of Tiruchirapalli.

Many Gounder community members took part in active freedom struggle and many have laid their lives too. To name a few there was Maaveran Dheeran Chinnamalai and his brothers who fought valorous battles against the British imperialism. And there was Sri Periyanna Vaenadudeyar who ran a parallel government in the Kongu Nadu against the colonial British rule in India. The Kongu region flourishes mainly due to the flourishing sectors like Agriculture, Textiles, Poultry, Automobiles and more.

Gounder community is next only to Brahmin community in terms of access to the modern education, free spiritedness and geographical spread. They have not only proved their mettle in India but have also out reached in various countries abroad.

Marriage customs of Gounder community is very elaborate and peculiar. They are a conservative community where the inter caste marriage is not welcomed and also they less practice the cross cousin marriages which is prevalent among the other communities. Gounders give immense importance to bride / groom family’s state of affairs, the house, the land, quality of living, status and other such things to take the proposal to the next stages of the marriage. Gounder matrimony sports a unique tradition unlike other Hindu, Christian and Muslim matrimony, where instead of bride / groom’s family members, an appointment ‘Kudimagan’ –the inviter, invites attendees for the marriage. Even today some families follow this custom.

To add more possibilities to Gounder matrimony, exclusive Gounder matrimony websites have made their presence to help the marriageable Gounder youths to find their special someone -the best match anywhere in the world through World Wide Web. These exclusive websites make the life partner search among the community members easy and effective, they even offer free service to the deserving and low income group spouse seekers. The stringent validation procedures and the efficient usage of technological advancements assure for authenticity and quick response to make the magical moment to happen.