Vadama

Vadama, meaning "Northerners", are a sub-sect of the

Etymology

The term Vadama may have originated from the

• Vadadesa Vadama (Vadamas of the northern country)^[citation needed]
• Choladesa Vadama^{[3][page needed][4][page needed]} (Vadamas of the Chola country)^{[citation needed]}
• Sabhaiyar(member of the conference (Sabha))^{[citation needed]}
• Injee^{[citation needed]} and
• Thummagunta Dravida.^{[citation needed]}

History

Some historians hold that all Brahmins who migrated to the far-south during and after the age of the Gupta Emperors, came to be classified as Vadama.^{[5][page needed]}

Second millennium

14th and 15th centuries

Instability prevailed in Peninsular India in the aftermath of the defeat of the

Relative peace prevailed until the Battle of Talikota, in 1565, when Rama Raya of Vijayanagar was killed and the capital city razed to the ground. The land, in addition to being plundered by the combined armies of the Sultanates, came to be oppressed by renegade polygars and bandits whose rise commenced with the destruction of the central power.^[6] The Mogul invasion of Peninsular India and the depredations of the Deccan by the Mahrattas under Shivaji also began early in the 17th century.

The relatives and family members of

The crescent or U-mark applied with the Gopichandanam is mostly used as caste mark by the Vadamas

The Vadama traditionally claim to be superior to other classes of Iyers.^{[11][page needed]}

Vadamas have also significantly contributed towards popularizing and propagating the worship of Shiva and Devi.^[12][13]

Notables

Religion

• Tirumalai Nayak, respectively.^{[14][page needed][need quotation to verify}
  ]

• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: was also the Flag officer commanding for the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy during this war.^{[15][page needed}
  ]

• Syama Sastri, one of the doyens of Carnatic Music, a descendant of a group of Vadadesa Vadama who fled Conjeeveram in the wake of a Muslim attack.^{[16][page needed][17][page needed]}
• Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Carnatic musician^{[18][page needed][need quotation to verify}
  ]

• Gopalakrishna Bharathi, his father Ramaswami Bharathi and grandfather Kothandarama Bharathi, a family of eminent Carnatic musicians^{[19][page needed][20][page needed}
  ]
• F.G. Natesa Iyer (1880–1963), founder of Rasika Ranjana Sabha, Trichy, talent scout, officer of the South Indian Railway Company, pioneered modern Tamil drama, Tamil cinema actor, also elected Mayor of Trichy in the 1920s ^{[21][full citation needed}
  ]