Havyaka Brahmins

Havyaka Brahmin

Sri Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swami
Regions with significant populations
Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala
Languages
Mother tongue is Havyaka Kannada or Havigannada, a dialect of Kannada, Kannada
Religion
Hinduism Divisions based on sect: Smarthas Divisions based on Veda: Rigvedi Yajurvedi

Havyaka Brahmins (Template:Lang-kn) are a Hindu Brahmin subsect primarily from the Indian state of Karnataka and Northern Kerala. Havyakas mostly profess the advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankaracharya. Most Havyakas can trace their immediate ancestry to either Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada or Shivamogga districts of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala.

Etymology

The word Havyaka was transcended from words Havyaga or Haveega which means the one who performs Havana (Havya) and Homa (Gavya), since the very purpose of Havyaka Brahmins was to perform the royal rituals and the related functions of the empirical government. In ancient times the region of today's Uttara Kannada between Konkan in the north & Tuluva in the south was known by the name of Haiva. This could be the possible source of the term 'Haiga' as Havyakas are also referred to. In fact, the name "Haiga" persists in Havyaka lexicon.

The word Havyaka might also be derived from the place named Haigunda. That region of Karnataka which has been inhabited by Havyakas from ancient times is also called Parashuramakshethra, Gorastradesha, Gokarnamandala.

Origin of Havyakas

Exact facts about Havyaka's origin are hard to come by since there is very little research available. Historically, it is believed that Havyakas are the first of the Brahmin kind to descend to the present day Karnataka around 3rd century ACE, followed by other sects like Shivalli, Smartha etc., who arrived much later, around 7th century ACE. However, the scientific school of thought places the date of Havyaka's immigration back to about 1300 years ago. The Brahmin king Mayooravarma was instrumental in bringing the first Havyaka families. It is believed that Kadambas brought many Havyakas in to perform the royal rituals and the related functions of the empirical government from a place called Ahichchathra in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Thus the first few families were settled in Banavasi, the capital of the Kadambas and the place adored by Pampa. King Mayooravarma's act of inviting Havyakas to Banavasi has been inscribed on a stone slab (Shilashasana) from the period of the Kadambas, which now lies near the village of Varadahalli in Sagar Taluk of Shimoga district.

Havyakas today

Havyakas today are the followers of either Ramachandrapura Math or Swarnavalli Mutt and are guided by advaita philosophy of Shankaracharya. Havyakas derive their last names from the jobs that they perform rather than by their origin. Till recently Havyakas were primarily engaged in vedic professions like priests or they were in agriculture especially growing betel nut, paddy, banana, coconut etc. A few decades back they also started entering into all other vocations like business, education, employment etc. During Indian freedom struggle, Havyaka community played a prominent part. Men and women took leading role in Salt Satyagraha and No-Tax Campaign. Dodmane Hegdes of Siddapur had an important role in freedom movement at all stages.

Geographic distribution

Havyakas are mainly concentrated in the state of Karnataka. Dakshina Kannada,Udupi,Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Kodagu Districts in Karnataka and Kasarogod in Kerala are the districts where Havyakas have lived for centuries. They are now spread all over India, especially in metropolitan cities of Mumbai, New Delhi and other industrial and business centres. Havyakas are also in large numbers in countries like United States of America, United Kingdom and other places outside India.

Population

Population of Havyakas all around the world is estimated to be more than 6,00,000.

Language

The Havyakas are united by their unique language. They speak a dialect of Kannada known as Havigannada (Havyaka+Kannada). It is 60-70% similar to mainstream Kannada but draws more words from ancient Kannada. However, most mainstream Kannada speakers find it difficult to understand Havyaka Kannada. The Havyaka dialect is supposed to be quite old. Its origins, like many other things in India, are shrouded in mystery. Notably certain Havigannada speakers, uses neutral gender in place of feminine gender while addressing females. But Havyaks in certain part of Karnataka, like Kundapur, Thirthahalli, Kodagu do not speak Havigannada. Havyakas love Yakshagana. Their contribution to Yakshagana literature is immense.

Caste

Havyakas are the subsect of Brahmin caste of Hinduism, followers of Sri Adi Shankaracharya's Advaitha.

Havyaka festivals

Havyakas celebrate almost all festivals celebrated in Hinduism based on the region they settled.

Art, literature and culture

As Havyakas gained population in Karnataka they became influential in politics and also cultivated fine arts. The Yakshagana folk theatre has been exclusively developed by Havyakas. Music, dance and writing came very attractive to Havyakas. Karki Yakshagana group which toured Maharashtra in the mid-19th century has the credit of inspiring Marathi theatre. In 1842, Karki Mela (group) performed before the Rajasaheb of Sangli (Maharashtra State), who encouraged court artists to learn from the group acting and singing. This laid basis for Marathi Professional theatre.

The first social play in Kannada was written by Suri Venkataramana Shastri in 1887. The play titled Iggappa Hegade Vivaha Prahasana deals with child marriage and evils of incompatibility. There have been a good number of writers, singers, teachers, doctors, industrialists, scientists, engineers and executives from Havyaka community.

A good number of youngsters have taken up Hindustani classical music and Karnataka classical music.

Havyaka food

Havyakas are pure vegetarians (probably 'Lacto-vegetarian' is the exact name). Havyaka recipe consists of some unique food items like "Tellavu" "Todedevu", "Melara", "Odappe","kocheegayi gojju","Holige","AppehuLi", korskayi gojju, korskayi tambli, ThambLi", Halasinakayi huLi (very famous in kalache-yellapur region of Uttarakannada district) etc. hagalkai hashi, kai gojju, kai rasaa, karkli, KaDle Gojju (famous in sagar prantya), famous Soppina TambLI-Swarle-kudi, Honegone soppu, Vidangada soppu, Vasange soppu, Yelurge soppu, Kanchi-soppu, ChoGte-soppu. KaLale-palya, Huli, Sasame made of mango , Kannekudi katne.Many items prepared by jackfruit even sweet pappads,101 types of 'ThambLi's and variety 'chatni pudi's,Sendige,Happala which can preserve for a long time. They are experts in preparing "Halva" of Banana, "Berati" of Jackfruit. Havyakas have a unique food system which contains medicinal values as well as delicious taste. Some of the food items includes wiled leaves, roots/herbs, barks of the trees which are directly obtained from the nature and processed fresh and consumed. By the end of the each meal, one is assured of protection from the nature itself. This was possible because most Havyakas lived in the villages where abundant sources were available around them.

Havyaka Gotra

• Vasishta
• Angeerasa
• Baradhwaja
• Goutama
• Jamadagni
• Kashyapa
• Vishwamitra
• Bhargava/Mounabharghava

Prominent members

• K.V. Subbanna - Playwright and writer. Recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award.
• Ramakrishna Hegde - Former chief minister of Karnataka and former union Minister, Former Deputy Chairman of Planning commission during the 10th Plan.
• K.V. Akshara - Playwright and writer.
• Narayan Hosmane, Distinguished Research Professor, two-times Humboldt Award winner and 2007 Lifetime Achievement Pravasi Award and Bharath Samman Medal from NRI Institute, Film Producer of Raghu Romeo (Rajat Kapoor's Direction), Ramya Chaitra Kala (Sunil Kumar Desai's Direction), Meera Madhava Raghava (T.N. Seetharam's Direction), MukhapuTa (Roopa Iyer's Direction) and e-Preethi (Priyabharathi's Direction).
• Doddamane Mahadevi Hegde or Mahadevi Tai - Noted social worker, Sarvodaya movement leader, freedom fighter
• Ganesh Hegde, choreographer
• K. S. Hegde, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1977-80)
• Vishal Hegde, Kannada film actor
• P.Gopalakrishna (Pa. Go), Journalist and Columnist from Mangalore.Pa.Go was instrumental for having Yakshagana in Dasara Festivities as regular feature by taking the coastal Yakshagana to Mysore Dasara in the Year 1955.
• Adyanadka Krishna Bhat, Retired professor of Physics in Vijaya College, Mulki (DK). He is the first person to publish a magazine in Kannada exclusively for popularizing the science. The magazine 'Vignana Loka' originally published as quarterly magazine was his brain child. He is the national award winner in the year 1996 for popularizing science.

External links

• Ramachandrapura Mata
• Official Havyaka site
• Information about HavyakaSagara group
• Official Havyaka Association of Americas site
• Havyaka Recipe
• Information about Yakshagana
• Roots of Havyaka Brahmins
• Some more Havyaka information
• Kuntikan Mata