Kongu Paramparyam

The history of the Kongu Vellala Gounder caste is one of the most obscure region

The history of the Kongu Vellala Gounder caste is one of the most obscure along with the history of the Kongunadu region itself.

The Gounders have been credited by many as unique among the other caste groups of the region and southern India as a whole.

The Kongu Vellala Gounders are appreciated for their varied qualities like untiring hard work, objective nature, high moderation, honesty, humanitarian spirit, commitment, philanthropy, strong bonding, innovative mind and reliability. They have been instrumental in the welfare of the Kongunadu zone, which is predominantly rain fed but belts with a cooler tropical plateau climate.

Gounder is the name of the headman in a system of decentralised panchayat administration used with various regional variations by distinct castes groups.

The root word is derived from Gavunda (கவுண்ட). This system of village administration gained political approval during the rule of the indigenous Ganga dynasty.

The posts of the village headmen or the county headman (Oour Gavundar and Nattu Gavundar respectively) were usually assumed by the warrior-agrarian Vellalar clans of the Kongu Nadu region belonging to the ruling house Gangakulam itself. In the earlier similair Velan, Kizhan system during the Sangam period

The Gangas are said to have originated in Ayodhya, belonging to the same Suriyavamsa, Ikshvakukulam as Raman but of the Gangakulam as Ramar belongs to the Raghukulam.

The Gounders follow the system of Gotram, popularly called Kootam in which persons from the same Kootam do not marry one another as they are considered to have descended from the same ancestor.

Each Kootam has its own Kulaguru (or popularly saamiar- a brahmin) for example, the kulaguru of periyan kootam is  Srila Sri Soundrakandha Jadadhara Parameswara Panditha Guru of Thirukorrai Thiruvoor Aatheenam in Lakvanaikanpatti (Near Velakovil), who is traditionally respected.

Every Kootam also has one or more Kuladeivams or a Clan Deities.