Are paraiyars brahmins

Answer 1

Paraiyars, in village side, are called as cousins of Brahmins. That's because, before the fall of Cholas (1300s), there were two established segments of societies - Buddhists (Paraiyars or preachers / god men), and Hindus, where Brahmins were the preachers / god men. There were recorded wars between Hindus and Buddhists, each winning many a times till Cholas ensured a total annihilation of Buddhism in India (Cholas captured the lands of Buddhists - Karnataka, Oriya, Ganges, Maldives, Ceylon, Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia : where Buddhism was the primary/ruling religion. In India, Cholas ensured return of Hinduism, though at times, few kings, tried bringing peace between two communities). The wars lasted 1000s of years, and there were so many agreements arrived. In Tanjore, some Brahmins agreed to worship Buddhist Temples in evening and are still called as Madhiyana Paraiyar. Similarly, in Chidambaram, a Buddhist (Paraiyar) was honoured every year during its pompous Chola sponsored annual celebrations, which is continuing till date. A sect in Paraiyars were not eating non-vegetarian food and were strictly observing the rituals like Brahmins (Thiruvalluvar wrote in his Kural on the importance of Vegetarianism). Otherwise, Paraiyars are Dravidians (Dravidians worshipped only their ancestors and Lord Shiva, his wife Parvati, their son Muruga etc are the actual ancestors of Paraiyars i.e. Adi Dravidians) who spread Buddhism all over the world and the Brahmins are the Aryans who did the same. As they carried similar mission they are till now called as Cousins.