{{Short description|Hindu caste of South India}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2019}} {{protection padlock|small=yes}} {{Infobox caste | image = | caption = | poptime = | populated_states = [[Karnataka]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Kerala]], [[Odisha]] | languages = [[Kannada]], Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu, Konkani | classification = [[Backward caste]] | religions = Mostly [[Lingayatism|Lingayat]] sect of [[Hinduism]] | related = [[Padmashali]] }} '''Devanga''' (also known as '''[[Lingayat]] Devanga''', '''Devanga Shetty''', '''Devanga Chettiar''')<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/MGR-magic-still-spins-votes-from-Coimbatore-weavers/articleshow/52049522.cms|title=MGR magic still spins votes from Coimbatore weavers|date=30 April 2016|first=Komal|last=Gautham|newspaper=The Times of India|access-date=25 September 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":28">[https://adfdell.pstc.brown.edu/arisreds_data/public06/caste_codelist.pdf Brown University "Page.8 (Lingayat Devanga), Page.11 (Devanga Shetty),"]</ref> is a [[Hindu]] [[Caste system in India|caste]] from [[South India]] that traditionally followed the occupation of textile merchandise, [[weaving]] and [[farming]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/silence-of-the-looms/article5814798.ece|title=Silence of the looms|last=Nainar|first=Nahla|date=2014-03-21|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-11-18|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> mostly found in the [[Indian people|Indian]] [[States and union territories of India|states]] of [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Odisha]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/magazine/881619/for-500-years-a-kannadiga-community-of-weavers-has-produced-keralas-iconic-white-and-gold-saree|title=For 500 years, a Kannadiga community of weavers has produced Kerala's iconic white and gold saree|last=George|first=Anubha|work=Scroll.in|access-date=2018-11-25|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="sacred" />
==Origin and culture== The caste claims to be descended from [[Devala]], an ancient [[Hinduism|Hindu]] sage.<ref name="sacred">{{cite book |last1=Acharya |first1=Prasant Kumar |title=Sacred Complex of Budhi Santani: Anthropological Approach to Study Hindu Civilization |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1dVrGpyM-0C&pg=PA240 |edition=2003 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-8069-049-5 |pages=240–246 }}</ref> They originated from [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Karnataka]], and during the reign of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] they migrated to [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ramaswamy|first=Vijaya|title=Studies in Global History: Studies in Global Migration History|publisher=Brill|year=2014|isbn=978-90-04-27136-4|editor-last=Hoerder|editor-first=Dirk|volume=15|pages=108|chapter=Mapping Migrations of South Indian Weavers before, during and after the Vijayanagar Period: Thirteenth to Eighteenth Centuries}}</ref> They are of [[Shudra]] status in the [[Caste system in India|Hindu caste system]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ramu|first=G. N.|title=Family and Caste in Urban India: A Case Study|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|year=1997|pages=28, 171}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaushal|first=Molly|title=Chanted Narratives: The Living "katha-vachana" Tradition|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts|year=2001|pages=123}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chaudhary|first=Bhupen|title=Indian Caste System: Essence and Reality|publisher=Global Vision Publishing House|year=2006|pages=213}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Schwalbe|first=Gustav Albert|title=Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie|publisher=E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung|year=1998|volume=82-83|pages=308}}</ref> However, they use the ''Devanga Purana'', a text sacred to the Devangas, to claim Brahmin status, despite having a non-Brahmin profession.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ramanujam|first=Srinivasa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEyfDwAAQBAJ&dq=devanga+shudra+brahmin&pg=PT113|title=Renunciation and Untouchability in India: The Notional and the Empirical in the Caste Order|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=2020|pages=978-0-429-31765-1|isbn=9781000113600}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhattacharya|first=Ranjit Kumar|title=Indian Artisans: Social Institutions and Cultural Values|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|year=2002|pages=24–25}}</ref> They replaced their native local [[gotra]]s with [[Sanskritisation|Sanskritic]] gotras.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ratnam|first=L. K. Bal|title=Anthropological Research and Tribal Situation|publisher=Centre for Training and Research in Anthropology and Management|year=1991|pages=43}}</ref>
Devanga is a Sanskrit word that means "Body of the God".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6q21AAAAIAAJ&q=Devanga Mysore State Gazateer: Govt of Mysore. page 111]</ref>
=== Religion === There is a theory that the Devanga and [[Padmasali (caste)|Padmashali]] communities were once a single entity, with a split arising when the Devanga element took up [[Shaivism|Shaivite]] [[Lingayatism]] or [[Veerashaiva|Veerashaivism]] while the Padmashalis were [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnavs]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5XlI91kP3YC|title=The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, c. 1750 - c. 1850|last=Swarnalatha|first=P.|publisher=Orient Blackswan|year=2005|isbn=978-81-250-2868-0|location=New Delhi|pages=36, 37|chapter=The Social World of the Weaver}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Reddy|first=Prabhavati C.|title=Hindu Pilgrimage: Shifting Patterns of Worldview of Srisailam in South India|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|pages=183}}</ref> While some Devangas wear the [[Yagnopaveetham|yagnopaveetam]] or [[janivara]], others consider the Viramustis as their traditional preceptors, from whom they take precepts and wear ''[[lingam]]''.<ref name="sacred"/>
During the medieval period, the Veerashaiva weavers supported anti-caste movements such as that of [[Basava]]. However, that movement itself became consumed with caste superiority against other Veerashaivas and Brahmins (who were non-Veerashaivas). The weavers began claiming higher caste status and claim that in 1231 a king granted them rights that were traditionally accorded to upper castes, such as wearing the [[sacred thread]], riding a [[palanquin]], and displaying a flag.<ref name=":3" />
The main goddess of the Devanga people is Sri Ramalinga [[Chowdeshwari Temple|Chowdeshwari Amman]] in the South Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu regions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/A-ritual-of-pain-to-connect-with-the-past/articleshow/16945540.cms|title=A ritual of pain to connect with the past - Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=2018-11-25}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
In the Central and North Karnataka regions the main goddess of the Devanga people is Sri [[Banashankari Amma Temple]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/604493/standing-test-time.html|title=Standing the test of Time|work= Deccan herald|access-date=2017-04-04}}</ref>
=== Devanga Purana === Around 1532, Devangas of the [[Godavari]] requested the [[Telugu language|Telugu]] poet Bhadralinga Kavi to write their ''kulapuranam'', or mythological history. He composed the ''[[Devanga Purana]]'' in the dasimatra-dvipadi style.<ref name="PS_2005">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t5XlI91kP3YC|title=The World of the Weaver in Northern Coromandel, c. 1750 - c. 1850|last=Swarnalatha|first=P.|publisher=Orient Blackswan|year=2005|isbn=978-81-250-2868-0|location=New Delhi|pages=39–45|chapter=The Social World of the Weaver}}</ref> The Godavari Devangas also helped to Sanskrtize Devangas from eastern [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]].<ref name=":3" />
==Occupation== Most members of this community were professional artisans who were specialized in weaving silk apparels with motifs and specialized with brocade, damask and matelassé. They were accordingly primarily concentrated around major textile centres in the Godavari district.<ref name=":0" />
They were known for great craftsmanship in weaving clothes of silk and superfine quality cotton textiles. Weaving the loom is usually done by men whereas women dye the yarn and spin the thread and children assist tasks such as looming. They are also very good entrepreneurs and expert in marketing of clothes. Some of them are also engaged in farming.<ref name="sacred" />
== Notable people == <!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦---> * [[P. Theagaraya Chetty]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roy|first=Tirthankar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AA3MDwAAQBAJ&q=theagaraya+chetty+devanga&pg=PT169|title=The Crafts and Capitalism: Handloom Weaving Industry in Colonial India|date=2020-01-28|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-000-02469-2|language=en}}</ref> - [[Theagaraya Nagar|T.Nagar]] is a locality in Chennai which is named after him.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.thehindu.com/features/downtown/once-upon-a-time-in-thyagaraya-nagar/article3436296.ece#:~:text=The%20area%20and%20the%20busy,carrying%20his%20name%20and%20statue. |title= Once upon a time in Thyagaraya Nagar… |website=The Hindu}}</ref>
== Punishment for inter-caste marriage == In 2004, the Devanga leaders of a small village in [[Belagur]], [[Chitradurga district]], [[Karnataka]], fined and socially excluded ten families from the community for marrying people outside the caste.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/22/stories/2004122205410300.htm |title=Ten families facing 'social boycott' |date=22 December 2004 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2015-05-03}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The decision was criticised and alleged to be unconstitutional<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/23/stories/2004122305710300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128202048/http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/23/stories/2004122305710300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 November 2016 |title=Seer calls for end to social boycott |date=23 December 2004 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2015-05-03}}</ref> but a similar thing happened to five families in Shivani village, [[Ajjampura]], [[Chikmagalur district]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/protection-for-social-boycott-victims-sought/article1135939.ece |work=The Hindu |title=Protection for 'social boycott' victims sought |first=Muralidhara |last=Khajane |date=29 January 2011 |access-date=2015-05-03}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{commons category-inline}} * {{cite journal |title=Litigation as a Strategy for Personal Mobility: The Case of Urban Caste Association Leaders |first=Robert L. |last=Kidder |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=33 |issue=2 |date=February 1974 |pages=177–191 |doi=10.2307/2052183 |jstor=2052183|s2cid=147067108 }} * {{cite book |title=The Transition to a Colonial Economy: Weavers, Merchants and Kings in South India, 1720-1800 |first=Prasannan |last=Parthasarathi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-57042-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-rGFnZVxgUC}}
[[Category:Social groups of Karnataka]] [[Category:Social groups of Andhra Pradesh]] [[Category:Social groups of Tamil Nadu]] [[Category:Indian castes]] [[Category:Weaving communities of South Asia]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Odisha]]