Chennai
Introduction
Gavara Balija Chetty Community
The Telugu speaking community has scattered itself, over time, throughout South India.
The Telugu community can be broadly divided into two divisions, KAMMAS & KAPUS. Balija Chetty,which we belong to, comes under the section KAPUS. The Balijas are said to have two main sub-divisions, namely Desa (Kota or a Fort) and Peta (Street)Desa Balija are those whose ancestors are believed to be the Balija (Nayak ) Kings of Madura, Tanjore and Vijayanagar or provincial governor in those kingdoms. Peta Balijas are those like Gajulas (Bangle sellers)and Perika (salt sellers) who live by trade. In Tamil districts, Balijas are known as Vadagams (Telugu people) and Kavarais (Gavara in Tamil).
The name Balija is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word Bali(a sacrifice) and Ja (born )signifying that the Balijas owe their origin to the performance of the yagam.
Special Appreciation
This is a token of appreciation and gratitude to Mrs Nirmala Sudhaman, (Cunni) who has consistently provided information about our ancestors and helped connect the dots. She was able to provide a lot of details in terms of relationships and placing the jagsaw together, especially with regard to inter family marriages. It was a marathon effort.
With the data available, we were able to successfully trace and form the family trees of about 7 families of the Balija Chetty clan.
We hope to keep this legacy alive through the existence of this website for as long as we can and hand it over to Gen Z, when ever their curiosity is kindled and feel the need to know and trace their origin.
Cheers!
C K Muralidhar (Cunni), Radhika Ponniah (Katakam), Col. Ramesh ( Gazala), P.Sridhar(Paranji), Lata Gopati ( Gopathi)
Acknowledgment: To all the extended members of the Balija Chetty family who helped support this venture in whatever way they could. Many thanks for your involvement and contributions.
Family Members
