The Udayar is a title used by multiple

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India.

Selvaraj Story

According to Selva Raj, few Udayar are socially humble than some

Vellalar Vellalar is a group of Caste system in India, castes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Vellalar are members of several endogamous castes such as the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chozhi ...

community but, together with the community, that form the Marava castes, who are quite dominant in the region variously known as

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a city Municipal Corporation in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) ...

and the

Maravar Maravar (also known as Maravan and Marava) are a Tamil community in the state of Tamil Nadu. These people are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy. Members of the Maravar community often use the honorific title '' Thevar''. ...

country.

Religion

In Ramnad and the nearby areas of

Pudukottai Pudukkottai Municipal Corporation is the administrative headquarters of Pudukkottai district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest Heritage city located on the banks of the Vellar River. It has been ruled, at different t ...

, Madurai, Salem,

Namakkal Namakkal () is a city and the headquarters of Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu. It is the first ISO 14001-2004 certified municipality in Asia for environmental management, specifically the provision and maintenance of water supply, solid wast ...

Tanjore Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore,#Pletcher, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian c ...

and

Trichy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

, they and their two fellow Maravar caste groups are prominent in their cult worship of the shrine at Oriyur that commemorates

John de Britto John de Britto, SJ (also Brito; ; also known as Arul Anandar; 1 March 1647 – 4 February 1693) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary and an evangelist, often called "the Portuguese St. Francis Xavier" by Indian Catholics. He is also called "the Jo ...

, a 17th-century Portuguese

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. Raj says, "A notable feature of the Britto cult is that it is centered around caste identities rather than religious affiliation", and thus members of the caste-group, irrespective of their religious affiliation regard Britto as their clan-deity. Some Udayars are

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Christians.

Notable people

* Channaiah Odeyar (died 2007), Indian politician * N. Karupanna Odayar, Indian politician * N. P. V. Ramasamy Udayar (1936–1998), Indian industrialist * T. S. Swaminatha Odayar, Indian politician * A. T. Pannirselvam , Indian attorney and political leader.

Selvaraj Story

Religion

Notable people

References

Further reading