The Thigala or Tigalar are a social group found in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, India, particularly the city of Bengaluru and in Southern Karnataka. The caste is traditionally occupied as growers of flowers and vegetables.
- http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Writereaddata/cl/karnataka.pdf They are generally

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. Their main deities are Draupadi and Dharmaraya Swamy. There is a Dharmaraya temple near Corporation which was built in the 11th century AD. Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore, built four gopuras with this temple as the centre of the city. The Karaga festival celebrated in Narasapura, Kolar, Bangalore, Hosakote, Anekal, Kanakapura, Jakkasandra and other towns is highly significant to the community. The Thigala in Karnataka speak

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

in Karnataka. and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

in Tamilnadu A Karnataka state government order of 1994 designated the Thigala there as members of the

Backward Class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, ...

es.

References

{{reflist Social groups of Tamil Nadu Social groups of Karnataka