Vaidiki Velanadu is a sub-caste of

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

speaking Smarta Brahmins whose ancestral roots lie in the Velanadu region, the ancient name for the coastal region on the banks of River Krishna in the

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

and

Prakasam district Prakasam district is one of the twelve districts in the coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed in 1970 and reorganised on 4 April 2022. The headquarters of the district is ...

. Some may have roots in Northern Andhra Pradesh near

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

or in Southern Telangana near

Nalgonda Nalgonda is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the Nalgonda district, as well as the headquarters of the Nalgonda mandal in the Nalgonda revenue division. It is located about from the state c ...

. They are classified as

Pancha-Dravida Pancha Dravida ( from Sanskrit: पंच ''pancha'') is one of the two major groupings of Brahmins in Hinduism, of which the other is Pancha-Gauda. In ''Rajatarangini'' Kalhana, in his ''Rajatarangini'' (c. 12th century CE), classifies the fo ...

Brahmins. They are predominantly followers of

Adi Shankaracharya Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and his true impact lies in hi ...

and are located in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. However, There is a small subset of them who remain Shrauta Brahmins. Most Vaidiki Velanadu Brahmins follow the

Apastamba Dharmasutra ''Āpastamba Dharmasūtra'' (Sanskrit: आपस्तम्ब धर्मसूत्र) is a Sanskrit text and one of the oldest Dharma-post vedic smriti related texts of Hinduism that have survived into the modern age from the 1st millenniu ...

and belong to the

Taittiriya Shakha The ''Taittirīya Shakha'' (Sanskrit, loosely meaning 'Branch or School of the sage Tittiri'), is a ''shakha'' (i.e. 'branch', 'school', or Recension, rescension) of the Black Yajurveda, Krishna (black) Yajurveda. The Taittiriyas are themselves d ...

of the Krishna Yajur Veda. The earliest reference to Vaidiki Velanadu starts from 12th century. Early references mention that the Velanadu Brahmins have a martial tradition, and many have fought bravely in the Battle of Palnadu on the side of Brahma Naidu. Most of the Telugu-speaking priests of Smarta tradition and all of the Telugu Shrauta brahmins are from this sect. However, the people have diversified into other professions like military service, sports, politics, arts, medicine, advocacy, science, engineering and academics.

References

{{Reflist * B S L Hanumantha Rao, ''Social Mobility in Medieval Andhra'', Telugu Academy Press *

Christopher Alan Bayly Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL (18 May 1945 – 18 April 2015) was a British historian specialising in British Imperial, Indian and global history. From 1992 to 2013, he was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at ...

, ''Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1983 * Durga Prasad, History of the Andhras up to 1565 A. D., P. G. PUBLISHERS, GUNTUR (1988) Telugu Brahmin communities Social groups of Andhra Pradesh