Talk:Pillai (surname)

Factual Error
In the Pillai it has been stated that Vellalas in Kerala are considered part of the Nair community. This is a mischievous atatement and bending facts to suit somebody's selfish motives. Vellalas are very much an separate entity and do not need to survive in the identity of a separate caste. Stop this deplorable practise of absorption of communities. The Vellala community are very much thriving and doing very well, thank you. In the official records of all the community members including me, the caste name would be given as Vellala and NOT NAIR. Non-Brahmin Forward caste in Kerala does not mean Nair. Sujith

sir i want to add following useful links pls permit —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pasug (talk • contribs) 04:27, 12 June 2007
 * www.saivaneri.org
 * en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champakaraman_Pillai


 * The first is currently empty. I have added the second in Pillai. - Fayenatic (talk) 21:01, 22 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Nair-Pillais are Malayali Nairs. They belong to Illathu Nair community. Tamil Pillais(Vellala Pillai, Illathu Pillai, Chetti Pillai etc) are the people who migrated to Kerala from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. They are not Nairs. They belong to Tamil-Izhuva community which is similar to Malayali-Ezhava community. Name of their organization is Kerala Vellala Maha Sabha. http://www.kvmstridiscom.in/ (- Ashwati Nair)

Pillai and Menon
I have removed following content. Pillai of Travancore is a counterpart of the Cochin title of Menon.

I think pillai sect part of both Nairs and Vellalas there in Cochin.

Take the egs of PK Vasudevan nair. puthenpurakkal kesavan pillai vasudevan nair. Also Some CM of cochin was a nair pilla.. like discuss manu comment Tn pillai 07:54, 21 June 2007 (UTC)


 * That Pillai was a counterpart of Menon is fact mentioned in the Travancore State Manual. Before the late 19th century Pillais (Nair Pillais) were confined only to Travancore just as Menons were not then found in Travancore. Manu

addtion on 22/04/08. The 'pilla' called is one among the nair community in south kerala and northern talukes of kanyakumari distict. It is believed that 52 families were brought from malabar orgin to travancore by travancore kings,gave them responsibility to keep the "gajana".They were called KARUVELATHU NAIR and Raja gave them the pattom,"PILLA".In othe nair csates the lady names ends with amma and other,while here even the lady name end with pilla.ex:Narayani pilla,bhavathy pilla, chembakakuttty pilla etc.It noticed the names in old stamp papers and brass vessels. Harikumar-Thickurichy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.247.152.206 (talk) 15:08, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Groupism i.e., Caste origin
The origin of groupism i.e., caste seems to have started with people trying to refer to themselves as one group. There was no divisions and sub divisions until different people started competing for the same resources and had to organize themselves into groups to improve their chances in competing.

Subdivision origin
Another reason for groupism came from the profession followed by the differnt groups. As people changed professions, they also had to change names to reflect those professions. However they needed to differentiate themselves from people who were already using those professional names. So as people took up farming they had to call themselves Vellala. However since other groups were using Vellala as title, different groups with additional names were created. Thus were created the various groups of Vellala.

Lathead 16:05, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Reference given: Isai Vellala are a section of Sengunthar/ Kaikolar
Union Territory of Pondicherry By Francis Cyril Antony, Pondicherry (India : Union Territory) snippet view:

Quoted from book:

Isai Vellalas are none other than that section of Sengunthar Mudaliars or Kaikolars who were associated with the system of Devadasis Youonlylivetwice (talk) 15:00, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Famous Pillais
Need evidence that the following were Pillais before putting them back in this article. Their own articles do not mention the name/title.
 * Entertainers
 * Vadivelu: Famous Tamil Comedian
 * Sundar C: Film Director and actor
 * Thirumurugan: Film Director
 * Vijay Antony: Music Director (No article)

- Fayenatic (talk) 21:41, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Pillai title
The Pillai surname is used by both Tamilians and Malayalis. So it cannot refer to a particular caste. It is not appropriate to use an infobox in Kerala usage alone.--Sureshmaran (talk) 12:11, 13 February 2009 (UTC)


 * It should be surname, as it isn't a title. And it is a surname used by a few castes too.- SpacemanSpiff Calvin&#8225;Hobbes 23:49, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

As I understand it, Pillai was originally a title, but has become widespread as a surname. The article includes a lot about its history as a title, although none of it cites WP:reliable sources.

Perhaps we should rewrite this article to be about Pillai as a surname, including of course its history as a title. Then there would be clear criteria for inclusion in the list of Notable Pillais. As it is, the justification for removing notable sons of Pillais who apparently did not use the surname themselves, but may nevertheless have carried that title by descent, e.g. here, is less clear-cut.

This site brings together a lot of Wikipedia references to Pillai and so may prove useful in tracing sources cited in other articles: http://keralas.s3.amazonaws.com/pillai - Fayenatic (talk) 19:53, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

you took out "named Pillai" from the heading of notable people, which seems to invite addition of people identified as Pillai descent even if not carrying this name. Is that intentional?

Also, do you support the suggested page move from "title" to "surname"? – Fayenatic  L ondon 18:19, 26 March 2014 (UTC)


 * This should be a surname article. Even the template at the bottom of the page says that. In India it is incredibly common for people (even entire communities) to assume names in the expectation of social advancement. A part of that process is termed sanskritisation. There are very few genuine titles that haven't been appropriated in this manner and Pillai certainly isn't one of those few. In fact, even titles such as Maharajah have been appropriated, although in that case the process has been one of assumption by an individual which then becomes accepted by other people. There is also no such thing as a caste "surname": I've yet to see a caste that uses just one such name although, yes, some names do tend to be particularly common within one or more given castes. - Sitush (talk) 21:48, 26 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks – ✅ – Fayenatic  L ondon 22:32, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Nair title
is separate article for Pillai (Nair title) needed? Nair just a caste like any other, Y separate article? it can be included in Pillai (title) itself — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.202.134.88 (talk) 16:52, 11 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I have tagged that as a proposed merge. – Fayenatic  L ondon 18:19, 26 March 2014 (UTC)


 * You might want to review Nair, which is likely to be a better target given that the only source in that article is Thurston. - Sitush (talk) 00:16, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Compound names
Should compound names including Pillai be included here, e.g. These have just been removed as "partial matches", but I thought they were valid entries. – Fayenatic  L ondon 08:14, 8 February 2015 (UTC)
 * C. W. Thamotharampillai, publisher of ancient Tamil texts
 * S. Kanapathipillai (1899–1986), Hindu revivalist
 * Velupillai Prabhakaran (1954–2009), leader of LTTE

Merging the Pillai pages
Dear all,

There needs to be a division between the title of Pillai as bestowed in Kerala and in other parts of Southern India. Although the origins of the title in ancient times may be from the same source, it has undergone much changes in the centuries that followed and is entirely understood differently this day. It is also well-documented in the case of Keralan Pillais(copper-plate grants can be seen at the archives of the Padmanabhaswami Temple, Trivandrum)and therefore much easier to trace the families. My own research has taken me to many interesting houses in Trivandrum and Southern Travancore (now in Tamil Nadu)

My research in south Indian languages and ethnography prompts me to suggest that it would be better if the Pillai (Nair title) page is changed to Pillai (Kerala title). This is because the title although primarily in existence among the Nairs, who formed the majority ethnic group in Kerala is also documented to have been bestowed to Keralan Vellalas, Keralan Brahmins of Tamil Origin and in one or two cases to Muslims. In the latter's case, their status with the award, was raised to that of a Nair.

For more information, read the works of Mark de Lannoy, K M Panikkar and research-works of Lena More. Primary sources are the copper plate grants which many families possess.

Jkl1805 (talk) 16:23, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Please don't again and again add
Removed devadasis in derogatory term Mugavai (talk) 09:37, 16 June 2019 (UTC)
 * You can't remove sourced content as you did, . They are sourced, and therefore should not be removed (at least without proper discussion). Have you any sources mentioning "devadasi" as a derogatory term? (maybe Isai Vellalar is more appropriate?) Xenani (talk) 17:19, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Mugavai, you are constantly edit warring which as a result will lead to being banned. Refrain from editing, and take up a discussion here before removing sourced content.Xenani (talk)

To Xenani
Mr Xenan... Devadasi is not in tamilnadu most backward caste list instead only Isai vellalar term only used. I belong to the pillai caste.. I have know few details.. Iam doing it.. Please understand after years of struggles they changed from devadasis to Isai vellalar. Please check in the tamilnadu most backward caste list. Mugavai (talk) 01:12, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Mugavai, It seems that the term "Devadasi" might be considered a deragotory per, therefore I will substitute with Isai Vellalar instead. However, the other links you removed where properly sourced in the citations. You can't remove them. I have also left a notice on your talk page. Xenani (talk) 11:32, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Thank you xenani
Thank you xenani Mugavai (talk) 12:09, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Kuravars are separate caste not belong to pillai community
Xenani and arjay remove kuravar and konars. Kuravars are separate caste they are classified as scheduled tribe recently in tamilnadu government gazette. They are not belong to pillai community which few sub castes like saiva vellalars classified as forward caste and other subcaste of vellalar community classified as backward caste. Konars are using yadava title. Mugavai (talk) 15:59, 27 June 2019 (UTC)


 * Mugavai. This article is not about a single community known as "Pillai". The article is about the surname "Pillai", which according to the given sources, are used by different communities. There are no titles only confined to a particular community, and no community only use one particular title. Therefore, do not remove any more sourced content from this article. You have already been warned on your talkpage, therefore be familiar with these policies: WP:EP, WP:NOR, WP:RS, and WP:EDITWAR. Xenani (talk) 13:56, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

Pillai
Affter long time..I see the correct Information about Pillai(Sir Name).Why People always try to add new wrong stories And misleading the Information abaut Pillai. . Could somebody file copywrite,In that way to avoid vandalism.

our people have a behavior that nobody from our region let develop and are highly regarded. Degrading each other with many lies. In the end, people from other regions are developing. such as China, Europe and USA. but we remain undevolved..respect everyone...please try not to humiliate others with lies. Pillai -have been successful in the past. now other communities need to develop too, and help others to develop more communities. Instead, don't humiliate the Pullai community with lies. we must help each other to develop.So India will grow.Otherweise we remain undeveloped. Could somebody file copywrite,In that way to avoid vandalism? Vikas.king123 (talk) 18:14, 27 August 2022 (UTC)