Other Surnames : Common titles in Vellalar are Pillai, Mudaliar, Gounder and Karnam Pillai.
Religion : Hindu
Divisions : Vellalar in Tamil Nadu are divided into several layers. The first layer consists of Saiva Vellalars or Saiva Mudaliars and Pillais. There are a number of sub-castes or clans among them like Thondaimandala Vellalar, Karkatha Vellalar, Tirunelveli Saiva Vellalar. Other Vellalar castes include Kongu Vellalar, (Western Tamil Nadu) Pandia Vellalar, (Madurai) Chozhia Vellalar, (Trichy and Thanjavur) Tuluva Vellalar (North Tamil Nadu), Arcot Mudaliar, (North Tamil Nadu) Nanjil Vellalar (Kanya Kumari).
Language : Tamil and Malayalam
Regional Spread : Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka
Traditional Occupation : Agriculture
Food Habits : Mostly vegetarian
Marriage Preference : Prefer marriage within their community
Vellalars are a dominant caste of agriculturists of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka. Scholars believe the word 'Vellalar' originated from 'Velanmai' which means to cultivate. Others say, Vellalar is derived from 'Vellam' which means to control floods. While a new theory derives the word from 'Vel' which means to win to control to take as well as a lance an old and archaic Tamil weapon.
Most sub-castes of Vellalar in general are believed to be the first of the group of Tamils to be Sanskritized. That is a group of people who accepted Brahmin hegemony on religious and social matters and eventually came to ape them in food habits and ritual and also and follow ritual pollution rules viz a vie other castes.