Menon (subcaste)

Menon
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Malayalam
Populated states	Kerala
Subdivisions	Septs based on Tharavadu of descent.

Menon is a subcaste of the Nair community of Kerala, India, and was an honorific hereditary title, often used as an affix to one's name, bestowed by the various kings of Kerala (including the Zamorin) to the members of certain classes of Nairs. The recipient of the title held it lifelong, and his family held it in perpetuity along the matrilineal line.

The Menons were engaged in various administrative duties, such as being scribes and accountants, in service of the kings of Kerala.

Menons are Karuneegars / Kayastha of Kerala. They are descendents of lord chitragupta and were involved in various administrative works in Past

Karuneegars/Kayastha believe that they are descendants of Chitragupta. His wife is Karnagi Amman. Karuneegars are part of Kayastha family. The history of the Karuneegars are recorded in Karuneegar Puranam. There is a temple for Chitra Gupta in Kanchpuram. Locations They are mainly concentrated in Tamil Nadu. But they are also located in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other states. Tamil Nadu: Karuneegar Population varies in different districts of Tamil Nadu. It is believed that Karuneegars are more concentrated in northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The south Tamil nadu have many Pillai but they are not thought to belong to Karuneegars. Andhra : In Andhra Pradesh, they are called Karnams. They speak Telugu as well as Tamil esp. Chittoor region. Karnataka: Some Karuneegars are predominantly found in Southern Districts of Karnataka. Kerala: They are also found in Kerala. Menons are Karuneegars of Kerala. Other States: They also inhibit various parts of India like mumbai, delhi and other states of India. World Wide:

North India (UP, Delhi)

Srivastava, Mathur, Saxena, Bhatnagar, Nigam, Asthana, Kulshreshtha, Gaur, Ambastha, Karna, Suradhwaja, Balmiki. (Last two are rarely found)

Bengal:

Sen, Kar, Das, Palit, Saha, Dutt/Dutta, Bose, Ghosh, Pal, Dey. Ray, Sarkar, Chudhry, Nag, Som, Mullick, Majumdar, Munshi, Roy, Chandra, Guha, Vaidya, Nandy, Nandan, Sinha, Rakshit, Ankur, Nath, Biswas, Dhar, Bhadra, Sarbhan, Varman, Bhava, Mitra, Gupta, Kundu, Bhadradhar, Vishwasu, Dev, Adhikari, Patwari.

Orissa:

Patnaik, Kanungo, Das, Bihiyar, Mohanti, Naidu, Pataskar.

Assam:

Barva, Chakravarty, Baid, Mahanti.

Madhya Pradesh:

Srivastava(also Khare), Saxena, Gaur, Asthana, Khare.

Gujarat:

Chandraseni Kayastha Prabhu, Mehta, Vallabhji, Balmiki, Surajdhwaj, Vallabhi.

South India:

Mudaliar, Naidu, Pillai, Reddy, Bal, Karnik, Raman, Rao, Menon, Nair, Nayyar, Raju.

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