User:Vgomatham

History of Gomatam surname

The very first Gomatam was one of the 74 Simha Sanadhipatis that were specially trained by Ramanuja to promote Sri Vaishnavism throughout South India. The name Gomatam is a mispronunciation of his actual name, kOmadum AlwAn. He was called AlwAn because of his tremendous love for the spiritual humanistic message of the 12 Alwars, who wrote only in Tamil.

Definition for kOmadum: The word kO refers to a king, and mudam is a sacred place. So, it would seem that one of the great kings of the time (we are not sure whom, but history would place him in Chola dynasty) was so impressed with the profound knowledge of Tamil that he created a teaching center (mudam) for him and his sishyas.

200 years later, his descendants joined up with Sri Manavala Mahamuni in propogating the Thengalai philosophy, which is rooted in the Alwars writings. This is why the Gomatam families are honored in Srirangam.