Kongu Vellala Gounders are a community of people originating from Kongu Nadu, a region in South India, the western part of Tamil Nadu, with rich culture, also known by other names such as Kongu Mandalam and Kongu Belt. This areas comprises the lower nine districts of the lower Kaveri catchment basin, forming the western part of Tamilnadu: Coimbatore, Ooty, Erode, Karur, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri (all taluks of these districts), Dindigul (the taluks of Palani tk., Oddanchatram tk., Dindugul tk., Vedasandur and Kodaikkanal tk northward slopes only), Tiruchirapalli (Tottiyam tk. , Pachamalai and Turaiyur region of the Turaiyur tk. and Musiri panchayat union only), Villupuram (Kalrayan hills only), Perambalur (Pachamalai hills only) and Vellore (Tirupattur tk. only). The Gounders claim to be descendant from the ancient Kshatriya Suryavamsam (Solar dynasty) through the Gangakulam. This research paper (click here) traces the movement by Dr. Harihar Kanungo: Gangavamsa has spread all over India and the historians are completely silent about it. The kings of the Ganga dynasty had got their pedigree inscribed by their brahmin eulogists as well as the courtiers. In this regard, Dr. S.N. Rajaguru has given the following opinion:“Different royal dynasties, while narrating their genealogy, were eager to identity themselves with the famous solar or lunar dynasties of the Puranas”.