Bharathas also Bharatakula are a Sri Lankan caste of Paravar immigrants from Tamil Nadu in India.

In India they were traditional fishers' merchants and traders. Most are Roman Catholics although a significant minority practice Hinduism.

Paravar are to be found all over Sri Lanka. Amongst Sri Lankan Tamils Paravar are still a fishing and trading caste although commonly confused with the Karaiyar. The Bharatas or Bharatakula identity is maintained by a relatively prosperous merchant group from India that settled amongst the Sinhalese in the Negombo area.

Already in India, keeping with the tradition of Sanskritisation they had their name as Bharatas a Vedic tribe of Indian mythology from North India. In Sri Lanka they have maintained this caste myth and claim North Indian Kshatriya varna or caste origins. It is also noteworthy that the Bharatas in the Rig Veda were a clan among the Indo-Aryan Pauravas who fought away Iranian invaders.

Along with Colombo Chetty and other relatively recent merchant groups from South India, there is rapid Sinhalisation or assimilation with the Sinhalese majority. But unlike the Colombo Chettys many still speak Tamil at home and even have marital relationships in India.

Shankar Nagarkatte (9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved in Kannada theater activities. He co-wrote "22 June 1897", an Indian National award winning Marathi film.

Shankar Nagarkatte was born on 9 November 1954 in a Konkani Saraswat Brahmin family of Mallapur village in Honnavar (uttara Kannada), Karnataka His parents were Anandi and Sadanand Nagarkatte. His elder brother is the popular Kannada actor Anant Nag.After completing formal education, Shankar moved to Mumbai. In Mumbai, he was attracted to Marathi theater and immersed himself in theatrical activities. Incidentally, he met his future wife, Arundhathi during a drama rehearsal.

Shankar Nag then shifted base to Karnataka. His elder brother Anant Nag had already established himself as an actor and urged Shankar to act in films. He was offered a role of a mercenary by Girish Karnad in the epic movie, Ondanondu Kaladalli, which was loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, Seven Samurai. His debut film as actor fetched him a national award at the Delhi International Film Festival. Thus began his film career, where, in a span of 12 years (from 1978 to 1990) he acted in some 80 Kannada movies, as a leading man, besides co-producing (with actor-brother Anant Nag ) and directing some films like 'Minchina Ota' (a rare example of a heist movie in Kannada), "Janma Janmada Anubandha" and "Geetha" (both of which had music by South Indian maestro Ilayaraja)