Iyengar
|
|
| Iyengar
| ||
| Classification: | Ethnic group/ Caste/Community of South India | |
| Total population: | 2004: (approx) 600,000 (roughly 1% of Tamilians) | |
| Significant populations in: |
Chennai | |
| Language | Mother tongue is Tamil with unique Iyengar accent. Knowledge in Sanskrit for religious/traditional reasons. | |
| Religion | Vishishtadvaita Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups |
| |
Iyengar (or Aiyangar) is the name of a small in number but socially significant and illustrious community of Brahmins of South India whose members profess the Visishtadvaita philosophy codified by Ramanuja. The word Iyengar (Anglicised from the Tamil ஐயங்கார்(Aiyaṅkār)) means "people entrusted with five tasks", referring to the five duties that traditional Iyengars perform (see [1] (http://www.ahobilamutt.org/samas.html)). The most common spelling is "Iyengar", but "Aiyangar" is the phonetically correct spelling.Iyengars along with Iyers are popularly referred to as the TamBrahm i.e Tamil Brahman .
Although most Iyengars speak Tamil, there is a significant number of Iyengars speaking Kannada or a dialect of Tamil, highly influenced by Kannada in southern Karnataka (popularly known as Mysore, Hebbar, Mandyam, Hemige Iyengars), as well as smaller numbers of Telugu-speakers in southern Andhra Pradesh. There is also a sizeable number of Iyengars in the Purulia district of West Bengal who had migrated from Tamil Nadu a few centuries ago due to an invitation by a Bengal king around Ramanuja's time.
Iyengars are primarily Vaishnavites, and as is the case with the majority of Brahmins, are also vegetarians. Today, Iyengars are taxonomised into two sub-communities of Thenkalai and Vadakalai based on the different stresses in religious literature. The Thenkalai community ascribes more importance to the Tamil works while the Vadakalai community deems the Vedas, written in Sanskrit to be more important.
| Contents |
Religion
Iyengars follow Visishtadvaita, a system of thought embodied by the Vedanta, the philosophical portion of the Vedas, India's ancient scriptures. The central idea of Visishtadvaita is this: there exists an Ultimate Reality, an Absolute Being that is the source and substratum of all that exists. This immanent spirit is the inner guide and controller of the whole universe with all its diverse animate and inanimate elements. Communion with this gracious, omnipotent Supreme Being constitutes the supreme end of existence or Moksha. Such communion is attainable exclusively through complete self-surrender and undivided, loving meditation (Bhakti).
The Vaishnavite tradition began during the Vedic period. Most Iyengars follow Ramanuja's and Vedanta Desikar's school of philosophy.
The objects of worship are the images of Vishnu and His incarnations and the saligramas - small stone pebbles of different colors (predominantly black) recovered from the bed of the river Gandaki in Nepal at Mukti Kshetra .Saligramas are fossilized ammonite shells formed 140 million years, having several spiral grooves resembling the chakra of Narayana which are formed by the river worms called Vajra-keeta.
The priests at Tirupati Balaji temple,the most famous and important of Hindu Temples are Iyengars.
The 108 holy temples of Vishnu called 108 Divya Desams[2] (http://www.geocities.com/divyadesam108/108tour.htm)[3] (http://www.indian-heritage.org/tindex.html) are important to the Iyengars. The 108th Divya Desam is Vaikuntam which is the Mythical abode of Lord Vishnu.
Origins
According to the migratory view, many members of the Brahmin community, originally based in the Northern part of India, migrated to the rich kingdoms in the South, particularly that of the Cholas in the Tamil country, in the first millennium AD. This migration was in response to the invitations of the powerful rulers who needed them to perform the various rituals, specifically yajnas, that would help secure and extend their power. In return for their services, the Brahmins were given agricultural land, entire villages and other gifts. The Iyers and Iyengars diversified into agriculture and other trades. There was thus a consolidation of both wealth and education in the Iyengars and Iyers and the Chola territory of Thanjavur, a fertile land watered by the Cauvery River, became their home.
The lack of any written historical records hampers the search for the origin of that peculiar branch of Iyengars, the Hebbars. This sub-community, based in the border areas of Mysore with Tamilnadu, speaks a mixture of Kannada and archaic Tamil, with a sprinkling of Sanskrit words thrown in. One theory is that the Hebbar Iyengars of today are descended from the Jains who were converted from Jainism to Vishisht Advaita along with their monarch, Bittideva, the Hoysala king, circa 1180 AD, by Ramanujacharya, who resided at Melkote (near Mysore) at that time. (Bittideva then termed himself Vishnu Vardhana, and is renowned under that name for building a myriad Vaishnavite temples, including the exquisite Chenna Kesava Temple at Belur). These Jains were immigrants to Mysore from undetermined regions in North India, probably fleeing from the recurrent depradations of the Muslim invaders. This would explain their physical similarities to the more Aryanic North Indians (fair skins, with some startling light eyes) than their Iyengar brethren in South India. Another peculiarity, supporting this theory of late conversion, is the fact that Hebbars are not permitted to perform their own religious ceremonies (marriages, funerals), but rely on a community of co-located pure-Tamil speaking Iyengars termed Swayam Achars for these services. The Swayam Achars are supposedly the original Tamil Iyengar followers of Ramanuja, who initiated the Hebbar converts into the Vaishnavite rituals of worship.
All the Iyengars trace their origin to one of the eight major rishis or sages. Iyengars classify themselves under different Gotras, those of the same Gotra share common ancestors. Thus in the Iyengar community, marriage among people of the same Gotra is prohibited. This is generally cited as an example of scientific practices followed even in the distant past. The superiority/inferiority of the various gotras and subgroups with reference to each other and their stereotyping is the subject of many debates, often amusing to the current generation. Iyengars today are found all over the world and are an extraordinarily visible community with relation to their population.
Iyengars Today
In addition to their earlier occupations, Iyengars today have diversified into a variety of fields—their strengths particularly evident in the fields of law,mass media, science, engineering, mathematics and computer science. A minuscule percentage of Iyengars today choose to pursue the vocation of priesthood. Iyengars have been active in the cultural field too. Music has always been integral to the Iyengar community; Carnatic music forms a sacred tradition including within its fold, apart from vocal music, instruments such as mridangam, naadaswaram, veena, ghatam, etc., Bharatanatyam. Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam together enjoy a rich patronage during the Chennai cultural season in the months of December and January.
Some Famous Iyengars
The following were all born Iyengars
- Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan - world renowned Mathematician
- Ariyakkudi T. Ramanuja Iyengar - World renowned Carnatic musician
- Vedanta Desikar-Sanskrit Scholar and philosopher
- Rajaji - Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the first Governor General of Independent India
- Masti Venkatesha Iyengar - Kannada Literature
- Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar - Kannada Literature
- B.K.S. Iyengar - Yogi and founder of Iyengar Yoga
- Gen. K. Sundarji - Former Chief of the Indian Army
- C. Rangarajan - Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India and governor of Andhra Pradesh,India
- General S. Padmanabhan - Former chief of the Indian Army
- Dr.Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, Astrophysicist, former Chairman at ISRO, member of * K S Sudarshan - Senior BJP member
- K N Govindacharya - RSS Idealogue
- Ramanujacharya - Sanskrit Scholar, Philosopher & Social Reformer
- Veena Doraiswamy Iyengar - Veena maestro
- Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan - Carnatic musci maestro
- Chinnaswamy - Cricketer (name attributed to the Bangalore cricket stadium)
- T.T. Krishnamachari - Industrialist & Freedom fighter
- T.V. Sundaram Iyengar - Founder of T.V.S. group (automobile and finance)
- J. Jayalalithaa - Present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- S. Venkataraghavan - Cricketer
- Krishnamachari Srikkanth - Cricketer
- Sadagopan Ramesh - Cricketer
- Hema Malini - Tamil/Hindi Actress
- Vyjayantimala Bali - Tamil/Hindi Actress
- Suhasini - Tamil Actress
- Vaali - Lyricist
- R. Madhavan - Actor
- Vasundhara Das - Actress and Singer
- Srinivas - Playback singer
- Sujatha Rangarajan - Writer & Visionary
- Dr.Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, Astrophysicist, former Chairman at ISRO, member of Rajya Sabha
- K S Sudarshan - Senior BJP member
- B.S.Ranga - Veteran producer and director of Kannada and Tamil films with 70+ movies to his credit, winner of 2 President's Awards, Rajotsava Awardee
- Chitraveena Ravi Kiran - Chitraveena maestro & Child Prodigy
- Kamal Haasan - Actor
- Chaaru Haasan - Actor
- Y.G. Mahendra - Stage & Movie Actor
- Crazy Mohan - Screenplay & Comedian
- Professor S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society
- Professor Mudumbai NARASIMHAN - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (1996)
- Professor Madabusi RAGHUNATHAN - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (2000)
- Professor Conjeeveram SESHADRI - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (1988)
- Professor Mandyam SRINIVASAN - Fellow of the Royal Society (2001)
- Rangaswamy Srinivasan - Inventor of Ablative Photodecomposition (APD) - Using Excimer Laser for Eye surgery
- Professor Cadambathur Tiruvenkatacharlu Rajagopal - Mathematician, Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics
- Professor Chidambaram Padmanabhan Ramanujam - Mathematician, TIFR
See Also
External links
- Sri Parakalamath, Mysore (http://www.parakalamatham.org/)
- Sri Vaishnava Home Page (http://www.ramanuja.org)
- Srirangam Srimad Andavan Periyaashramam (http://www.ramanujamission.org/)
- Official Site of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (http://tirumala.org)
- Ahobila Matam Home Page (http://www.ahobilamutt.org)
- Vanamamalai Divya Kshetram (http://vanamamalai.com)
- Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's Home page (http://chinnajeeyar.org)
- Important Links for Vaishnava Amrutham (http://vanamamalai.com/othersites.htm)