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Iyengar

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Iyengar
Classification: Ethnic group/ Caste/Community of South India
Total population: 2004: (approx) 600,000 (roughly 1% of Tamilians)
Significant populations in:

  Chennai
  Thanjavur
  Tiruchirapalli
  Bangalore
  Mysore
  Mandya
  Hassan
  USA

Language Mother tongue is Tamil with unique Iyengar accent. Knowledge in Sanskrit for religious/traditional reasons.
Religion Vishishtadvaita Hinduism
Acharyas

Ramanuja
Vedanta Desika
Manavala Mamunigal

Related Communities

Iyengar (or Aiyangar) is the name of a small in number caste of Tamil 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 ). The most common spelling is "Iyengar", but "Aiyangar" is the phonetically correct spelling. Sometimes although rarely "Iengar" is also used . Iyengars along with Iyers are known as Tamil Brahmins .

Although most aIyengars speak Tamil, a significant number of Iyengars in south Karnataka speak Kannada or a dialect of Tamil highly influenced by Kannada (popularly known as Mysore, Hebbar, Mandyam, Hemige Iyengars), while some in southern Andhra Pradesh speak Telugu. 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-sects 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.


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 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, Iyengars as well as other Brahmins are Aryans who migrated to India from Central Asia. However, the current historians have started to discredit the migratory view and started to perceive Iyengars as natives of the Tamil region of India where they currently reside.

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. 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 Acharyas for these services. The Swayam Acharyas are supposedly the original Tamil Iyengar followers of Ramanuja, who initiated the Hebbar converts into the Vaishnavite rituals of worship.

'Gotra's and 'Nakshatra's

All the Iyengars trace their origin to one of the eight major rishis or sages. Iyengars classify themselves under different Gotras (also referred to as Gothram), 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. A plausible explanation for the term gotra being used to indicate ancestry from a certain sage, would be the use of this term to refer to the cowpens in which the sages used to keep their animals.

Another terminology which is used in conjunction with Gotra is Nakshatra (or Nakshatram).

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. A large numbers of Iyengars also work in film industries, particularly the Tamil movie industry in the south of India. Some famous actors who were born Iyengars and/or are practising Iyengars are Kamal Hassan, Hema Malini ,Vyjayanti Mala and Jayalalitha.

Some Famous Iyengars in Recent Times

The following were all born Iyengars

See Also

Smartha, Madhva, Brahmin, Iyer k.r.srinivasan - distinguished i.p.s officer,director general of police - karnataka state

External links

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