Taking After The Best Laid Path Of Ramanujacharya

By Author: Raja Babu
Total Articles: 17
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Iyengar community belongs to the Indo Aryan sub-sect of Brahmins. The members of this community follow the preaching of Ramanujacharya. It was the time when Adi Shankara’s Advaitha became popular among the people and to keep pace the changing times Ramanujacharya propounded the Visistadvaita and showed Sri Vaisnavam as an ideal path to take for salvation. Bilaterally the Vaishnava sainthood emerged in the name of Alwars with their Nalayira Divya Prabantham the compilation of Hymns of 12 Alwars including their premier Nam Alwar on Lord Vishnu. In the medieval period, after the revival of Hinduism and successfully checking the spread of Jainism and Buddhism, the poised Shaivites and Vasihnavites wrestled among themselves as Veera Shaivas and Veera Vaishnavas by entering into heated debates and endless arguments so as to prove who is the greater God among Lord Shiva and Maha Vishnu. Though the arguments turn sometimes into a scuffle, but it lead to a better consequence in sustenance of the Hindu religion, had not been the revival of the religion happened, the history must have been scripted in different lines. The medieval ...
... kings of Pallava Dynasty and later medieval rulers like Krishna Deva Raya were the staunch followers of Vaishavism and have employed Iyengars as ministers, confederates and vassals. The place Chathurvedi Mangalam which was given away to Iyengars as a tax free land itself bears the best testimony on how the Iyengar community was received and appreciated. In modern period Iyengar community is praised for the undeterred spirituality, elevated thoughts and unique customs.

The geographical classification of Sangam age throws light on the Lord of Mullai Nilam-The Cultivable and adjoining farm land as Mayon-the Maha Vishnu, which by itself tells about the followers of Vishnu-the Iyengars. The Vadakalai Iyengars belong to Northern region follow the Sanskritic sampradaya- of Vedanta Desika, where as the Thenkalai counterparts adhere to the philosophies propounded by Manavala Mamuni. Invariably, both the sects commonly take after the doctrines of Ramanuja, 12 Alwars and other Vaisnava sainthood as a common thread that binds them together. We can see the noticeable differentiation between the two sects by the Thilak they apply on their forehead, i.e. the tail of Thiak is not found on the Vadakalai Iyengars.

The Iyengar community gave out many stalwarts, educationists, and trail blazers from the sangam age to the modern period. To name a few there was Nathamuni who authored the Yoga Rahasya, C Rajagopalachari – the eminent freedom fighter and first Governor General of Madras, Mr.N. Ram of The Hindu and the list will go very long as the variety and uniqueness we find in the Iyengar community is very grand.
 
Going beyond the known similarities like horoscope matching, economic, education and emotional parity. The Iyengar marriage has been imbued with many unique samprathayas-(customs) unlike in the Christian and Muslim matrimony, like respecting the Son in law as a personification of Lord Vishnu himself and the important custom of reciting the Varanam Aaiyeram song of Aandal Naichiyar by the purohit who convenes the marriage for better bonding in-between the couple, so on.

There is a well known belief that marriages are made in heaven, but today the time has come to say ‘It materialize better with online matrimony’. Nowadays there are multitudes of Iyengar matrimony websites offering service to Iyengar sect of Brahmins. The bride / groom should enroll themselves with any online matrimony website and they can choose between the basic free search and the advanced paid search options. With easier accessibility among the huge database of genuine profiles, and quick response e-age tools in place, finding the best life partner wouldn’t be a tough task to take.