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]). The most common spelling is "Iyengar", but "Aiyangar" is the phonetically correct spelling.

Although most Iyengars speak Tamil, there are also large numbers of Kannada speaking Iyengars in southern Karnataka (popularly known as 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.

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. Fresh flowers, fruit,sandal wood incense , leaves of the tulasi plant are used in the ritual part of the worship of Lord Vishnu .The major scriptures of Vaishnavism are Vedas, Agamasutras, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam .The Sahastra Namam (1000 names of Vishnu) , Suprabhatam, Purusha Suktam , Sri Suktam , 4000 Dhivya Prabhandham ,Thiruppavai , Thiruvempavai and Vedanta Desikar Stotras are hymns recited by Iyengars.

The priests at Titupati Balaji temple,the most famous and important of Hindu Temples are Iyengars.

The 108 holy temples of Vishnu called 108 Divya Desams[2][3] are important to the Iyengars. The 108th Divya Desam is Vaikuntam which is the Mythical abode of Lord Vishnu.

There are people in Iyengar group, who do not believe the other deity: Lord Shiva. Though both Shiva and Vishnu are deities, there have been a general disagreement on which God is bigger. The Iyengars (who worship Vishnu) are very similar to Iyers (who worship Lord Shiva). But they disagree on whose God is Big. God and casteism as an expression for the individual's Ego - correct?

Ten Incarnations of Vishnu

The concept of reincarnation (avatara) is important to Vaishnavas.In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, "Whenever Adharma(unrighteousness) is one the rise and there is dominance of evil , O descendent of Bharata (Arjuna), for the protection of the good and annihilation of the evil and establishment of Dharma , I will manifest/incarnate on earth age after age."

The number of avataras of Vishnu is ten and called the "Dasavataram ". The Ten Avataras [4] of Sriman Narayana are as follows

1. Matsya

2. Kurma

3. Varaaha

4. Narasimha

5. Vaamana

6. Parasurama

7. Raama

8. Balaraama

9. Krishna

10.Kalki (yet to come)

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.

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 a very over acheiving community for 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
• 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
• Chinnaswamy - Cricketer (name attributed to the Bangalore cricket stadium)
• B.K.S. Iyengar - Yogi and founder of Iyengar Yoga
• T.T. Krishnamachari
• 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 - Actress
• Vyjayantimala Bali - Actress
• Vaali - Lyricist
• R. Madhavan - Actor
• Vasundhara Das - Actress and Singer
• Srinivas - Playback singer
• Sujatha Rangarajan - Writer
• C. Rangarajan - Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India and governor of Andhra Pradesh,India
• General S. Padmanabhan - Former chief of the Indian Army
• Vishnu Vardhan , Kannada actor
• Dr.Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan , Astrophysicist, former Chairman at ISRO, member of Rajya Sabha
• K S Sudarshan - Senior BJP member
• K N Govindacharya - RSS Idealogue

External links

• Sri Parakalamath, Mysore
• Sri Vaishnava Home Page
• Srirangam Srimad Andavan Periyaashramam
• Official Site of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams
• Ahobila Matam Home Page
• Vanamamalai Divya Kshetram
• Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's Home page
• Important Links for Vaishnava Amrutham