Assignment -1

AYYANGARS:The Brahmin population of South India is probably about four per cent of the whole,
and Ayyangars, who are the followers of Ramanujacharya, constitute not more than ten per
cent of these.

ulturally they are principally Tamillians, though thousands are from Andhra Pradesh
and have Telugu as their mother tongue. Tamil is as sacred to Ayyangars as Sanskrit, for
it was in Tamil, the languages of the people, that the
Alwars (the Vaishnava mystics who preceded Ramanuja)
composed their hymns.
Ramanujacharya (11th -12th century), who
reinterpreted the Gita and the Upanishads, shared his
Knowledge with all, preaching that Gods grace come to
whoever made a sincere effort for it, even if he were an
untouchable.
The suffix Ayyangar is of Sanskritic origin, derived,
like Ayyar from Arya, a tittle used in ancient days to
convey respect from Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Ayyangar is
a variant from of Ayyar and is to be distinguished from it.
Orthodox Ayyangars were the namam. Tridentlike marks in red and white sandalwood on their
foreheads, but most of them wear it only on strictly
religious or ceremonial occasions. They used to give their
children names denoting their sectarian denomination,
but this practice, too, is going out of fashion.

Brahmin Castes in India Brahmin Caste in

India refers to the class of educators, law
makers, scholars, priests and preachers of
Dharma in Hinduism.

The most permanent living Ayyangar is

Chakravarthy Gajagopalachari (1878), the nonagerian
statesman, who still influences the Indian political scene.
Another famous Ayyangar was srinivasa Ramanujan
(1887-1920), one of the greatest mathematicians of
modern times. G. Parthasarathi, a former Indian

Assignment -1
representative at the UN and now Vice- Chancellor of Nehru University, is and Ayyangar.
Many members of this community have enriched Carnatic music, among them Poochi
Ayyangar, Tiger Varadachari and Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.

Tengali and Vadagalai:

There are two principal schismatic schools among the following of Ramanuja called
Tengalai (Southern sect) and Vadagalai (Northern sect). Although the younger generation do
not care to display their separate identities, the more orthodox of them wear their
distinctiveness on the forehead. The two different namas are shown in the heading.
During and before the lifetime of Ramanuja this difference in the Vaishnava insignia
may not have symbolized any major differences in theological beliefs. It certainly came to
assume significance in later times when distinction rather than unity became the fashion.
The controversy arose when commentators of the 13th and 14th centuries came to
emphasize a basic difference in their interpretations of the alwars concept of Prapatti (total
surrender to God through love). The Tengalai protagonists argued that Parapatti was superior
even to self-effort (nirhetuka kripa), while the Vadagalai sect argued that Ramanujas
philosophy advocated Prapatti only in combination with self-effort in the form of religious and
moral duties correctly performed Vedantadesika (14th century) championed the latter theory
while Lokacharya and Saumya Jamatr Muni emphasized the overall superiority of Prapatti as a
way to salvation. There are besides other minor points o fdifference between the two sects
on the theory of karma and the individual souls status after salvation.
In course of time the two sects fell out so badly that even interdining and intermarriage
among them came to be frowned upon. They quarreled over petty things like who should get
precedence of honour in certain temples and whether the temple deity and the temple
elephant should be given the one or the other insignia. This wuarrel went sometimes to such
ridiculous extent as to involve the two sects in prolonged court litigation. In a couple of
famous cases on record they went as far as the Privy Council, the highest appellate court
during British days.

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The assignment on the world

folklore
The sub castes of Hindu and their origin

Ayyangars
Submitted to
Professor. Dr. Vidya
The Department of English Literature

Submitted by
Prudhvi kumar
12-EL-048
Loyola College.