iyengar

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'' (AnglicisationAnglicised from the Tamil !ஐயங¼ d;கார� bcd;(Aiyaṅkār))? means "people entrusted with five tasks", referring to the five duties that traditional Iyengars perform (see ahobilamutt.org). 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 languageTamil, a significant number of Iyengars in south Karnataka speak Kannada languageKannada 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 languageTelugu. 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 languageTamil 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 Desamsgeocities.comindian-heritage.org are important to the Iyengars. The 108th Divya Desam is Vaikunta 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.

'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''

Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan - world renowned Mathematician

Ariyakkudi T. Ramanuja Iyengar - World renowned Carnatic musician

Rajaji - Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the first Governor General of Independent India

Masti Venkatesha Iyengar - Kannada Literature

Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar - Kannada Literature

G P Rajarathnam - Kannada Literature

Mysore Doreswamy Iyengar - Veena Maestro

Raja Ramanna - Nuclear Scientist

B.K.S. Iyengar - Yogi and founder of Iyengar Yoga

B.S.Ranga - Veteran producer and director of Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films with more than 70 movies to his credit, winner of 2 President's Awards, Rajotsava Awardee

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

K N Govindacharya - RSS Idealogue

Ramanujacharya - Sanskrit Scholar, Philosopher & Social Reformer

Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan - Carnatic music maestro

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

Srinivasaraghavan VenkataraghavanS. Venkataraghavan - Cricketer

Krishnamachari Srikkanth - Cricketer

Sadagopan Ramesh - Cricketer

M. Chinnaswamy - Cricket administrator

Hema Malini - Tamil/Hindi Actress

Vyjayantimala Bali - Tamil/Hindi Actress

Suhasini - Tamil Actress

Vaali - Tamil Lyricist

Srinivas - Playback singer

Sujatha Rangarajan - Writer & Visionary

Chitraveena Ravi Kiran - Chitraveena maestro & Child Prodigy

Kamal Haasan - Actor

Chaaru Haasan - 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

Madhan - Cartoonist

K. Santhanam- (1895-1980)An attorney, Gandhian, 1st Railway Minister in Free India,Governor of Vindhya Pradesh, Chairman of Santhanam Committee on Corruption, authored several books (1895-1980)

S. Parthasarathi Ayyangar,Former Commissioner of Police in Madras Presidency

Vedanta Desika-Great Vaishnavite scholar & philosopher

Ravi Iyengar-Indian neuroscientist, pioneer in G protein studies.

See also - Smartha, Madhva, Brahmin, Iyerk.r.srinivasan - distinguished i.p.s officer,director general of police - karnataka state

External links -

nama.info - NAMA Inc.- An Association of SriVaishnavas

parakalamatham.org - Sri Parakalamath, Mysore

ramanuja.org - Sri Vaishnava Home Page

ramanujamission.org - Srirangam Srimad Andavan Periyaashramam

tirumala.org - Official Site of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams

ahobilamutt.org - Ahobila Matam Home Page

vanamamalai.com - Vanamamalai Divya Kshetram

chinnajeeyar.org - Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's Home page

vanamamalai.com - Important Links for Vaishnava Amrutham

members.tripod.com - Vadakalai Vs Thenkalai

malibuhindutemple.com - Malibu, CA Temple

svtemple.org - Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh, PA, USA

bksiyengar.comCategory:Social groups of IndiaCategory:Brahmin !CommunitiesCategory:CasteCateg ory:Indian? surnames

BYRON YOGA CENTRE
Yoga Teacher Training Courses in Byron Bay, Australia. Six weeks, 250 hours, $2000, maximum 18 students. Byron Bay Yoga Centre which is one of the longest running yoga schools in both Byron Bay and Australia, is now conducting a series of Yoga Teacher Training Courses.
http://www.byronyoga.com.au/

Iyengar Yoga Studio, Bangkok
First accredited center for Iyengar Yoga in Thailand. Ongoing classes.
http://www.iyengar-yoga-bangkok.com/

BREATHE YOGA AND PILATES
BREATHE is the premier source for London's best yoga and Pilates teachers, offering private instruction for individuals and small groups in homes and offices all over London. There is no limit on class size and teachers are available seven days a week.
http://www.breatheonline.com/

Iyengar Yoga Resources
This site provides information about Iyengar Yoga.
http://www.iyengar-yoga.com

The World of Iyengar
Official website of Yogacharya BKS Iyengar includes biography, overview of Iyengar yoga, articles, events, information on classes in India. Books and CDs for sale.
http://www.bksiyengar.com/

Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco
Hatha yoga information, instructor biographies, programs, books and supplies, accommodations, directions.
http://www.iyisf.org/