Who propagated Vaishnavism in South India?

 

1. Who propagated Vaishnavism in South India?
2. Sri Vaishnavism flourished in predominantly Shaivite South India during the seventh to tenth centuries CE with the twelve Alvars. One can find idols of 12 always in Northern side of temples within first enclosure.
3. Vaibhav, You may be thinking, Vaishnavism and Sri Vaishnavism are same. It is not.
4. The complex history is reflected in the two main historical denominations of Vishnuvism.
5. South India worship Vishnu or Narayana, called Perumal as their founder, and are followers of Mayonism or Sri Vaishnavism.
6. While North regard Vasudeva-Krsna as their founder and are followers of Brahmanic Vaishnavism.
7. The Sanskrit Bhagavata Purana is essentially a Sanskrit "translation" of the bhakti of the Tamil alvars.
8. Early writings in Tamil culture Sangam literatures, Tholkappiam and epics as Manimekalai and the Cilappatikaram present Mayon / Vishnu/ Perumal. References about Krishna can be found in Manimekalai and Cilappadikaram.
9. The Alvars, whose name can be translated "sages" or "saints", were devotees of
1. Mal -
2. Tiru Mal-
3. Sri and Mal-
4. Sri and her Pati-
5. Tiru and her Pati -
6. Tirupati. and there are 108 Tirupatis.
10. Vaishnavism in the 8th century came into contact with the advaidya doctrine of Adi Shankarar.
11. Many of the early Sri Vaishnava scholars such as Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja, contested the Advaita Vedanta doctrines and proposed Vishnu bhakti ideas instead.
12. Sri Vaishnavism flourished in predominantly Shaivite South India during the seventh to tenth centuries CE with the twelve Alvars, (many are non brahmins, including kings and others from all communities) saints who spread the sect to the common people with their devotional hymns. The temples that the Alvars visited or founded ( ritual certifications - present day ISO) are now known as Divya Desams and there are 108 TiruPatis or Divyadesams.
1. Tirumala Tirupati is one among them and
2. Yes, worlds largest functioning hindu temple Sri Rangam also one among them and
3. Richest temple Tiru Anantha Puram included.
4. Worlds Tallest Temple Gopuram in 1956,(Sri Rangam since 1987) and Tamil Nadu State Emblem, Tiruvilliputtur Andal (who wrote Tiruppavai) temple also one of Divya Desam.
5. One can find Vishnu in any of these three, lying, sitting and standing positions in Divyadesams.
13. Their poems in praise of Vishnu in Tamil language are collectively known as Naalayira Divya Prabandham(4000 divine verses).
14. Many of the Vijayanagara Emperors and their feudatory kings of Madurai, Tanjavur, Checking, Chandragiri, Mysore who ruled South for over three centuries from 14th till 18th century are predominantly Sri Vaishnavites.
15. Sri Vaishnavism has two sects, Vadakalai (head quartered Kanchi) and Thenkalai(head quartered Nanguneri, Tirunelveli Dist).
16. Nammalvar is considered the most prominent among the twelve alwar Saints. Description about Nammalvar, Alwar Tirunagari Temple:
17. Alwar Tirunagari is believed to be the largest town in the time of Pandya kings. The distinguishing name, with alwar in Tamil prefixed to Thirunagari means the people who spoke languages first and speaks correct language.
18. The temple is considered the birthplace of Nammalvar, considered the most prominent among the twelve alwar Saints. Nammazhwar has contributed more than thousand verses out of the four thousand in , Nalayira Divya Prabhandam the Sri Vainava canon.
19. He was born in a Pallar family at Thirukuravur(modern day Alwar tirunagari) in the southernmost region of the Tamil country.
20. Brahmanda Purana one of the eighteen sacred texts of Hinduism and written by Veda Vyasa contains a chapter called Navathirupathi Mahatmeeyam. The second part of the chapter refers to Alwar Thirunagari.The temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Nammazhwar. The temple is classified as a Divyadesam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. The temple is also classified as a Navatirupathi, the nine temples revered by Nammazhwar located in the banks of Tamiraparani river. The temple is the most prominent among the nine Navatirupathi temple.Nammazhwar makes a reference about the temple in his works in Thiruvaimozhi. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds mention in several works like 108 Tirupathi Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar. The temple also forms a series of Navagraha temples where each of the nine planetary deities of one of the temples of Navatirupathi. The temple is associated with the planet Jupiter, called Guru.

I found the following quotation in the introduction to Bhagavat Purana 11.5. The quotation is based on verses 32, 36 and 38–40 of the said chapter.

In Kali-yuga He is golden in color, is accompanied by associates who are His primary and secondary limbs and His weapons, is absorbed in kṛṣṇa-kīrtana and is worshiped by the performance of saṅkīrtana-yajña. Since in Kali-yuga all the goals of human life can be achieved simply by the glorification of the holy name of Lord Śrī Hari, those who can appreciate the real essence of things praise Kali-yuga. In Kali-yuga many people in South India (Draviḍa-deśa), in places where the Tāmraparṇī, Kṛtamālā, Kāverī and Mahānadī rivers flow, will be dedicated to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord.

Where is the place mentioned near the rivers and is the said place now a Sri Vaishnava or Gaudiya Vaisnava or a Shaiva place of worship? Is there a direct connection with Gaudiya Vaishnavism or Lord Caitanya or was it existing previously to it? Is there a direct connection of that specific place with Sri Ramanujan or Sri Madhavacarya? Is the golden color of the avatar referring to Sri Caitanya or is it possible is previous to His appearance? I will appreciate your answer. This is for a research. Are there any books you could recommend referring to this same topic?

1. Kindly note, Sri Vaishnavism and Gaudiya Vaishnavism are different.
2. Bhagavat Purana (describing evolution) is Sanskrit translation Tamil Alwars work.
3. Yes, there are 108 Divyadesams on the banks of Tamira Bhrani (Tamil Nadu), Cauvery (Tamil Nadu) and beyond.
4. The 106 earthly Divya Desam temples are spread over the Indian states of Tamil Nadu (85), Kerala (11), Uttar Pradesh (4), Uttarakhand (3), Andhra Pradesh (2) and Gujarat (1), and Country of Nepal(1)- Muktinath. The last two are believed to be outside earthly realms.
5. These divyadesams are again classified into two - Thenkalai (Tamil ritual based) Vadakalai (Sanskrit ritual based).
6. The Divyadesams can be divided into 7 categories:
1. Thondai Naadu temples
2. Chozha Naadu temples(cauvery)
3. Nadu Naadu Temples
4. Pandiya Naadu Temples(Tamirabharani)
5. Malayala Naadu temples(Kerala)
6. Vadu Naadu Temples(North India)
7. Vinnulaga Thiruppathigal (after death)

The idols of Lord Vishnu in these Divyadesams can be found in 3 positions:

• Kidantha Thirukkolam ( Sleeping Position ) – 27 Divya desams
• Veetrirundha Thirukkolam ( Sitting Position ) – 21 Divya desams
• Nindra Thirukkolam ( Standing Position ) – 60 Divya desam

1. Yes.There are plenty of literature available dealing with philosophical doctrines.
2. As I said, within Sri Vaishnavism, there are two sects+ Thenkalai (Tamirabharani river) Vadakalai (Kanchi)
3. Disclosure: Source of the following writing is Not mine.
4. First of all, these aren't the two main sub-sects of Vaishnavism, they are the two main sub-sects ofSri Vaishnavism. There are other Vaishnava Sampradayas, like the Gaudiya sect that ISKCON adheres to. What distinguishes Sri Vaishnavas from other kinds of Vaishnavas are mainly two things: our beliefs, and our origins.

Gaudiya Vaishnavas believe in Achintya Bheda Abheda, a simultaneous unity and difference between Jivatma (the human soul) and Paramatma (divine soul or supersoul) that is inconceivable.

Madhvas believe in Dvaita, a fundamental difference between Jivatma and Parmatma.

Sri Vaishnavas, on the other hand, believe in Visistadvaita, or "qualified monism", where there is one big unified whole called Paramatma, but within that there are still distinct parts like Jivatmas, akin to how an unborn baby is part of the body of a pregnant woman, but the pregnant woman's body extends beyond the baby (what Western thinkers would call panentheism).

The Sri Vaishnava sect has its origins in the works of the Alwars, a group of 12 ancient Vaishnava saints who lived in Tamil Nadu and and are famous for their poetry in praise of Vishnu. The 4000 poems of the Alwars were collected by Nathamuni into a book called the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam, which started being thought of as the Dravida Veda, or Veda of South India. It is the beliefs and principles embodied in the poems of the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam that provided a basis for the Sri Vaishnava belief system. Nathamuni was the founder of the sect, but it really got into prominence when Ramanujacharya became its leader. As I describe in this answer, it is after the time of Ramanujacharya that Sri Vaishnavas became a sizable enough portion of the Brahmin community that they started developing a distinct identity, which is e.g. how the Iyengars emerged from the Iyers.

Now Ramanujacharya placed pretty much equal emphasis on both Sanskrit scripture, like the Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas, and the Tamil Naalayira Divya Prabhandam, because he took the notion that it was the Dravida Veda very seriously. But after his death, his followers started having disagreements. They all agreed on the Visistadvaita philosophy that characterizes the Sri Vaishnava belief system, but they had disputes that fundamentally revolved around how much authority we should give to the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam. Manavala Mamunigal and his successors believed that words of the Alwars are of paramount importance, and that they contain all the important messages of the Vedas and more, so they started called themselves Thenkalai (the Southern group), because their supreme scripture was the Naalayira Divya Prabhanda, which is from South India. Vedanta Desikan and his successors still believed that Alwars' words were sacred, but they also thought that we shouldn't neglect the importance of Sanskrit scripture like the Vedas. Since they placed some emphasis on scripture that had come from North India, they became known as Vadakalai (the Northern group).

The other doctrinal differences between Thenkalais and Vadakalais emerge from this split over what scriptures to pay the most attention to. For instance, Naalayira Prabhandam consists in large part of devotional poems where the Alwars describe their utter dependence on Vishnu for salvation (Moksha), akin to a lovesick youth being dependent on the affections of his beloved. Since the Thenkalais paid attention almost exclusively to the works of the Alwars, they developed the notion that all of us are dependent on Vishnu to grant salvation to whomever he chooses, and that we are powerless to do anything to achieve it. The traditional analogy is to baby kittens, who don't need to do anything in order to be carried around by their mother. The Vadakalais, on the other hand, got from Sanskrit scripture the insight that there are actually things we can do to try to achieve Moksha, like the principles of Bhakti Yoga laid out in the Bhagavad Gita. But they also paid attention to the poems of the Alwars, which led them to believe that it is possible to be granted salvation by Vishnu the way the Alwars were talking about, but in order to do that you need to first make a positive act of surrender (Saranagati or Prapatti) to the lotus feet of Vishnu. The traditional analogy for the Vadakalai belief is baby monkeys, who have to make some effort to cling to their mother's body.

The "cats vs. monkeys" dispute is the biggest doctrinal difference between Thenkalais and Vadakalais, but there are other smaller differences; here is a list of ten of them (the central difference I discussed above is described in points 1, 4, and 5):

1) Regarding Lord's mercy. Next to the Caste mark, this probably is the only other difference most people are aware of

Vadakalai View: Some positive gesture is necessary on the part of the jeevatma to deserve the grace of God, because He can be deemed partial if He grants Moksha to all both deserving and undeserving.

Tenkalai View: Lord's grace is spontaneous. He can grant Moksha to anyone he likes.

2) Regarding the status of Lakshmi (i) as to her being the means (ii) as to her being infinite (iii) as to her being Paramatma

Vadakalai View: (i) She is the means for attaining salvation as much as the Lord Himself and also has the role of a mediator ( Purushakara) (ii) She is infinite in nature (Vibhu) like the Lord Himself (iii) She is also Paramatma as much as the Lord Himself

Tenkalai View: (i) Do not accept this position though they accept her recommendatory role as held by Vadakalais (ii) She is atomic in nature like other Jeevatmas (iii) She is a Jeevatma like any of us.

3) Regarding Kaivalya

Vadakalai View: (i) Kaivalya is inferior to Paramapada (ii) Kaivalya is not eternal (iii) Kaivalya is situated Outside Paramapada

Tenkalai View (i) Accepted (ii) Kaivalya is eternal (iii) Kaivalya is within Paramapada but in its outermost parts.

4) Regarding the means of Bhakti and Prapatti

Vadakalai View: Accept both as the direct means but Bhakti is more difficult and dilatory while Prapatti is easy and immediate

Tenkalai View: Do not accept any means because Jeevatma is so utterly dependent as to be incapable of adopting either Bhakti or Prapatti as a means.

5) Regarding Prapatti

Vadakalai View: Prapatti has to be a positive specific act of surrender by the jeevatma to the Paramatma

Tenkalai View: No positive, specific act is necessary. All that is required is (i) the knowledge of the Svarupa of the Jeevatma and (ii) mental acceptance of the Lord's grace in granting salvation

6) Regarding sins

Vadakalai View: When a jeeva surrenders, the Lord forgives the sins committed by the jeevatma and grants Moksha.

Tenkalai View: The sins of a jeevatma is a source of joy for the Lord who relishes the same like a cow licking off the dirt on the body of its calf

7) Regarding performance of Compulsory duties like Sandhyavandanam

Vadakalai View: As compulsory duties are laid down by the Sastras which are the Lord's commandments, non- performance will tantamount to transgression of His commands (Ajna adhilangana) and will render the Prapanna liable for punishment

Tenkalai View: To a highly evolved soul, non- performance of the compulsory duties is not an offence. But, they should continue to do them more for setting an example to the less evolved souls.

8) Regarding the interpretation of the words "Sarva Dharman Parityajya' occurring in the Charama sloka

Vadakalai View: The Dharmas actually refer to the 32 Vidyas attaching to Bhaktiyoga which had already been given up by the jeeva due to incapacity and delay involved in observing them and the Lord offers to stand in their place

Tenkalai View: This is literally interpreted to mean ' First, give up your duties and then take refuge in the Lord'

9) Regarding the Lord's grief at the suffering of the souls

Vadakalai View: One can have grief only when one cannot remove suffering of another. But, the Lord is capable of removing suffering. So, there is no need for Him to grieve. As Sri Rama , He shows to the World how a human would feel and how one should react on seeing the misery of others.

Tenkalai View: They hold that the Lord actually feels sorry on seeing the sufferings of souls and cite examples from Srimad Ramayana where Sri Rama is depicted as grieving over the misery of others.

10) Regarding the Lord's being also atomic as well as gigantic in size as mentioned in the Vedas.

Vadakalai View: He is smaller than the atom in beings that are atomic in size. This is called 'Antar Vyapti' ( Immanence). He is also greater than the greatest in the sense He pervades and surrounds everything. This is called ' Bahir Vyapti'. ( Transcendence)

Tenkalai View: His being atomic in atoms and enveloping even the biggest are all done by what is known as 'Agatitha Ghatana Saamartya'- Special powers enabling accomplishment of even the infinite.