Thengalais and Vadagalais

Who are Thengalais and Vadagalais? Do they form some special sect and religion? Do they have any special geographical or demographical origin?

These questions had been bothering me from the time I was a little boy. We were a family of Thengalais who had settled down in North India, far removed from South India. Amongst the various festivals being celebrated, the one where we children would join the elders was that of Avaniavittam or Poonal, as we preferred to call it. On that day, the Vadhyar would come to the house for the function. The elder male members, my father and various uncles would have their bath early in the morning and instead of going to the office, or wherever they used to go, would sit in a line wearing white veshtis or dhoti with, upper body bare. We kids used to giggle on the sly at the sight. They used to have white and red colours (Thiruman and Sriccharanam as I later came to know) on their foreheads. But when the Vadhyar came, we could see that what he had on his forehead was different from what my father and uncles had. And after the thread change was over, we, i.e. the little boys around, used to rush to the gathering, screaming “Me too,Me too”. One of my uncles then proceeded to apply the white and red pastes on my forehead, but when he did it like his own, I screamed that I wanted a U, like the Vadhyar Mama!!! The Vadhyar then placed, what he called as a “kalla Poonal” around and across my neck and shoulder and said “No, no, you must do like what your father has done”. At that time, I had no idea that this was as per our tradition, and that my uncle hadn’t just done this to tease me. It was only later after many years that I found out the real reason, we were Thengalais and the Vadhyar mama was a Vadagalai.

Who are Thengalais and Vadagalais?
Both Thengalais and Vadagalais are SriVaishnavites, following the same tenets, beliefs and practices, till a few centuries back.

Thengalais means the “Galais” from South, while Vadagalais means “Galais” from North. But then, what North and South are we talking about? The Poles? The North-South divide in the have and have nots of the world? The Aryans from North India and the Dravidians from South India?

Far from it. The distance separating the two “galais” if measured in kilometers, is not in the thousands, but in the hundreds. Around three hundred to be precise. This is the distance from Kanchipuram and Srirangam.

Both sects are followers of Sri Ramanujachari, and after his death, of Sri Desikar. However, about a hundred years after Sri Desikar, came Sri Manavala Mamuni, with a line of thought slightly different from what was prevalent. Those who subscribed to this became his followers and became one sect and the others remained in the other sect. Sri Desikar was born in Kanchipuram, and he lived there and taught the teachings of Sri Ramanujachari, but with the basic accent being on Sanskrit, which his disciples followed. On the other hand, Sri Manavalamamuni lived in Srirangam, almost a century after Sri Desikar, and while teaching the same beliefs as Sri Desikar, had Tamil as his primary language. Sanskrit was accepted as a language of the North India, and hence its followers became Vadagalais, while Sri Manavalamamuni’s followers, using Tamil, a South Indian language, became Thengalais.

This division, and separation of entities however came to the fore about 200 years after the death of Sri Manavalamamuni, and was a result of beliefs of some very narrow minded persons. Basically the teachings are the same. As a matter of fact, as per Sri Vedanta Desikar in the tradition of Ramanuja, there is no division; there is only a small difference in opinion Similarly, Sri Manavalamamuni would often quote Sri Desikar and his works and refer to him very respectfully. So where are the differences?

Saranagati
It is believed that Sri Ramanujachari felt that this matter was a very personal one, being interpreted and followed in different ways by different people. Hence, he did not pass any final opinion on this till the very end. After he passed away, two groups of his followers were left behind, one based in Kanchipuram, and the other in Srirangam. I have already mentioned above what happened to the philosophy and beliefs of the two groups.

The Acharyas at Kanchipuram had an approach to Saranagati which was different to what was being practiced at Srirangam. This I believe was the main cause of the split.

Prapatti: while it is the belief of Vadagalais that act of surrender to the Paramatma has to be a positive one, Thengalais are of the opinion that knowledge of Jivatma, and surrender to the Lord is adequate.

Thiruman
The Vadagalais apply Thiruman in a U shaped manner (remember the Vadhyar I had mentioned earlier at the Avaniavvittam function when I was very young?). Against this, the Thengalais wear the Thruman in a ‘Y’ shape, with the lower portion extending over the nose. And the reason for the difference? No major one, I can assure you.

This difference in Thiruman was carried out to extreme lengths, so much so, that a few decades back, the Privy Council in London was seized of a particular case where they had to decide whether the Namam on the temple elephant in Kanchipuram would Vadagalai or Thengalai.

There is a view expressed by some (I came across in an article I read on the web) that the actual difference lay in the interpretations as to whether the tip of the nose where the Thiruman was supposed to end was at the nose bridge, or the tip of the nose itself. Just a nose length difference, you may say, but that nose length lasted, and still exists, over centuries. So much so, that during festivals or functions, if people of one “Galai” saw people of the other “Galai” approaching, they would hastily close the gates of the temple or assembly hall.

I am of the belief that the U Thiruman of Vadagalais is a representation of Lakshmi, Sriman Narayan’s consort, the “SRI” in Srivaishnavism. In accordance with Vadagalai beliefs, Sri is the channel for all prayers to the Lord, whereas in the case of Thengalais, while due deference and prayers are made to Lakshmi, the status is not the same as in Vadagalais. Hence it is possible that at a certain stage, someone may have used this mark as a sign of being different from Thengalais.

samaaSrayaNam
Another point of difference on the philosophy angle could be 'samaaSrayaNam', also known as the 'pancha-samskaara' for the five-fold initiation rite that initiates and converts a person into a Srivaishnavism. It is a formal recognition that Sriman Narayana is the almighty, the ultimate. For the Thengalai sampradaayam, this is the only act required. The recognition that Sriman Narayana is the ultimate and his grace is the sole requirement for attaining Moksham.

Vadagalais, on the contrary, believe that a separate surrender, 'bhara-nyaasam', placing the burden of achieving moksha upon the lord, should be performed. They also call this prapatti, SaraNaagati. This is usually done through an acharya.

Other differences on philosophy
Prostration
The number of times one does "sEvippu", or prostration. Yes, Thengalais are required to provide salutation, prostrate, only once, but Vadagalais do it at least twice. Again, I have no idea as to the reason behind this, although I am sure that at some point, someone must have had a good solid reason, and it may have been very plausible one at that point of time.

Serving of Meals
Another difference is during the serving of meals, especially during religious occasions and more so when a religiously eminent person is present. As per the Vadagalai tradition, the first item to be served should be rice, followed by vegetables and other items. In the Thengalai tradition, rice is served ONLY after vegetables and some other items are served. The differences are petty, born out of bigotry, and incorrect or imperfect interpretations of the teachings of the Acharyas. The effects are however great. The have led to extreme bitterness in the two sects, so much so, that I have heard members of one sect saying that they would rather their daughter remain unmarried than giving her hand in marriage to a member of the other sect! Incredible, isn’t it?

Sins committed by people
while Vadagalais believe that the Lord forgives these sins, Thengalais are of the opinion that the Lord takes joy in cleansing the Jivatma of its sins.

Sandhyavandanam and other duties of a Sri Vaishnava
While Vadagalais view this as absolutely necessary, transgressions of which would be violation of his commands, Thengalais believe that while being desirable, there is no element of compulsion.

Samskaaraas

It was Ramanujachary, around a thousand years back, who rebelled against this philosophy, in spite of the fact that his own guru, Yadavprakash, was a very strong exponent of Shaivism. Ramanujacharya broke away from both Dwaitism, as well as Advaitism, which was also prevalent, and propounded his new theory of Visihtadvaitism, thereby ushering in the beginning of Srivaishnavism

What is Samskaara?
SamskArA means "betterment" ( Sams ) of a thing ( kaaram ). The cleansing process set in motion by the observance of SamskArAs leads to the betterment of life and qualifies a person for spiritual upliftment. According to the Tarka sAsthrAs , the word SamskArA is defined as " an impression on the memory " Steady practice of scriptural injunctions establishes firm tracks in the memory so that the practitioner does not swerve from the correct path The samskArAs cover the life span of a Hindu starting from the time of formation (conception ) of the embryo (nishEkam) to the time of cremation in the burning ghaat (smasaanam ). Agni is an indispensable part of the samskArAs, and is therefore revered, being a witness to the samskArAs. Even cremation is considered as an offering of the ghee-smeared body to Agni as the ultimate offering. Some of the samskArAs are simple and brief,yet others are elaborate and require continuous performance over many days. Some of the samskArAs are done at home, whereas the others call for lots of space as well as time. A number of samskArAs have to be performed daily,some to be practised twice a month, some once a month, while other samskArAs have to be performed once a year or at least once in one's life time.

There are forty samskArAs out of which the following two sets are relevant here

1. A set of seven starting from GarbhadhAnA to Chudakramaa
2. Another set of seven starting from UpanayanA to VivAhA

All the seven samskArAs prior to Upanayanaa are performed by the parents on behalf of the child, since it has not reached the stage of discriminating knowledge. These are:

1. GARBHADHAANAM: Seeding of the wife’s womb by the husband , leading to embryo formation is known as GarbhAdhAnam .The life cycle rituals of the Hindu begins at this point
2. PUMSAVANA SAMSKAARAA: This is to be performed during the third month of pregnancy, a stage preceding the rapid growth of the life in the mother’s womb.
3. SIMANTHONAYANA SAMSKAARAA: This samskArA (hair parting of the pregnant mother) has to be performed either in the sixth month or in the eighth month of pregnancy.
4. JAATHA KARMAA: This is performed soon after the child's birth. The tongue of the new –born child is touched thrice with ghee to the accompaniment of appropriate Vedic mantrAs praying for protection and long life for the new born.
5. NAAMAKARANAA: This fifth samskArA is about naming of the child on its eleventh day of its birth.
6. ANNAPRAASANAM: This deals with the feeding of the baby for the first time with solid food at the age of six months. ManthrAs are recited, while they feed the child.
7. CHUDAKARMAA: The last of the pre-upanayana samskArA is chuda Karmaa for a male child, when a tuft or sikhA is created.

Upanayanam
Education of a child normally starts at the age of five. When it reaches the age of eight, has developed skills in speech and language, and therefore is considered eligible for receiving Vedic Instruction. Mata, Pita, Guru Daiywam: The parents, Mata and Pita do their duty by bringing the child to the stage of Upanayam. Upanayana means bringing one close to the guru or the teacher, who initiates the child into Veda vidya. A sacred thread ceremony known as Upanayanam is performed by the father and the boy is blessed with the initiation into reciting the sacred Gayathri Manthram. Next, his Vedic instruction begins with the proper guru. From this stage, he has to follow various routines. The first one is Sandhyavandam.

Sandhyavandanam
Vandanam means worship. Both worship and meditation are involved in Sandhyavandanam. Sandhya means the time of union. The time which relates to the union of two things, i.e. the time between the night and morning (first junction Dawn), between forenoon and afternoon (second junction Noon) and between afternoon and evening (third junction, Dusk); Sandhya means dawn, noon and dusk. Sandhyavandanam means a ritual done at the time of three junctions, Dawn, Noon and Dusk. Sandhyavandana is a prescribed ‘nityakarma’.

Upanishads speak very highly of Sandhya times. It says that benefits are far more during Sandhya times than that at other times. Recent researches have also brought out abundant release of beneficial energy at sun rise and withdrawal of non-beneficial energy at sun set.

Though Upanishads refer to two Sandhya-names Sun rise and Sun set , the wise men of the past had added one more 'Sandhya' namely 'Madhyanika' or mid-day. Sun rises in east , moves upward , reaches zenith , and then descends to west. The point at zenith represents change from upwards to downwards. This sandhya is considered to be beneficial for worship of 'Pithru Devatas' - that is devatas who are instrumental for one to get son , grandson , etc and also one to be a son or grandson , etc. However, due to time constraints, and other reasons, this procedure (Madhyanika) is generally given the go by. So, the population growth cannot be entirely due to performance of Madhyanikas!!!

Now the budding Srivaishnavite is ready for the next stage of Samskaras.

SRIVAISHNAVISM … contd.

Ramanuja's particular form of Vaisnavism is the oldest of the schools of BHAKTI movement and is often termed Sri Vaisnavism in order to distinguish if from that of Madhva and the other Vaisnava schools, like Nimbarka, Chaitanya, Ramananda, Jayadeva, and so on.These schools developed as per the local needs, languages, religious beliefs, etc.

Unlike Madhva or Chaitanya, who can justifiably be called the founders of their particular school of Vaisnavism, Ramanuja an important member among a great succession of followers of Vaishnavism that trace themselves to the time of the Vedas, is not the founder of Vaishnavism. Instead,. He adapted Vaishnavism, as per the needs, and converted it into the modified school of Srivaishnavism. He not only propagated, but also put in place various systems for the practice and development of Srivaishnavism

The development Sri Vaishnavism has been influenced by various factors, over a great period of time. In the beginning, the basic belief of Srivaishnavism was that Vishnu was the sole God., the Supreme Being. Although prayers and hymns were being offered to other devatas, it was their belief that they were but different faces of Vishnu. Amongst the various mantas being chanted, the primary one was Purusha Suktam, which established Vishnu as the Supreme Being. This practice can be traced back to the time of the Vedas.

Another factor contributing to the development of Srivaishnavism was the ancient scripture of Agamas, the Pancharatra ,Vaikhnasya, Pratishthasara, and Vijnanalalita Agamas. The word Agama means tradition. The Agamas are ancient Indian texts dealing with all rituals and ceremonies to be observed in temples, and they also laid down rules and procedures as to how each archa murthy was to be conceived, constructed and worshipped.

The Puranas and the Sutras also had a very great impact on the development of Srivaishnavism. Amongst the Puranas, while Vishnu Purana was very important to the Srivaishnavas, Bhagwat Purana became more widely integrated into the basic philosophy of Srivaishnavasim.
Development of Srivaishnavism was very greatly influenced by the various Avatars, the Dasavatars or the Ten Avatars of Vishnu, leading to great epics like Ramanayana, Mahabharat

Lord Krishna, in his upadesham to Arjuna said:

Yadaa Yadaa hi Dharmasya Glanir Bhavati Bharata
Abhyuttanam Adharmasya Tadaatmaanam Srujamyaham
Paritranaya Sadhunaam Vinaashaya ch Dushkritaam
Dharmasansthapanarthaya Sambhavami Yugay Yugay

Interpretation
Whenever Dharma, or the situation of law and order, is endangered on this world, I will take an incarnation and come in to this world to re establish Dharma, law and order, and to protect the Sadhus or saints and to detroy the evil elements of the society.

In his upadesam to Arjuna, Lord Krishna also showed hi the path to Moksam.

sarva dharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam saraNam vraja
aham thvA sarva pApEpyO mOkshayishyAmi mA sucha

Interpretation
Leave all your dharmaas and take refuge at my feet and I will save or relieve you from all your karmaas and the cycle of births and death

Throughout ages, Lord Vishnu, has incarnated in various life forms through different yugas (ages or eons) in situations wherever Dharma was in danger, because of certain evil elements in the world, Lord Vishnu, has incarnated in various life forms. In mythology, there ten instances of incarnation of Lord Vishnu. These incarnations are termed as the avatars of Lord Vishnu. The ten avataars are as follows:

1. MASTYA AVATAR Lord Vishnu in a fish form
2. KURMA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as a tortoise
3. VARAHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as a boar
4. NARASIMHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Narasimha
5. VAMANA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Vamana
6. PARASURAM AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Parasurama
7. RAMA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Rama
8. KRISHNA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Sri Krishna
9. BUDDHA AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Buddha
10. KALKI AVATAR Lord Vishnu as Kalki

Srivaishnavas consider the Ramayana, the oldest and most authoritative of these. They refer to it as the text of Saranagati, showing the way to Moksham.

The Ramayana describes how Vishnu came to earth in the Avatar of Sri Rama and goes on to describe the character of Sita, and through this the greatness of Lakshmi, and the characters of Hanuman, Vibhisana, Laksmana and Bharata,showing their devotion,selflessness, and the way to Moksham.

Another of the great epics, the Mahabharata highlights the characters of various persons like Bhima, the Pandavas, specially Arjuna, and Sri Krishna”s Gita Upadesam to him. It also brought out the loyalty of Karna, and the honesty and respect for law of Vidur.

While the Mahabharat brought the best of characters, great as well as greedy and treacherous, it specially brought out the habits and characteristics of people regarding devotion to duty. Against this, the Ramayana brought out the devotion aspect. Collectively, these are the ways to Saranagati and Moksham.

As time passed, Srivaishnavism weakened, and became diluted. And then came the time of the mystical Azhwars, who through their hymns and compositions revived the flagging interest in Srivaishnavism, gave people greater insights into Sri Vishnu, and the path to him. While the Vedas, Agamas, and Smritis or Epics were the initial guides in the development of Srivaishnavism, it was the teachings of these Azhwars, and later, Sri Ramanujachari, who profoundly impacted the philosophy of Srivaishnavism .

There were 12 Azhwars in all, born in South India starting from the beginning of Kali Yuga. It is said that the first four of them, Poigai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar, Pey Azhwar, and Tirumisai Azhwar, were the direct representations of Sri Vishnu, and they were not born to anyone.

The Azhwars, in chronological order, are:

1. PoigaiAzhwAr
2. BhUthathAzhwAr
3. PEyAzhwAr
4. ThirumazhisaiAzhwAr
5. NammAzhwAr
6. PeriyAzhwAr
7. MadhurakaviAzhwAr
8. ThondaradippodiAzhwAr
9. KulasEkharAzhwAr
10. ThiruppANAzhwAr
11. AndAL
12. ThirumangaiAzhwAr

ANDAL and Madhura Kavi are contemporaries of PeriyAzhwAr and NammAzhwAr in the chronological order, the first by virtue of being the avathAram of one of the divine consorts of the Lord and the foster daughter of PeriyAzhwAr,. and the second the prime disciple of Swamy NammAzhwAr .

The writings of these Azwars, in Tamil, were collected from Vedas, Puranas, Ramanayana, and Mahabharata. So profound were their thoughts,and so strong their impact, that these writings, collectively called Divya Prabandham, are referred to as Tamil Vedas, and are treated on par with the Vedas.

NammAzhwAr is considered the most important and the Greatest AzhwAr for his prabhandham (of Thiruvaaimozhi of 1000 pAsurams) which glorifies the prapatti (the surrender concept). He took refuge at the Lord's feet and performed prapatti. Hence, for,Sri VaishNavAs, NammAzhwAr”s teachings are paramount, and of of very great value, since he leads us by example for performing prapatti at the Lord's Lotus Feet. His Thiruvaaimozhi's commentary is called Bhagavat Vishayam

Over a period of time, the teachings of the Azhwars was being replaced by other streams of thoughts and beliefs. The biggest cause was human greed. As time passed, those in possession of the knowledge started exploiting the others who did not, causing great anguish. Vaishnavism was replaced by other beliefs. The first was Budhism, which flourished almost all over the country, and even other nations. But, inevitably, and inexorably, Budhism also fell, prey to the same forces which had diluted Vaishnavism. This coincided with the advent of Adi Shankaracharya, who introduced the Dwaita philosophy to the world. Dwaita philosophy, or Shaivism flourished, specially in South India for centuries. Other streams of thoughts like Jainas, Saivas, Sankhyas, Nyayikas, Vaisesikas, Mimamsa,also existed.

After being lost for many centuries, the Divya Prabandham was again brought back due to the efforts of Madhurakavi Azhwar, Nathamuni, Alavandar, and Ramanujacharya. The work done by these greats is a different topic, and will figure in my subsequent observations. Suffice to say that Vaishnavaism revived only because of their work.

It was Ramanujachary, around a thousand years back, who rebelled against this philosophy, in spite of the fact that his own guru, Yadavprakash, was a very strong exponent of Shaivism. Ramanujacharya broke away from both Dwaitism, as well as Advaitism, which was also prevalent, and propounded his new theory of Visihtadvaitism, thereby ushering in the beginning of Srivaishnavism.

Sri Vaishnavism

Sri Vaishnavism and Sri Vaishnavites
What is Sri Vaishnavism? Who are Sri Vaishnavites? How did Srivaishnavism originate? How did it develop? What are the various beliefs and practices of Sri Vaishnavas? The list of questions is endless I have tried to find some answers to some of the questions. My quest has led me to various places, various people, and various view points. Let me mention some of them.

Vaishnavism has been in existence from time immemorial, from the sages Vyasa, Bhodayana, etc. While their actual work remains unavailable, there are references to this aspect by Saint Ramanaujachari, who, in his great work Sri Bhashya, has traced the roots of Sri Vaishnavism to the Upanishads. Ramanujachari developed Sri Vaishavism as an off shoot of Vaishnavism.

Srivaishnavism is based on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita, which was developed by him, and has the worship culture focused on the Temple of Sri Ranganatha at Sri Rangam.

Sri Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the supreme God. The prefix Sri is used for this sect because they give special importance to the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of their Supreme God, Vishnu. A major portion of Sri Vaishnava precepts and practices is based upon this aspect.

The origin
The Azhwars are believed to be the first ones to have started the philosophy of Srivaishanism, through their devotional hymns and songs. Azhwars were a group of saints of south India, The first set of these Azhwars, called the Mudal Azhwars are Pogai Azhwar, Bhuta Azhwar Pey Azhwar, and Thirumazhisai Azhwar. They were later followed by others and together they composed hymns and songs collectively as Divya Prabandham at a later date. The list and topic of Azwhars would be taken up separately in the next posting.

Nathamuni is considered as the first guru of Srivaishnavism. He is believed to have started the process of collecting all these hymns and compositions of the Azhwars. His work was continued and expanded by one of his grandsons, Yamunacharya, also known as Alvandar. Thereafter, Ramanuja continued to develop the practice and propagation of Srivaishnavism which basically centers on the belief that devotion to Vishnu is the sole way to Moksha, and Sri is the link between devotees and the god Vishnu.

Philosophy
Most of the people belonging to Sri Vaishnavism follow Vishistadvaita Sri Vaishnavism is characterized by various specialties. The 4000 divya prabandams (sacred hymns) by the Azhwars alongside with the Vedas.has a very special place for Sri Vaishnavas. In Sri Rangam Temple this is specially recited 21 days prior to Vaikunta Ekadasi, 2000 in the first ten days as Pahal Pattu, 2000 in the second Ten days as Raah Pattu.

Guru or Acharya status is very important in the attainment of the moksha, through observance of the various Samskaraas. I will talk about these Samskaraas in a later posting.