Horizontal or Vertical - The Battle of the Namams

I dedicate this to Raghu Sundaram - a perfect gentleman and an eclectic Iyengar.

 Part 1

    The concept of lines, angles, verticality and horizontality was first recorded by the Greeks though it had been used much earlier by the Babylonians and the Egyptians in the constriction of ziggurats and pyramids. It is however the Hindus of India who first used it to differentiate two of their philosophies.

                                                     Horizontal - Iyer Namam 
                                                                              Vertical - Iyengar Namam

     In the 9th century of the Christian era Hinduism was in a ferment with Buddhism on the rise. Sankara, the nambudiri from Kerala, not only gave us the advaida philosophy but also by travelling all over India reaffirmed the pan Indian aspect of Hinduism and established matams in the four corners of India. Inspired by the Buddha he adopted Buddhist methods of strengthening the religion. Following the footsteps of the Alwars and their prabandhams came another great south Indian, Ramanujam,  who gave a different philosophical twist to advaida called Vishistaadvaida. He wanted non Brahmins to be assimilated into Hindu society- a very far sighted idea.

    Sankara and Ramanujam not only revived Hinduism but probably in hindsight also saved it. Ramanujam's followers became what they considered a superior version of Brahmins and distinguished themselves by the vertical namam on their foreheads. The Iyers had Siva as their main deity while the Iyengars had Vishnu as their main deity. The Iyengars with their vertical namams established themselves as a select superior community and kept themselves as separate from the Iyers. The aggressive vertical namam with a central red line denoted a superiority that all the attempts at making the horizontal namam superior failed. You have only look at Chembai Vaidyanatha  Baghavathar's forehead and Ariakudi Ramanuja Iyengar's forehead to see the difference.

                    

                Benz grill                         BMW grill
 
    The pictures above of Mercedes Benz and BWM front grills illustrate the importance of the horizontal and the vertical namams. There is a battle royal between the makers and they are using the namams to show their superiority. What had taken the Germans centuries to appreciate in terms of the importance of differentiating products with a distinctive appearance was known to the Hindus long ago. The next is to build exclusivity and in this also the Germans have toed the Hindu lead. Though the Americans caught on early to the concept of superiority by inventing the phrase “Boston Brahmins” they did not take the next step which the Germans did and this could explain why the Benz and BMW easily outdid the Cadillacs and Lincolns!

     Now back to more sublime matters after this short foray into mundane matters. A lot has been written and said about Hinduism by people like Vivekananda and S.Radhakrishnan. Hinduism has no Book of Revelations on which the religion is strictly based and interpreted like other religions and this is its strength and weakness. Hinduism seems to reinvent itself whenever faced by challenges and this   explains its continued practice and vibrancy today. A religion prepared to accept Buddha as an avatar has a lot going for it. Sankara, Ramanujam and Madhavachari gave it that important fillip in the ninth and tenth centuries. It had unexpected consequences at the social level and customs and this is an attempt at exploring these in a light hearted way.

     After Sankara's Nirgunabrahmam (God without any attributes) we have Ramanujas's friendly and human Bhavanasundaram where he reconciled many controversies. Ramanuja's philosophy was easier on the mind and down to earth. Ramanuja is said to have preached his views from the temple top in Tirukottiyur.

                       
 
 Sri Ramaujar temple                         Sri Rangam temple

      Sri Perambadur, his birth place is a charming village agraharam that gave a view of old life in Tamil Nadu. Alas after Rajiv Gandhi's assasination here, this place has changed into an Indian Detroit and the lovely village languishes with fading memories of its great son. Ramanujam went to Sri Rangam and preached and managed the temple affairs there. Soon he had an elite ardent group of disciples. Though Vaishnavism owed its origins to Azhwars, Alavandar and Nathamuni, Ramanujam put it on a firm footing with his vishistadvaida and his superb organising skills.

    There are stories that fights broke out between the Saivaite Brahmins and Ramanujam's Vashnavite followers and that Ramanujam had fled to the Karnataka region. Ramanujam is said to have stayed in Tondanam near the Yadugiri hills to get the high quality white clay for the Iyengar’s Namam. This clay had mica particles and when ground and dried gave a caste mark which sparkled in the light. Tirunarayana temple was built in Melkote nearby.Thanks to Ramanujam this temple had the unique distinction even in those days of allowing outcasts inside on designated days. It is a fact that even today there are pockets of very traditional Iyegars in Hebbal , Melkote and Mandya testifying to the migration to Karnataka. 

       

                                                                     Iyers            

                                                                  Iyengars

        What started as an argument for the supremacy of Vishnu and Siva worship ended up as schisms of the Brahmins into two distinct sects with their own rituals and temples. To Ramanujam must go the credit of giving Vaishnavism a distinct philosophy, a distinct set of rituals, and even the white clay which gave the shining namam which vibothi could not match. His organising skills and ability to attract devotees helped to put Vaishnavism on a firm footing, and they regarded themselves as superior to Iyers. They made this group who coined the name Iyengars very distinct by subtle changes in rituals, dress, food and of course the famous Iyengar vertical namam. The only thing they seemed to have ignored was Ramaujam's humanism. One is reminded of the U.S.A after its war of independence from Britain adopting different standards like 110 volts, the switch with the on position on top, the American gallon and so many other things with changes to make them distinct. Iyengars did it ten centuries ago! 

                                                   Vishnu Ananthasasayanam                                                                                                                                       
         Siva's Cosmic Dance

    Before we go further please have a look above at the pictures of Vishnu and Siva and you get idea of the deep divide between the Vaishnavites and Saivaites ten centuries ago without reading Sankara's and Ramanujam's philosophies. It is difficult for humans to think of God without human attributes. The only exception seems to be Islam. A Sankara, Ramanujam or the Vedas might try to imagine an abstract God but for the bulk of the people this is just not on. So we have above lovely pictures of Vishnu and Siva. My favourite is Vishnu relaxing on a snake, with an antenna, capped by Brahma to collect information, sticking out of his navel. He seems to be floating in a calm sea. This is an omnipotent God in all his Glory. Siva, by contrast is all fire and fury in a cosmic dance pose of sublime beauty, another aspect of the divine.

    These was the big divide of the Hindus and their life and social customs and haas evolved down to the present day as Iyers and Iyengars - Horizontal and Vertical. Soon the Iyengars spilt themselves into vadakalai (northern) and thengalai (southern). The vadakalai Iyengars gave importance to the original Vedas while the thengalais gave equal importance to what is called the southern Vedas. The Iyengar namam was modified by the thengalais to make a slight extension at the base of the vertical namam.

            

          Vadakalai                                         Thengalai

    Down the centuries after Ramanujam the worshippers of Vishnu organised themselves into a distinctive, superior group with well-defined customs. After the vertical namam came the temple rituals and the food and dress. They became a close knit community which kept to themselves and did not marry outside. Purity and exclusivity was fostered. In due course they developed a hubris and belief in their innate superiority. Ramanujam’s humanity and inclusiveness seems to have been given the go by. Even today in the 21st century we have Iyengars in Melkote and Hebbal in Karnataka who have preserved the original social customs and practices of the Ramanujam era.

To be continued.

All photos courtesy the Internet

Comments

[Vijay Dandapani]

"In due course they developed a hubris and belief in their innate superiority". You have not elaborated on whether or not they retain those beliefs today! I think we all know the answer - Raghu?

Nice work Appa - look forward to the next installment.

[Prema]

Agreed wholeheartedly with Vijay's comments on Raghu.
Thanks for this lovely education.
Prema

[Kamini]

Really excellent, Appa.

[Sekar]

Liked the Mercedes-BMW analogy. BMWs are less reliable: does this reflect brahminical reality?!

[flowergirl]

For a family that claims to be above these things, you all are heavily obsessed I must say!

[Raghu]

Lovely Thath! And thanks very much for the dedication!

I particularly liked the reclining and peaceful Vishnu contrasted with the agitated-and-in-perpetual-motion Shiva; perhaps this is why some of us like to spend our mornings firmly tucked between the sheets while some of our friends (who shall go unnamed) like to get up at 4:30am and go straight to the gym to pound the treadmill into submission.

To Vijay and Prema: A belief in superiority when accompanied by supporting empirical evidence tends to not only survive but strengthen. Given the evidence of the last several hundred years, the answer to Vijay's question is obvious, is it not?

[Prema]

With due respect professor Sundaram:

Why does every research / data analysis display a prominent disclaimer: past performance is no proof of the future. Read the "Black Swan" (past beliefs mean nothing).
I would not rest the case for equality, nay superiority of the Iyers: take a look at recent Nobel Laureates.
I love Kamini's comment - the domain of Iyengars is supine.
Prema

[Gowri Mohanakrishnan]

Waiting for the next instalment of this very interesting read!!

[Venkat]

All Iyers are at the perfect zone having reached the top ---sort of steady state.
Hence the horizontal
Poor Iyengars are always trying to reach this zone and not quite making it!
Hence the obvious vertical.......
But I think Raghu....if Iyengars try long enough and hard enough may be
one day it could happen..........Venkat.

[Raji Muthukrishnan]

Very interesting read.I liked the battle of the namams on the two cars very much!

[Srinivasan]

Actually Iyers use more Iyengars Nama (Name). You can see ( rather hear ) many srivasan , Padmanaban , venketesan in Iyers but not a single Subramani or Mahadeva Iyengar.

On a humours vein my friend says ( English teacher) I Iyer Iyengar(superlative)

[rajamani]

i started with part 2 and then did part 2, the perfect திருவாழத்தான்
way.

found the adulations from the family awesome. good stuff. will visit more of your postings .... thanks

[G M Srinivasa Bhat]

Hats off namams (both horizontal and vertical) on for some great stuff!

[Ramagupta]

I am a firm believer of one almighty who has no vertical or horizontal rules. This is my personal opinion and not casting any slur on any body's opinions /beliefs. Please do not mistake my follg.statement which is my personal opinion :
Hindu religion believes in THRIMUTHIS Brahma the creator, Vishnu the saviour, and finally the Eeswara the Destroyer. Likewise the mans existence comes from birth, survivial and finally the death. Ultimately the death is connected to LORD SHIVA (Unfortunately). When I refer this article I observed that shaivaites and vaishnavaites fought with each other prolaiming their superiority over others. MAY BE the origin of this clash hails from the above BIRTH SURVIVAL & DEATH. Shiva llves in Rudra Bhoomi (Burial Ground) and is also branded as destoryer though he is GOD and SPIRIT by himself. While VIshnu is a saviour even to SHIVA from Brahmasura etc., Shiva is "Bhakth Sulabha" (easy to please) while vishnu is not treated as so and is difficult to please. All Rakshasas followed and meditated Shiva and shiva was always givingthem boons to them and landed himself into troubles when Vishnu saved him. May be for these reasons the Vaishnavaites felt they are suprior while Shiva is also equally powerful and was named as "THATPURUSHAYA" ( MANLY ). I have lineage of Vaishnavite mother and Shavaite Father and I adore both the GODS and I treat them with equal devotion and respect. No offence meant for anybody this is only a pure prsonal opinion.
I repeatthat Hinduism is Great in the world.