Sri Vaishnavism

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Sri Vaishnavism is one of the Vaishnava sects of Hinduism. It has both popular and religious sides, including a vibrant temple culture focusing on the temple at Srirangam and a philosophical system of thought culminating in the great philosophy of Visishtadvaita espoused by Ramanuja.^[1]

Its members of 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 who acts as a mediatrix between God and man. A major portion of Sri Vaishnava theology is based upon this tenet.

1 The origin
2 Philosophy
3 The schools
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] The origin

It originated in the devotional hymns and songs of the Alvars, a group of saints of south India, and its origin date back to around 10th century. All such hymns and songs were organized by Nathamuni who is considered as the first teacher (guru) of Shrivaishnavism. His work was consolidated and expanded by Yamunacharya, who is believed to one of the grandsons of Nathamuni. Thereafter, Ramanuja continued to develop the theology of Shrivaishnavism. The theology basically centers around the belief that devotion to Vishnu is the sole way to salvation, but Sri is the link or medium between devotees and the god Vishnu. If humans can win the compassion of Sri, the goddess will secure salvation and forgiveness for the devotees.

[edit] Philosophy

Most of the people belonging to Sri Vaishnavism follow Vishistadvaita even though it does not imply that every Sri Vaishnavaite has to be a Vishistadvaitin. Sri Vaishnavism is characterised by various specialities. One of them is the status of Guru or Acharya in the attainment of the Paramapurushaartham that is moksha. Also the followers place a special place for the 4000 divya prabandams (sacred hymns) by the Alvars alongside with the Vedas.

[edit] The schools

There are two sub-sects of Sri Vaishnavaites: the Vadagalai and Tenkalai.

After continuing as a single sect for over three hundred years, the sect split into two major branches in the 14th century.

The Markatanyaya branch, or "school of the monkey", believes that as the young monkeys cling to the bodies of their mothers for safety, human beings endeavoring to seek god's blessings should likewise actively cooperate and strive to come closer to the God. This branch is said to have followed the classical tradition and was headquartered at Kanchipuram (Tamilnadu state, India), one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus.

The Marjaranyaya branch, or "school of the cat", believes that as the mother cat carries her kittens around, the god, of its own volition, shall shower his benevolence and blessings on the devotees without any active action on the part of the devotees.