Aaiyyanism is a branch of Dravidian (South Indian) Hinduism that is around 3500 years old (said to date to between 1573–1432BC).[1] Its philosophy is similar to mainstream Hindu teachings in that it deals with self-liberation via yogic practises.
Its founder is claimed to be Aaiyyan, an incarnation of Shiva, and as such Aaiyyansm is a form of Hindu Saivaism. The main difference between Hindu Saivaism and Aaiyyanism is that Aaiyyanists believe they are separate from the main Aryan Hindu school of thought and belong to a much older school with a Dravidian historical underpinning.
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D. Siddharthain critiques Aaiyanism, observing that it is difficult to establish dates for its written sources, and that even if the dates are accepted, the documents "may be of limited relevance to a history of Dravidian Hinduism as a whole".[2]