Hinduism - Who Are The Tengalai?

 

Tengalai is one of the two primary subsects of the Shrivaishnava religious group, with Vadagalai being the other.

The Shrivaishnavas are worshippers of the deity Vishnu (bhakta), and their origins may be traced back to the Alvars, a group of twelve poet-saints who lived in southern India during the seventh and tenth centuries and wrote devotional poems.

The Alvars' religious outpouring was structured and systematized by the philosopher Ramanuja (11th century), who is regarded as the Shrivaishnava founder, two centuries later.

Ramanuja believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most significant kind of religious activity was devotion (bhakti).

His philosophical position, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, emphasized both of these convictions, and thus stood in opposition to the Advaita Vedanta school, which was founded by the philosopher Shankaracharya and believed that the Supreme Being was impersonal and that realization (jnana) was the best spiritual path.

The Tengalais and Vadagalais separated many centuries after Ramanuja, and it was caused by differing ideas on what an individual must do to achieve ultimate soul freedom (moksha).

The Tengalais emphasize the importance of complete submission (prapatti) to God's mercy, through which devotees are rescued without having to do anything; the Vadagalais emphasize the importance of devotees exerting themselves on their own behalf.

Pillai Lokacharya (14th century), who is also the community's most revered person, was the Tengalai's founder.

~Kiran Atma


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