difference between Iyer and Iyyangar

He was of the view that Iyengars were essentially Vaishnavites and Iyers were Shaivaite..

My reply to his query is shared for consideration of the Iyer group..

Iyengars are Vaishnavas because they subscribe to visistaadvaita philosophy of Ramanuja and they have separate rites like marking their bodies with burned tattoos of shanka and chakra and the ashtakshari mantra, dvaadashaakshari mantra, the charamaslokas and sharanaagathi tattwam..

Also they subscribe to the Divyaprabhandams, and greatness of the Azhvaars.. They have got attached to about seventy or seventy two acharayas like jeeyars who were directed by Ramanuja to act as gurus and render divyanamam, samprokshanam charamashlokam etc to various groups of Vaishanvites. Even reaching svargam is just reaching Vaikuntam and attaining Nityasoori status..

But Iyers are neither Shaivas nor Vaishanavas but Smarthas..

Their fundamental conduct is based on Smrithis alone.. Smrithis are the texts on spirituals and personal and social conducts based on the prescriptions of Vedas..

Smrithis have been given by hundreds of Sages but major smrithis prevalent as of now would be about forty..

Smrithis by Manu, Parashara, Vasishta, Vishnu, Yajnavalkya, Yama,Vyasa.. and so on are very famous.

.Srauta Sootras Dharma Sootras, Grihya Sootras and Shulabha sootras like Apastambha, Aashvalayana, Kausheetaki and so on are in perfect agreement with Vedas(Shrutis) and Smritis..

And Iyers have the Shankaracharyaals or periyavaas of Shringeri and Kanchi.. both Advaitins, as their Gurus..

Some of the Smarthas may prefer Lord Shiva as their family deity and others Lord Vishnu..

But that preference does not affect any relationships among Smarthas like marriage.

Smarthas worship at least five gods in Panchayatana pooja . Aditya(Soorya), Ambika(Devi Parvathi), Vishnu, Ganesha and Lord Shiva or Maheswara..

In addition they worship even Skanda and of late even Ayyappa..

Vaishnavas can worship only Vishnu. Laksmi, Pradhyumna Balarama, Anirudha, Avatarams of Vishnu like Varaha, Narasimha, Rama,Krishna and their Parshada devatas..

For Smartha Iyers, any Vishnu Deity or any Shiva Deity can be the presiding family deity..

When smarthas settle in agraharams with Vishnu as presiding deity, they follow some Vishnu worship.

But when the agraharam deity is Shiva the smarthas in the agraharam will be more shiva oriented..

Smarthas are basically of equal devotion of Shiva and Vishnu..

Even in naming, a father will bear the name of Shiva, son may bear the name of Vishnu and so on.

I am an Iyer smarthaa. My great grandfather is names Narayana, My grandfather Ananthanarayana, my father Vaidyanatha,( Shivas name) me Ananthanarayana and my son Vaidyanatha..

I undersand that the father of my great grandfather was Srinivasa by name..

This would give a fair picture of followers of Smartha faith..

The ladies would be given the names of Ambal the consort of Shiva like Meenakshi, Bhavani and so on or the Ambal Lakshmi the consort of Vishnu or the consorts of Rama and Krishna like Seetha Rugmai etc. Many lady names would be of the Ammans of the famous temples.. Like Abhayaambaal, Thylamabaal, Alamelu Mangaa etc..

Your impression that Iyers are Shaivas is not fully correct.

They can prefer Shiva or Vishnu, but they are smarthas..

Most Iyers worship Venkatachalapathy.. and have vilakku on purattasi sani kizhamai..

Pure shaivas are Shivacharyas or Gurukkal, a variant of Smarthas..

The Azhvars or Bhattacharyaas of Palakkad, who do pooja in Vishnu temples are usually Smarthas too but follow Vaikhanasa agamam in temple worship..