Hebbar Iyengar

Hebbar Iyengars, a formerly endogamous group, constitute a part of the Iyengar sub-caste of Tamil Brahmins residing in Karnataka. Nearly all Hebbar Iyengars belong to the Vadakalai subsect. They are traditionally followers of Ramanuja's philosophy Vishishtadvaita. They are mainly from Hassan, Mandya, Mysore, Tumkur, Bangalore, and the surrounding places in southern Karnataka. The etymology of Hebbar, in Kannada, resolves to "hebbu/hiridhu" (meaning big) + "haaruva" (meaning brahmin).

The characteristic dialect of the Hebbar Iyengars is called Hebbar Tamil and is a mixture of Kannada and archaic Tamil, along with a minor influence of Sanskrit. However almost all Hebbar Iyengars are conversant in Kannada as the language of communication with others in society and consider themselves primarily as kannadigas.

Language

An excellent analysis on Hebbar Tamil has been done [http://www.languageinindia.com/aug2004/hebbartamil1.html here] . The language has huge similarities with the Sanketi language.

Ancestral villages

Hebbar Iyengars originate from five (main pancha grama) villages:
* Shanti Grama
* Belur
* Nuggehalli
* Nonavinakere
* Bindiganavile.

There are however more than a dozen villages scattered around in southern Karnataka region from which their origins could be traced. They are:
* Kadaba
* Melkote
* Ambuga
* Sampige
* Hiremagalur
* Heragu
* Shanku
* Hebbalalu
* Gorur
* Mavinakere
* Chikkamenahalli
* Halthore
* Malloor
* Hampapura
* Sargur
* Setlur: The chief temple here is dedicated to Biligiri Ranga.

History

The lack of any written historical records hampers the search for the origin of the Hebbar Iyengars and hence nothing can be precisely concluded about the origin of Hebbar Iyengars. One theory is that the Hebbar Iyengars of today are descended from the Jains residing in Karnataka who were converted to Vishishtadvaita philosophy along with their monarch, Bittideva, the Hoysala king, around 1180 AD, by the philosopher Ramanuja. Bittideva came to be called Vishnuvardhana. Ramanuja was residing at Melkote (near Mysore) at that time. However another theory is that Hebbar Iyengars are local Kannadigas introduced to the Vishishtadvaita philosophy by Ramanuja. Another possibility is that the Hebbar Iyengars are the descendants of Ramanuja's disciples from Tamil Nadu during his stay at Melkote. An interesting fact is that Hebbar Iyengars use both the lunar calendar (chandramana) and the Solar calendar (souramana) for celebrating various festivals.

History of the Nuggehalli branch

Largely the Iyengars of Nuggehalli belong to the Vadagalai sect. More important it was here in Nuggehalli along with four other villages the first of the settlement of the Srivaishnava Brahmins migrating from the Cholas ruled regions to Mysore (Karnataka) state occurred.A number of temples dedicated to ‘Vaishnavite’ deities were constructed & Srivaishnava Brahmins were appointed to perform the rituals in them during the Hoysala time especially during the reign of Sri Vishnuvardhana (it was during this time an impetus to Hinduism over the then religion of Jainism – as signified by the sculptures & basadies of Sravanabelgola gained strength).

Yet another group from Nuggehalli have a written record & the family tree of the Moudgalya Gotra people dating back to 11th century i.e. coinciding with the advent of Srivaishnavisim in Karnataka. See [http://www.Nuggehalli.org] . The tablet in the temple of Sri LakshmiNarasimha temple, Nuggehalli, gives a detailed description of its origins.

Legend depicts that to west of the present temple a saint by name Rushbha, performed penance & pleased with his devotion Lord Lakshmi Narasimha manifested himself & blessed him. The temple record states that in the reign of Somesvara Hoysala, his aide Bommanna Danda Nayaka (alias Ramachandra Veerendra) visited this place along with his Guru Sri Pundarikaksha SOMAYAJI. In reverence to his Guru’s dream that a temple be constructed in this sacred spot, the Danda Nayaka made Nuggehalli into an agrahara under the name Vijaya Somanathapura and installed in 1246 A.D {or 1168saka –Parabhava Samvatsara, on Wednesday, the fifth day (Shukla Panchami) of the Hindu calendar month of Chaitra} a temple dedicated to the gods Kesava, Narasimha and Gopala – A Trikutachala concept (A configuration typical in construction of temples by the Hoysalas).The labels of the utsava – vigraha & some of the metallic images were made by the orders Gopala who was, according to tradition a Paleyagar of Nuggehalli. As the inscription of Nuggehalli chiefs has been found in Hassan, Arkalgud & Chanarayapatna also, it may be inferred that their rule had been extended to these places also.

History of the Shantigrama branch

One group of Hebbar iyengars from Shantigrama know their origins. The village and the tank were constructed by a Kashi Brahmin who was a minister in Hoysala Veera Ballala's court. This is based on records carved on tablet of stone in the Yoga Narasimha temple. The name Shanti Grama is due to the queen Shanthala Devi of Hoysala dynasty. See [http://www.shantigrama.com] .

Distinguished Hebbar Iyengars

* Asha Gopal, Padmashri, Bharatanatyam dancer.
* B.K.S. Iyengar, yoga.
* K.Rangaraja Iyengar, yoga. Published book on Mudras.
* B.S. Ranga, film producer & director.
* Dr. B. Narasimha Iyengar, director of agriculture under Maharaja Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar.
* Chikkupadhyaya, 17th century A.D, Kannada poet, Tutor and minister of Maharaja Sri Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar.
* The elder and younger Tirumalarya (Tirumala Iyengar) - Poets in the Wodeyar court.
* G.P. Rajarathnam, Kannada novelist.
* Gopivallabha Iyengar, High Court judge.
* Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, Kannada novelist.
* N S Raghavan Former Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh.
* Grama Srinivasa Desikachar, Abhinava Ramanuja, Asthana Vidwan at Sri Andavan Ashrama, Sanskrit and Kannada scholar.
* H.V.R. Iengar, ICS, Secretary to the Constituent Assembly, Home Secretary, SBI Chairman, RBI Governor.
* Indira Iengar, table tennis.
* Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament.
* Kalyan Kumar, Kannada actor.
* Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, Kannada novelist.
* Prof. Mallur K. Sundareshan, Director, Information Processing and Decision Systems Lab, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA.
* Dr. Sudarshan, remote sensing & oceanography.
* Narakesari Narayandas, Harvard professor.
* Raja Ramanna, nuclear scientist.
* Revathy Satyu, Bharatanatyam dancer.
* Shyla Yogananda, adventurous motor sports.
* Vasundhara Das, singer and actress.

See also

* Forward Castes
* Iyengars