Manavala Mamuni
| Manavala Mamunigal | |
|---|---|
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Philosophy | Vishishtadvaita |
| Personal | |
| Born | 1370 CE Tamil Nadu, India |
| Resting place | Tamil Nadu, India |
Manavala Mamunigal (1370–1450) was a Hindu Sri Vaishnava religious leader, who during the 15th century in Tamil Nadu, with the help of his eight disciples helped spread Sri Vaishnavism. The disciples of Mamunigal established places of learning to teach Sri Vaishnavite Vishishtadvaita philosophy in Tamil Nadu.
Manavala Mamunigal was born in 1370 at Alwarthirunagiri in Tamil Nadu. His parents were Tigazhaakkidanthan Tirunaveerudaiya Piran Tadar Annar and Sriranga Nacchiyar. His father was the son-in-law and also a disciple of Kollikavala Dasar, a junior disciple of Pillai Lokacharya. His parents named him Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar (beautiful groom) after Ranganathan of Srirangam.
Mamunigal was schooled by father and maternal grandfather, who taught him the Vedas, Vedanta and the Divya Prabandam. He married at the age of 16 and moved from Sikkil Kidaaram to Azhvar Thirunagari to become the disciple of the acharya Thiruvaimozhipillai.
Thiruvaimozhipillai was instrumental in reviving the archa thirumeni (idol) of Ramanuja at Azhvar Thirunagari and in building a temple for him. He put the young Mamunigal in charge of the temple and gave him to title of Yatheendra Pravana in recognition of his devotion to Ramanuja. It was around this time that Mamunigal wrote "Yathiraja Vimsati”, which is considered to epitomise the very essence of the exalted ‘iramanusa nootrranthAdi’.
On his deathbed, Thiruvaimozhipillai instructed Mamunigal to learn and propagate the Sri Bhasya and to spend most of his time in propagating and preaching the arulicheyal (Divya Prabhandam) of the AzhvArs. He also asked Mamunigal to stay at Srirangam and perform service to Ranganatha as his predecessors had done.
Mamunigal was inconsolable on the death of his master. He immersed himself completely into studying and delivering discourses on Divya Prabhandham and rahasyas. Word of his abilities spread and he gained various disciples. Prominent among them was Sri Azhagiya Varadar who undertook sanyasashrama (asceticism) from Azhagiya Manavalan. The sanyasa name was given as "Ramanuja Jeeyar" (also known as Ponnadikkal Jeeyar). Thus began the most illustrious jeeyar mutt in the Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, the Vanamaamalai mutt, that continues the great unbroken lineage of acharyas to this day.
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