A Critique of Aaiyyanist Dravidian Hinduism

By Dr D. Siddharthain

Freelance researcher and historian for the Secular Movement of India.

Dr D. Siddharthain is a prominent member for the Secular Movement of India. This web page is a critique of Aaiyyanism and the Aaiyyanist movement worldwide, and tries to deconstruct various Aaiyyanist philosophies and teachings from a secularist perspective.

What is Aaiyyanism or Dravidian Hinduism?

Aaiyyanist Dravidian Hinduism is unlike any of the other major Hindu denominations. It does not claim an identifiable human founder but the very incarnation of Shiva on earth Himself in the form of Aaiyyan. Neither does it have a specific origin in history (bar the fact that it was first discovered by the Aryan Hindus by Bhimashankar Dattatriya between 1573BC-1432 BC - many historians disagree on the exact date but most agree it lies within this boundary due to the age of the writing style and the historical events that are described in the meeting of Bhimashankar Dattatriya and Aaiyyan). Other Aaiyyanist Hindus derive their tradition from a primeval revelation of the Supreme, others consider it the beginningless sanatana dharma, the eternal law that governs everything, independently of any divine or human agent. The Aaiyyan form of Hinduism is special in that it has never rejected a parent tradition from which it separated as a rebel child, as all others have done. Aaiyyanists had not found it necessary to define 'the essentials of Aaiyyanist Hinduism' or prove it different from other forms of Hinduism until challenged by break-away spiritual movements like Madhavaites, followers of Sankara, Buddhism or invaders from outside, who wanted to impose their own religions, such as Islam and Christianity. Aaiyyanism has always tried to find the common ground between all faiths and the link between all peoples, thus to the layman the Aaiyyanist movement may seem to be a very loose grouping of Hindus and general spiritual philosophies. One could say this is the weakness and the strength of Aaiyyanism.

Traditional Dravidian Aaiyyanist Hinduism has preserved surprisingly much of the character of autochthonous native traditions for over 3500 years. Maintaining the holistic, all-embracing approach typical of the Dravidian nature, i.e. there is no great distinction between the sacred and the secular, no strict separation of religious ritual from essential daily activities, no real difference or tension between religion and culture. In the words of the 4th Guru Jagadhguru Kanyakubja "I am the wordless one of whom there is no distinction between one and word".

The following pages will now begin to deconstruct the Aaiyyan philosophy in relation to the history of India as a whole.