Avvaiyar
Poet whose compositions appear in
the Sangam literature, which are col-
lections of Tamil poems written and
compiled in the early centuries of the
common era (approximately 100–300
C.E.). Avvaiyar is notable as a female
poet, indicating that certain womenat
that time took an equal part in cul-
tured and intellectual society. See also
Tamil language.
Ayamatma Brahman
(“This Self is Brahman”) In the Hindu
philosophical tradition, one of the
“great utterances” (mahavakyas)
expressing ultimate truth. The truth
here is the identity of atman(the indi-
vidual Self ) and Brahman (Ultimate
Reality); this identity is the heart of the
mystical texts called the Upanishads.
Aside from their importance in a
philosophical context as fundamental
truths, four mahavakyas were also
appropriated as symbols by the four
divisions of the Dashanami Sanyasi
ascetics. Each division had its own
mahavakya, just as each had a differ-
ent Veda, a different primary sacred
center, and a different ascetic quality.
Ayamatma Brahman is the mahavakya
associated with the Anandawaradivi-
sion of the Dashanami Sanyasis.
Ayana
(“going”) In the estimation of the
Hindu calendar, the word ayanarefers
to the movement of the sunduring its
yearly course, which is divided accord-
ing to the direction of the sun’s move-
ment. The six months that the sun
moves in a northerly direction is called
the uttarayana, and its southward
movement in the following six months
is the dakshinayana. The transition
points at which the sun changes direc-
tion do not fall on the solstices, as fig-
ured in the Gregorian calendar, but
about three weeks later on Makara
Sankranti (around January 14) and
Karka Sankranti(around July 14).
The sun’s northward journey is
considered a more auspicioustime
than the southward journey, although
many other factors can influence the
judgment of a particular day.Ayodhya
(“unassailable”) Sacred city (tirtha) on
the Sarayu River, in the Faizabad dis-
trict of the state of Uttar Pradesh, and
one of India’s seven sacred cities.
Ayodhya is famous as the setting for
much of the Ramayana, the later of
the two great Hindu epics, whose prin-
cipal character is the god Rama. In the
Ramayana, Ayodhya is the capital city
of Rama’s father, King Dasharatha, the
birthplace and childhood home of
Rama and his brothers, and the city to
which Rama returns in triumph after
his exile is over.
Although historians have raised
doubts about the Ramayana’s histori-
cal veracity and the reality of the
events described there, Rama’s devo-
tees (bhakta) entertain no such
doubts. For them the cult of Rama is
deeply entrenched in Ayodhya, and
various places in the city are associated
with events in the epic that are
believed to have actually occurred.
In most cases this has had no ill
effects, with the exception of the Ram
Janam Bhumi, the site identified as
Rama’s birthplace. Until 1992, this site
was occupied by the Babri Masjid, a
Muslim mosque supposedly built after
the existing temple was demolished.
On December 6 of that year, the
mosque was destroyed by teams of
activists from the Vishva Hindu
Parishad, who tore it down in just over
six hours. The destruction sparked
Hindu-Muslim riots all over India, in
which thousands of people were killed.
For further information on Ayodhya,
see Hans Bakker, Ayodhya, 1986; Peter
van der Veer, Gods on Earth, 1988;
Sarvepalli Gopal, Anatomy of a
Confrontation, 1991; and Christophe
Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist
Movement in India, 1996.Avvaiyar