Ramanujacharya

Born near Chennai, Ramanuja studied under teachers of both Advaita and Vaishnava traditions before breaking from strict non-dualism to argue that the individual soul, while inseparable from the divine, retains a real and distinct identity within it — a middle path between dualism and Shankara's Advaita.

He is credited with opening temple worship more widely across caste lines than was customary in his era, and his commentary on the Brahma Sutras, the Sri Bhashya, remains foundational to Sri Vaishnavism, a tradition still centered on the Srirangam and Tirupati temples he was closely associated with.