lotus,
to the best of my knowledge, the answer is yes.
veera vaishnavism and veera saivism were at odds in historical times ever since jainism was obileterated by the south, by the saivites. jainism was well spread throughout south, as has been evidenced by the discovery of numerous ruins all over tamil nadu these days.
it is said, that the vaigai in madurai flowed red with the blood of the jains, after the king converted to saivism, propagated by sekkizhar.
true, it is unbelievable today. but it could be due to the fact that we have multiplicity of religions around, and the saivite vaishnavite quarrel appears quaint.
still, there are pockets even today, where even vaishnavite vadakalai thenkalai do have strong differences. i have read the odd quarrels in the news, and i have heard that marriage alliance are treated the same way, as iyers treat our own sects, barring the chavundis, ofcourse.
also, i am yet to see an iyengar, with a viboothi, or visiting a saivite shrine. even in toronto, where we have one common hall for all our deities in our main temple in toronto, i have seen my iyengar friends, carefully skirt the saivite section and troop towards perumal.
iyers appear to have no such limitations.
i might be out of tune to the tone of the times, or may be exaggerating this. but this is my perception.
thank you.
