Sri Ramanuja was born in the year 1017 and has been said to have lived for 120 years. His 1000th year of birth was celebrated all over the world in 2017. His birthday falls in the month of Chithirai when the ascending star is Arudhra( ~May 1st ).
Who is Sri Ramanuja ?
He was a leader, a philosopher, a poet, a social reformer to name a few. He belonged to the Sri Vaishnavism tradition. He was born in Sriperumbudur, a village near Chennai in Tamil Nadu to a Tamil Brāhmin couple. One of the early Gurus of Sri Rāmānuja's was Yādava Prakāsa, a scholar in the Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition. He had a disagreement with the philosophy of his guru which was non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta. He then followed the teachings of Vaishnavite mystic poet saints who were called Alvārs expounded by two relegious giants Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya. Sri Rāmānuja then became the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta. He wrote commentaries (bhāsya) in Sanskrit on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
Sri Ramanuja’s philosophy
To understand Sri Ramanuja’s philosophy we need to understand the major schools of thought in Vedanta. Therae are three and they are Sri Ādi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism), Sri Madhvāchārya's Dvaita (dualism) and Sri Rāmānujachārya's Vishishtadvaita(qualified monism). Sri Ādi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism) broadly states that Brahman(GOD) is the only reality and the rest is false and illusive. This makes all the living beings and non-living things that we see and experience are part of that one reality. Sri Madhvāchārya's Dvaita (dualism) states Brahman(GOD), the world of living and non-living are all differnt from each other and they exist in their own domain. Sri Rāmānujachārya's Vishishtadvaita(qualified monism) is in between and states both Brahman(GOD) and the world of matter are two different absolutes, both real, neither should be called false or illusive. Unique feature of his philosophy is the concept of a personal god (saguna Brahman, Vishnu). By devotion, love and constant remeberance of this personal God and finally surrendering absolutely your life to his WILL, a human soul can attain or become one witht the absolute GOD(nirguna Brahman).
The simillarity between Sri Rāmānuja's Vishishtadvaita and Sri Shankara's Advaita is that both are non-dualism Vedānta schools. Both schools state that all souls can hope for, work towards and achieve the state of blissful liberation. This is in contrast to Sri Madhvāchārya philosophy which states that living and non-living matter can never ever be the same as thatone Brahman(GOD). There are simillarities between Sri Rāmānuja's Vishishtadvaita and Sri Madhvāchārya's Dvaita in that both shares the theistic devotional ideas. Both schools assert that Jīva (human souls) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are different. Only the Brahman(God Vishnu) is independent, everything else including all other demi gods and beings are dependent on Him.
There is a temple and an active Vishishtadvaita school at the birthplace of Sri Rāmānujachārya. His school of thought and philosophy are popular all over India and even all over the world, especially where Vaishnavites are. Large Vaishnava centres such as the Ranganātha temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, and the Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, follow the temple traditions athat are laid out by him.