History of Shaivism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section is currently in the middle of an expansion or major revamping. However, you are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Please view the edit history should you wish to contact the person who placed this template. If this article has not been edited in a while please remove this template. While actively editing, consider adding {{inuse}} to reduce edit conflicts. |
Saivam, Shaivism or Saivism as called by the English educated, holds Siva as primary among the Hindu holy trinity Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Although Saivam may be considered part of Hinduism, it is a religion in itself. When compared based on extent of its literature and philosophy, and number of adherents, practices and subsects devoted to this ancient tradition, Saivam is on equal footing with the major world religions.
Saivam is thought by many to have originated in Tamilnadu, the southeastern state of India, while others believe the scholar Agastya brought Saivam to Tamilnadu from the north. There are numerous Siva temples in Tamilnadu, most located in the Thanjavur region which was a major part of the Chola kingdom. While Siva artifacts made by the Indus Valley Civilization have been found, the name Saivam first appears in texts dated between 300 and 1000 A.D. The philosophy of Saivam, Siddhanta Saivam, prevails in southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and every other country where Tamils are living.
Contents |
[edit] Temples of Saivam
Of twelve Jyotirlinga shrines, the most famous temples dedicated to Siva are Rameswaram in Tamilnadu, Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges river, and Kedarnath in the Himalayas. Two Jyotirlinga, called Mahakalashvar, are located in Madhya Pradesh in the ancient city of Ujjain. There is another at Omkareshwar, named for the city. There are many temples in Tamilnadu dedicated to Siva, but the holiest of the Siva shrines is Chidambaram's famous Nataraja Temple. Siva's consort, Parvathi is also worshipped in temples to Siva, as are his sons Ganapathi and Murugan.
The Agamas are a set of twenty-eight books, written in Sanskrit. Each temple follows its own Agama. The architecture and layout, the locations of the images, and directions for methods of worship are all prescribed, and no deviation is allowed. Siva temples have a tall multi-storied gopuram at the entrance and are enclosed in a high wall. The lingam resides deep within the compound, directly facing the entrance and housed in its own building; only the Sivacharya may enter this sanctum sanctorum but worshippers gather around it to watch the ceremony of ablution, decoration and offerings. Around the sanctum sanctorum there is at least one circumambulatory path. A stone statue of Siva as Teacher, the Dakshinamurthy,[1] faces south. The bronze Nataraja, Siva as Lord of the Dance, occupies the northeast corner.
Parvathi's stone image is usually erected near the sanctum sanctorum in a separate shrine. It usually faces south or east. Shrines and temples to Parvathi were not prevalent during Ammaiyar's time as the couple were considered one, Parvathi being the left half of the body of her husband. Later shrines dedicated specifically to Parvathi may have been built under the influence of the Sakthi cult.
Ganapathi (also called Ganesha, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar), is the son of Shiva and Parvathi. His likenesses in stone are found at the base of the flag-mast, on the southern side of the entrance and at the southwest corner of the circumambulation. Although Ganesha is important to Hindus, his worship in Saivam probably migrated from northwestern Maharashtra with the Brahmins before it came to the KOILs. Ganapathi removes obstacles, and devotions to him begin each Vedic ritual.
Murugan (also called Velan or Kumaran) is younger brother to Ganesha; in northern India he is known as Kartikey. Even during the Sangam age, Murugan was worshipped as "Son of the Lord under the Banyan Tree", the favourite god of the hill areas, whereas Ganesha is first mentioned in texts from the 6th century. The statue of Murugan is usually at the northern side of the entrance and just behind the lingam on the circumambulation.
In the circum-path, on the southern side, figures representing the sixty-three Nayanmars face north. On the western side, figures of Ganesha, Murugan, Lakshmi (the wife of Vishnu), and Saraswathi (the wife of Brahma) are placed, in that order. On the northern side, Durga, called Korravai in the Sangam age, holds the northern wall of the sanctum sanctorum. Just in front of Durga is the shrine of Chandeswarar, the accountant of the Siva household. Navagrahas figures, the planets personified, are kept on a raised platform near there.
[edit] Worship
[edit] In the temples
"Sivacharyas" conduct Siva worship services. Only the sivacharyas may enter the sanctum sanctorum, while worshippers gather at the entrance to watch. Unlike Catholic priests, Sivacharyas are dedicated solely to worship and do not perform marriages or other civil rites of passage. In Chidambaram and a few other places AdhiSaivas may be allowed to perform the ceremonies. Services are held daily, as many as six each day depending on the resources and the popularity of the temple.
The usual service consists of the following: First, the figure of the deity is anointed with oil, water, milk, ghee, honey, curd, various juices, sandalwood paste, and others. Then it is dressed in the traditional way of Tamilnadu, adorned with jewels and flower garlands. Incense is burned, followed by a food offering (usually a rice preparation). Beautiful lamps of various designs are lit and presented to the deity. Camphor is lit and presented. The burning camphor is then carried to the devotees, who reverentially show their palms over it, and place them over their eyes. Sacred ash and kungumam are distributed to the worshippers who touch it onto their foreheads. The worshippers then process along the circumambulation at least once before bowing low in prayer before the deity, singing and reciting Vedic hymns, the Thevaram and others.
[edit] At home
Salagramam is a black glossy stone naturally occurring in the bed of the Gandaki river, a tributary of the the Ganges in Nepal. Salagarmam stones vary in shape, from cylindrical with rounded ends to flattened globes, and depending on the shape the stones represent Shiva, Vishnu, and others.
While very big stones are chiseled into figures of gods for worship in temples, small ones are used for worship in the home. People create personal altars centered around the naturally lingam-shaped stones, where they place offerings of flowers and food.
[edit] Texts, saints and scholars
[edit] The Vedas
The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rigveda, which is dated to between 1700–1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence.[2] Portions of the Vedas, especially Rudram and Chamakam, are believed to be adulatory to Siva, although the Vedas do not make reference to either Siva or Vishnu by name. Sivachayas are well versed in the Agamas, whereas they study only a limited portion of the Vedas.
[edit] Rudram
The Vedas praise many gods, Agni, Vayu, Soma, and Surya among others. In the long list of Vedic gods, Rudra is the first, and "Rudram" is the verse praising the glory of Rudra. Rudram begins by likening Rudra to the sun. As it develops the verse says that there are thousands of Rudras, enumerating some of them and saluting them thus: "Ye the golden handed, salutations to thee. Ye the commanders of the armies, salutations to thee." In this manner, Rudra is addressed as lord of the animals, people sitting on the backs of bulls, those wearing the sacred thread, ministers and merchants, leaders of robbers, cheaters, sitting people, those lying on their backs, dogs and masters of dogs, potters, carpenters, the waters of lakes, water in tanks, rainwater, arid zones, clouds, lightning and wind. Among these 300+ forms of Rudra, one is Siva, meaning "the benevolent". It has no special significance of its own, but it became significant to the people who revolutionised the religion of the day.
[edit] Chamakam
Chamakam is a Vedic hymn, the prayer of a devotee to the Lord to bestow on him material benefits and spiritual salvation. This list is long, it is comprised of approximately 300 items, including long life, grains of various kinds, cattle of various kinds, rivers, hills, and others. It is considered a favourite prayer to Siva, although nowhere in the entire hymn is the name of Siva mentioned. In fact, it is addressed to Agni and Vishnu.
[edit] Peria Puranam
The sixty-three ardent devotees of Siva who lived up to the period of Sundaramoorthy are called collectively the Nayanmars. How each worshipped Siva and how she or he was led to faith are described in a book called Peria Puranam written in Tamil by Sekkizhar of the 12th century A.D. For each there is a local legend describing the miracles performed by Siva on that soil. Of the sixty-three nayanmars, who sang their praise of God Siva, those visited by the Naalvar - Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar, and Manickavskar - are considered to have special divinity.
[edit] Thevaram and Thiruvachakam
Thirugnana Sambandar, Thirunavukkarasar, Sundaramurthy, and Manickavachakar are the gurus of Saivam.
The first three lived lived during the 7th Century A.D. and are counted among the Nayanmars. Their Tamil hymns are collectively known as Thevaram, considered holy, and recited or read from during worship services.
The songs of Manickavachakar, who lived in the 10th Century A.D., are called Thiruvachakam.
[edit] Hymns of Karaikkal Ammaiyar
Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the earliest of the sixty-three Ardent Devotees of Siva, is supposed to have lived in 3rd century A.D. The Saivam as gathered from her hymns is different in many aspects from the one that prevailed in the time of Thirumoolar (4th century A.D.), one of the great savants of Saivam. Saivam is said to have attained the present form between these two periods. In Ammaiyar's hymns, the Dancing God is called by various names, each representing a particular attribute, but he is not called Siva.
The Sangam literature, Tamil literature approximately dated 200 BC – 200 A.D., does not use the name Siva either.
[edit] Baudhāyana Sulba Sutra
The mathematics of Baudhayana
[edit] Ancient artifacts
In Mohenjodaro, Harappa and other sites of western India and Pakistan, the remains of an ancient civilization dating back to 3rd millennium B.C. have been excavated. Some form of Saivam was practiced in the Indus Valley, as indicated by distinctive artifacts; among them are a lingam, a figure of a male god in Yogic posture, and another figure surrounded by animals. Statues of Siva the Teacher are similar to the Mahayogi figure from the Indus Valley. These Mahayogi and Pasupathi could be precursors of Dakshinamurthy figures.
Seals found in Indus Valley are also thought to indicate the worship of Siva. The seals show a male in yogic posture. The hood on his head has two horns. One seal shows him surrounded by animals. These features must have been purposely intended to differentiate their god from ordinary man. Modern portrayal of Siva, the Teacher, shows him with one of his legs touching the ground and the other folded, like the Mahayogi. Instead of the animals, he is surrounded by sages. Though the Mahayogi's background is not depicted in the seals, in the Sangam literature he is described as "the god sitting under the banyan tree". In Ammaiyar's time, the 3rd Century A.D. the god is conceived as dancing in a banyan grove near the cremation ground. That the left leg of both Dakshinamurthy and the dancing god does not touch the ground, and that they have the banyan tree in common (the Nataraja's streaming locks of hair are represented in a way that resembles the tangled aerial roots of the banyan) it can be assumed that the Dakshinamurthy became the dancer.
[edit] Theories of ancient beliefs
In ancient times, people believed that the dead became spirits and haunted the burning ghats [a broad flight of steps that is situated on an Indian riverbank and that provides access to the water]. They worshipped those spirits to prevent their wrath. Over time, the belief evolved that these souls had a leader, and he became the subject of their worship. In the next stage of the evolution of religious beliefs, the head of the spirits and Rudra, mentioned in the Vedas, came to be considered one in the same. Perhaps it was influenced by the Vedas—Rudram, a part of Yajur Veda that begins eulogising Rudra and ends up praising Yama, making no distinction between the two. The three-eyed Rudra is the lord of spirits. He presided over not only the dead, but also the living, and granted welfare to his devotees. The above was the condition when Ammaiyar lived. She describes the lord as wearing the sacred thread, having the river Ganga on his head, sharing his body with his consort, and dancing in the cremation ground in the company of demons. However, she did not call him by the name Siva. During the days of old Tamil kingdoms, the worship of sudalai madan (a grave yard dweller) was common. Sudalai madan, with ashes smeared on his body and being in charge of the dead, could have evolved into God Siva.
The next stage was very important, as it led to many far-reaching changes in the religion in later times. The scene was the region ruled by the Chola Kings. With its fertile soil, it provided a lot of opportunities for the development of religion, arts, and literature. Those who pioneered the reformation were the Cholias of Chidambaram (dhiksithars), and the aboriginal Brahmins of the Chola region. They are, even today, identifiable by their peculiar way of wearing their tufts, tying the tuft to the side of their heads and not in the back as other Brahmins do. These Cholias installed a bronze figure of the dancing lord in a hall that they named "Ambalam" (assembly). This statue was given all honours which were given to the stone on the grave of a king - ceremonial ablutions, offerings of food, flower decoration, and others. Being Vedic scholars, they used those portions of the Vedas as might be relevant to the new form of worship. Thus, the dancing lord of the cremation ground was brought to a dignified place, and Chidambaram became the nursery for the religious revolution that was to take place shortly afterwards.
[edit] Sakthi
There existed in Tamilnadu the worship of female goddesses and Kali was one of them. They were all ferocious and blood sacrifices to them were common. The new Saivam began to refine this and the Sakthi cult was born. A goddess with benign and beautiful looks came to be regarded as Sakthi, the consort of Siva. Formerly, the dancing Lord was thought to carry his wife in the left half of his body and they were worshipped as one. Later, as stone sculpting became popular, separate shrines with stone images of Sakthi were erected within Siva temples. Some temples of the former ferocious goddesses were converted into Sakthi temples, and a lingam was added to them. The legend that Sankara reduced the ferociousness of Akilandeswari in Thiruvanaikoil (near the city of Trichy, Tamilnadu) by making some changes in her ornaments lends support to this.
[edit] Emergence of the name 'Siva'
The Sangam literature, Tamil literature approximately dated 200 BC – 200 A.D., does not use the name Siva either.
The word 'Siva' occurs in the Rig Veda as auspicious and Lord Indra uses this word to describe himself several times (2:20:3, 6:45:17, 8:93:3.) Thereafter, the god came to be known as Siva and the sect 'Saivam'. Perhaps Lord Indra is an avatar of Siva as many characteristics and stories about the gods are very similar.
In the Yajur Veda, the sacred Shaiv phrase "Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram" occurs, describing Lord Rudra.
The practice of being a strict vegetarian, a required practice for all Brahmins and the new Shramanic sects, permeated to Saivam. Saivites adopted vegetarianism and avoided all animal sacrifices in their worship. This is why vegetarianism itself came to be called saivam in Tamilnadu.
It is possible the word Siva has origins in the Sanskrit term Civappu, meaning red, as Lord Siva is also called "Lohita/Rohita". He is also described as 'Tanunpati', meaning Lord of Fire and each Nataraja is surrounded by a corona of dancing flames.
[edit] Rudram
The Vedas praise many gods, Agni, Vayu, Soma, and Surya among others. In the long list of Vedic gods, Rudra is the first, and "Rudram" is the verse praising the glory of Rudra. Rudram begins by likening Rudra to the sun. As it develops the verse says that there are thousands of Rudras, enumerating some of them and saluting them thus: "Ye the golden handed, salutations to thee. Ye the commanders of the armies, salutations to thee." In this manner, Rudra is addressed as lord of the animals, people sitting on the backs of bulls, those wearing the sacred thread, ministers and merchants, leaders of robbers, cheaters, sitting people, those lying on their backs, dogs and masters of dogs, potters, carpenters, the waters of lakes, water in tanks, rainwater, arid zones, clouds, lightning and wind. Among these 300+ forms of Rudra, one is Siva, meaning "the benevolent". It has no special significance of its own, but it became significant to the people who revolutionised the religion of the day.
[edit] Om
This is the holiest of syllables of Veda and various meanings are assigned to it. In short, it represents the entire universe and the God. It precedes every hymn of Vedas and other religious prayers.
[edit] Namasivaya
The holiest word for Shaivites today. It has its origin in the Yajur Veda. It means "salutation to the benevolent". This is one of the 300+ attributes of Rudra, the Vedic god. It is a worldwide sound from death to life cycle.
[edit] Sivacharya/Gurukal
The worship of Vishnu had been in Tamilnadu since time immemorial, but the region's Vaishnavism and Saivam diverged when the latter was born in the union of Vedic practices and the indigenous Mahayogi worship of Tamilnadu between the 3rd and 10th centuries. Ravana, Ramayana. It may have arisen as a response to the defiling of the Vedic philosophy and practices by architects of Saivam. There had been many conflicts between these two and still the cold war continues, though not so intensely.
Those who performed devotions in Siva temples were called siva brahmanas, Adhi Shaivas or Gurukal, and were in existence during the time of Rajaraja I as revealed in his inscriptions circa 1000 A.D. Brahmin scholars and priests from north India, invited to the Chola kingdom by Rajaraja's son and successor Rajendra I, were known as "Ashta sahasram" which translates literally to "The 8000". There is a town near Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, with the name "Ennayiram", the Tamil translation of Ashta Sahasram. V.S. Pathak, in his book Shaivism in Early Medieval India as known from Archaeological Sources: Rajendra Chola writes that Rajendra saw the best of the Shaivas in northern India when he went to worship at the Ganges, and brought them to settle in his own country in Kanchi.
It was believed that they are the early migrants to (or may be the aborigines of) the Tamil country before the Iyers. Unlike most Iyers who believe in Smarthism, they follow Saivam, especially Kashmir Saivam and the Agamams, learning only a portion of the Vedas. They also study the Baudhayana Sutra which is older than the Apastamba Sutra followed by the Smarthas. They may be confused with Shaiva Adhinams who belong to the Shaiva Vellala caste. Like the Dikshitas of Chidambaram, which was the northern frontier of the Chola Empire, they believe that they are directly descended from Lord Siva and claim their supremacy in priesthood. They share many similarities with the Namboodris, such as the traditional priesthood, the study of and adherence to Tantric and Agamic texts along with the Vedic, study of the Boudhayana Sutra and the practice of Ayurvedic medicine.
[edit] Vedic influence-phase I
Of the numerous gods adored by the Vedas, Rudra is one. The hymn dedicated to him is called Rudram. In the beginning of the hymn, Rudra is identified with the sun. As it proceeds, every person or thing is considered a form of Rudra. From the leader of the armies down to the thief, every one is considered Rudra and is saluted. Rudram ends with a salutation to Yama, the first mortal and the god of death, thus making no distinction between Rudra and Yama. Perhaps due to the influence of this, the Dancing God of Tamilnadu was portrayed as having the cremation ground as his abode. Like Rudra, he was also depicted as having a third eye in the middle of his forehead.
[edit] Vedic influence-phase II
[edit] Ascendency of Rudra over Yama
Thirukkadaiyur is one of the holy places of Shaivism today. There is a legend woven around this place. Yama tried to snatch the life of a devotee of Siva, who protected the devotee and destroyed Yama. It is possible that the legend is a record of a conflict between the worship of Yama and the emerging brahminised form of the Lord, won by the latter. Interestingly, the temple has an appellation "Mayanam" which means "crematorium".
[edit] Nataraja worship
Now another place came into prominence. This was "[Thillai]]", the modern Chidambaram, where the bronze image of the dancing Lord was placed under a roof and called Nataraja, the King of dancers. Chidambaram continues to be the holiest place for Nataraja worship.
Stone sculpting got a fillip during the rule of the Great Pallavas in the 7th Century and spread throughout Tamilnadu only after that. Moreover the lands of the Chola empire had no rocks or mountains and it was only during the later centuries that powerful Chola kings brought stones from far-off places, hence images in bronze were the norm. The temple at Chidambaram is closely held by the Deekshitars, a group of Brahmins who have maintained their ethnic purity. The Deekshitars belong to a group called "Cholia" among Brahmins, which means "belonging to Chola country" to distinguish themselves as Tamilnadu natives. They wear their hair in a distinctive tuft tied at the side. and consider the Nataraja their exclusive province.
These Deekshitars caused a very big change in Shaivism by shifting the abode of the Lord from the cremation ground. Hindus traditionally consider the burial and cremation ground as an unclean place and now the god has been shifted away from there, the ferociousness attached to him softened. His looks were pleasing and the religion became refined. They used Vedic hymns for the worship of Nataraja and like the Lingam of the Koils, this bronze image was also given all honours like bathing, flower decoration, showing various kinds of lamps and offering of food. Nataraja worship was not mentioned in the Vedas, and as if to accommodate the Vedic concept of god, they set apart a room for the formless worship of the god. Now it is known as Chidambara Rahasyam—the secret of Chidambaram and a vacant place is shown as God. Here also, they had to contend with the worshippers of Kali, the aborginal female goddess with frightening features. The legend of Chidambaram that Kali was defeated in a dance competition with Nataraja and was exiled could mean the victory of Nataraja worship over that of Kali.
[edit] Vadamas
Brahmin Iyers migrated to Tamilnadu in waves beginning after the time of Ammaiyar. The largest, and some say the first, group was called Vadama which is Tamil for "Northerners". They may have come at the invitation of the Chola kings who were known for their patronage of Vedic religion. Other accounts hold that the Vadamas were actually the last of the migrants because most Vadama families trace their ancestries to groups that arrived in the late 1600s and early 1700s. There are three anthropological evidences that the Vadamas originated in Maharashtra:
- wearing of the Holy Ash on the foreheads, a custom specific to Maharashtra
- the inclusion of the river Narmada in daily prayers
- the prevalent worship of Ganapathi common to Maharashtra and Tamilnadu
As more groups of Brahmins came from the north the Vadamas gave them names in Sanskrit such as Brihacharanam ("the big footed", or a corruption of Brihad Janaan, "one whose origin is spread all over the world"), Vathima (a corruption of Madhyaman, "person from the middle", or perhaps of Upadhyaya meaning "teacher"), Ashta Sahasram ("the eight thousand" who immigrated at the time of Rajendra Chola), and Swarna Kesiya ("the golden haired"). While the other groups were allotted eighteen villages each, the Vadamas spread across Tamilnadu and became more numerous than all the other groups put together.
[edit] The Sacred Ash
Sacred Ash came to be used as a sign of the renovated religion. It was not difficult for the Tamil people to accept this custom, since already they had conceived the Lord as smeared with ash during his dance in the cremation ground. The ash used in the temple was not the ash of cremations but that of burnt cow dung, Vibhoothi in Sanskrit, ritually prepared according to elaborate scriptural rules. The Sacred Ash is showered on lingam and, especially, Murugan icons, collected again and distributed to the devotees, who wear it on their foreheads with reverence.
[edit] Consolidation
When Adi Sankara began the great revival of Hinduism in the 8th century, he could not ignore the ground realities and accepted all the prevailing religious practices of the Brahmins as Vedic. Thus was born his sixfold categorisation of Hinduism. They are:
- Saivam (the worship of Siva)
- Vaishnavam (the worship of Vishnu)
- Saktham (the worship of Sakthi)
- Ganapathyam (the worship of Ganapathi)
- Koumaram (the worship of Murugan)
- Souram (the worship of the sun)
