Shaiva Devotional and Philosophical Ideas As Expounded in the Tevaram

The Tevaram is one of the ancient Tamil devotional poetic corpus of high prominence. Three of the greatest Shivabhaktas—Tirujnanasambandhar, Tirunavukkaracar and Sundaramurti—known as Nayanmars have sung these devotional songs at more than 250 Shaiva holy places situated in the region comprising the modern-day Tamilnadu, Andhrapradesh and Kerala. Tevaram is infused with expressions of pure bhakti to Shiva containing multiple references to the number of ways God Shiva blesses his devotees, the many devotional acts of a shivabhakta and the many forms of devotional relationships that a shivabhakta has towards his beloved God Shiva.

In this lecture, the speaker will explicate the devotional and philosophical aspects of Tevaram in Tamil.

Speakers

Sri Sivashanmukam

Shaivasiddhanta Scholar

Sri Sivashanmukam is a scholar of Shaivasiddhanta, a branch of Shaivism prominent in Tamil Nadu. He has received shiva-diksha, and has studied important Shaivasiddhanta texts under Sadhu Tangavel Svamikal at the holy town of Palani. He gives monthly lectures on Shaivasiddhanta organised by the Thiruvavaduthurai Matha, where he has been honoured for his proficiency in Shaiva textual corpus. He holds lectures on Shaivasiddhanta organized across Tamilnadu and Pondicherry, and also in the middle-east.