ŚIVABHAKTI IN THIRUVACAKAM

Thiruvacakam, the 8th of the 12 Saiva Tamil Thirumurai corpus is the outpouring of supreme śivabhakti in all its vastness and depth by Manikkavacakar, the 9th century śivabhakta par-excellence. Blessed by Śiva who appeared in the form of a human Guru, Manikkavacakar, expresses his revelling in the ocean of highest śivabhakti, his longing to be with Śiva forever and laments his separation from Śiva in his Thiruvacakam.

The Hymns of Sundaramurthi Nayanar (Tamil)

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 the Nayanmars have sung these devotional songs at more than 250 Shaiva holy places situated in the region comprising the modern-day Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

The Centre for Shaiva Studies has already held multiple lectures by prominent speakers focussing on the first six books of the Tevaram. In this lecture, the speaker will focus on the various Shaiva concepts and devotional themes expressed in the 7th book of the Tevaram, hymns sung by the great Shaiva saint Sundaramurthi Nayanar (c. 9th CE) also widely known as Sundarar.

The Hymns of Tirunavukkaracar (Tamil)

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 the Nayanmars have sung these devotional songs at more than 250 Shaiva holy places situated in the region comprising the modern-day Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh 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 focus on the various Shaiva concepts and devotional themes expressed in the 4th, 5th and 6th books of the Tevaram, hymns sung by the great Saiva saint Thirunavukkaracar (c. 7th CE) also widely known as Appar.

Date & Time : 25, February, 2023 | 04:45PM

Venue: Centre for Shaiva Studies, 24-A, Aurobindo Street, Heritage Town, Pondicherry

The Hymns of Thirujnanasambandar

This lecture is part of the monthly series of lecture organized at the Centre for Shaiva Studies. The talk will be delivered by Sri Muthu Manikkam. The lecture will focus on the various Shaiva concepts and devotional themes expressed in the first 3 books of the Tevaram hymns sung by the great child-saint Thirujnanasambandar (c. 7th CE). The lecture will detail the emotional and passionate devotion to Shiva in Thirujnanasambandar’s poems and the subsequent impact of his poems in the later Tamil devotional literature.

The Dharmaputrikā and Śivadharma Corpus

The Dharmaputrikā and Śivadharma Corpus
The NR Bhatt Memorial Lecture Series

This lecture will detail some of the new research on texts belonging to the ‘Śivadharma corpus’, with a special focus on Dharmaputrikā. The Dharmaputrikā is a text that topicalizes Yoga, which is not purely Śaiva in nature. In this text, we encounter plenty of evidence of ‘outside’ influence, e.g. via Buddhist vocabulary, showing that it was composed in a milieu of religious interchange and borrowing. What is evident is that the collection of texts that has become known as the ‘Śivadharma corpus’, does not consist of purely Śaiva teachings. In this lecture, the speaker will argue that the case of the Dharmaputrikā breaches so far supposed concept of ‘Śivadharma corpus’ by modern scholarship.

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.

The Profundity of the Shaiva Philosophy

This is the inaugural talk at the Centre given by the Centre’s Director, Dr T.Ganesan, titled “The Profundity of Śaiva Philosophy”. The talk will touch upon the greatness of God Śiva mentioned in the Vedic literature, from the Ṛgveda to the Upaniṣads such as the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, Atharvaśiras, and how the philosophical building blocks of Śaiva Philosophy has its origins in the Vedic literature. From the Vedic literature, the talk will detail about Śaivism in the Purāṇas and the role of these texts in popularizing the stories, temple sites, philosophy and rituals related to the Śaiva traditions. Then the finale of the talk would be the Āgamic literature which had spread far and wide across India and beyond, and where the Śaiva tradition finds its highest philosophical expression. The talk will also touch upon the role of Śaivism in the development of the yoga and contemplative tradition.

Venue : 24-A, Aurobindo Street (1st Floor), Opposite to Calve College, Puducherry

Conference on Shaivism : Online

INDICA Presents

Online Conference on Shaivism

from 9.30am to 3.10 pm on 07 May 2022

Guest Lecture 1 – 9.30am to 10.00am

* Dr. Koenraad Elst Adiyogi for Export – Rudra Becomes Woden and Poseidon

Session 1 – Shaiva Rituals and Pilgrimage – 10.00am to 11.00am

1 Dr. T. S. Shanmukha Sivacharyar Who is an Ādiśaiva – Exploring the Role of Śaivācārya-s in the Temple Ecosystem
2 Snehā Nagarkar Śaivism and the Sthala Mahātmyas of Mathurā

Guest Lecture 2 – 11.00am to 11.30 am

* Dr. Divay Gupta Sacred Landscape for Shiva Bhakti at Koh Ker the Ancient Lingapura of Cambodia

Session 2 – Shiva Siddhanta – 11.30am to 11.50pm

1 Arvind Kaushik Is Shiva Siddhanta a Tamil National Religion?

Session 3 – Pashupata Shaivism – 11.50pm to 12.10pm

1 Pratishtha Mukherjee A Study of Pasupata Saivism in Gujarat

Session 4 – Shaiva in Art, Dance and Literature – 12.10pm to 1.30pm

1 Piyal Bhattacharya & Shreetama Chowdhury A Comparative Study of Sakala and Niśkala Vādya of the Lost Tradition of Ālāpini Vīn̟ā (One-String Stick Zither) Within the Scope of Śaiva Iconography and Metaphysics by Parśvadeva (13th Century)
2 Subramanian Chidambaran The Unique Tradition of Worshipping Śiva through Music: Reflections on the Tevāram Hymns of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar
3 Sumit Vyas Shaiv in Ramcharitmanas

Lunch Break – 1.00pm-2.00pm

Session 4 – Shaiva in Art, Dance and Literature Continues – 2.00pm to 2.40pm

4 Christian de Vietri The Goddess Parā
5 Deepa Kiran Siva and Apasmara: Trajectory of Knowledge Acquisition

Chief Guest Lecture by His Excellency Sri Akhilesh Mishra, Ambassador of India to Ireland on Contemporary Relevance of Shaivism – 2.40pm to 3.10pm

Conference on Shaivism

INDICA Presents

Conference on Shaivism

Bharatiya Adhyayana Kendra, BHU, Varanasi

Day 01: 29th April 2022

 

Inaugural Session – 9.00am to 9.45am

1 Prof. Kamlesh Dutta Tripathi, Chancellor, MGAHU, Wardha, Maharashtra Lightening of Lamp & Inauguration
2 Prof.Sadashiv Kr Dwivedi, Coordinater, BAK, BHU, Varanasi Welcome Address
3 Dr. Nagaraj Paturi, Senior Director & Chief Curator, INDICA Concept of the Conference
4 Prof. Malini Awasthi, Centenary Chair Professor, BAK, BHU, Varanasi Distinguised Speech

 

Key Note Address by Dr.T. Ganesan – 9.45 to 10.15am

Distinguished Guest Lecture 1 by Prof. Kamlesh Jha, Dean, SVDV, BHU, Varanasi – 10.15am – 10.45am

Guest Lecture 2 by Prof. Vijay Shankar Shukla, Regional Director, IGNCA, Varanasi – 10.45am – 11.15am

 

Tea Break – 11.15am to 11.30am

 

Session 1 – The Kashmir Shaiva Tradition – 11.30am to 12.30pm

1 Giriratna Misra काश्मीरीय शैवाद्वैत मत में क्रमकाली साधना का वैशिष्टय
2 Dr. Rajshekar Krishnan Kashmir Shaivism in the Light of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s Philosophy of Existence
3 Swastik Banerjee ‘Vācā karoti karmāṇi śāpānugrahakārakaḥ’: The Purpose of Occult in the Path of Self Realisation with Special Reference to Trika Philosohy

 

Session 2 – Shaivism in the Himalayas – 12.30pm to 1.10pm

1 Dr. Gharo Devi Shaivism in Jammu: Revisiting Shivalayas in the Region
2 Sushant Bharti Jageshwara: Ancient Devayatana of Shaivism in Kumaon

 

Lunch Break – 1.10pm to 2.10pm

Guest Lecture 3 – 2.10pm-2.40pm:

Spatial Manifestation of Pilgrimage Circuits of Kashi: Archetypal Representation by Dr. Rana PB Singh

Session 3 – Shaivism in Eastern India – 2.40pm to 3.40pm

1 Dr.Projit Kumar Palit A Study on Saiva Cults in Tripura: With Special Reference to Devaraj Cult of South East Asia.
2 Dr. Dhurjjati Sarma Localising the Saiva Cult in Assamese: Rudra Singha’s Siva Purana
3 Dr. Arghya Dipta Kar Kālī’s Play with Mahākāla: Dialogic Ontological Accounts in the Tantras of Bengal Kālīkula

 

Tea Break – 3.40pm to 4.00pm

 

Session 4 – Tamil Shaiva Tradition – 4.00pm to 5.30pm

1 Dr. Kanagaraj Easwaran Representation of Veda Agama and Shiva in Thevaram and Thiruvasagam
2 Dr. Sharda Narayanan Manikkavacagar – The Saiva Saint
3 Nrithya Jagannathan
“Yen Ulame Puguntha Athanāl” Thirujñānasambandar’s Kolarupathigam as a Complete Model of Saguṇa Dhyānam and Upadrava śamanam
4 Jataayu Sambandhar’s Vaidika Saiva Mission and His Conflict with the Jainas: A study

 

 

DAY 02: 30 April 2022

Guest Lecture 4 by Dr. Nihar Purohit – 9.30am to 10.00am

Session 5 – Shaiva Temple Tradition – 10.00am to 10.40am

1 Sambhavi Shanmugam Negotiating the Śaiva Sacred Space – The Role of Devotees in the Temple
2 Vibhushita Balakumar Understanding Śaiva Temple Building Outside the Indian Subcontinent – Past and Present

 

Tea Break – 10.40am to 11.00am

Session 6 – Shaiva Literary, Art, Ritual and Philosophical Traditions – 11.00am-12.40pm

1 Arvind V Iyer Śaiva Portrayals in 17th-Century Sanskrit Prose and Poetry: A Study of the Nīlakaṇṭhavijayacampū
2 Dr. Ramaratnam S. Efficacy of the Sacred Ash in Shaivism
3 Deepa Kiran Siva and Apasmara: Trajectory of Knowledge Acquisition
4 Indumati Raman Saivism in Temples, Music, Dance
5 Dr. Deepa Duraiswamy Who is Śiva – The Nature of Godhead in Śaiva Siddhānta Theology

 

Session 7 – Shaivism and Folk Tradition – 12.40am to 1.20pm

1 Dr. Bijoya Baruah Saivism and Folk Tradition of Assam
2 Sri Prabhav Paturi Folk-Shaivism Interface: The Case of Kuruma-Oggu Tradition of Telangana

 

Lunch Break – 1.20pm to 2.20pm

 

Session 8 – Shaivism in Academia – 2.20pm to 3.00pm

1 Megh Kalyanasundaram Śiva in Text Before the Common Era: An Analysis in 2022
2 Dennard H D’Souza The Kannada Shiva Bhakti Movement: Continuity and Departure

 

Valedictory Session – 3.00pm to 4.00pm

1 Dr. Nagaraj Paturi, Senior Director & Chief Curator, INDICA Valedictory Address
2 Manish Maheshwari, Co-curator, INDICA Summary of the Conference
3 Dr. Amit Kumar Pandey, Centenary Visiting Fellow, BAK, BHU Varsnasi Vote of Thanks