Hinduism

Powers of Sri Maha Kali Amman

M. Vasudevan

The Sri Maha Kaliamman Thirukovil which is dedicated to Goddess Kali is situated at Armour Street, Colombo.

This temple is a miraculous one and the chief trustee of this Temple M. Nallathamby with the assistance and co-operation of Eeswaran, Chief Trustee of Ginthupitiya Varatharaja Vinayagar Temple, President of the Colombo Kamban Kalagam and Councillor for Mauritius and several others laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new building a few months ago. Realising the divine power of this temple the Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and the Minister of Education and Higher Education Susil Premajayanth and several other distinguished personalities visited this temple recently to receive the divine blessings and have assured all the possible assistance to Nallathamby to go ahead with the construction and restoration of this temple.

During the rule of the Britishers in Sri Lanka in the 19th century, they named this place as “Paradise Place” on account of three important trees namely Palmyrah, Bo Tree and Margosa grew closely together.

It is very often said that “Divinity manifest from age to age in the human forms in order to re-establish Dharma (righteousness) and to guide all mankind back to the righteousness path.

The mother is the universal embodiment of compassion. She extends her grace to protect and bless her children. God appears in many forms, but to experience God in the form of mother brings a great deal of peace and joy.

The creator of the universe Brahma resides in the naval of Lord Vishnu. Similarly in the hearts of men reside the creative urge and faith.

During this period certain sculptors who were brought down from India to do some restoration work at “Captain’s Garden” Sri Kailasanatha’s Temple were invited by the devotees of this temple to erect a “Sakthi Peedam” under the trees where Sri Maha Kali Amman and several status of Gods were placed and construction ceremony was successfully conducted. Besides, with a view to accommodate the devotees, a hall was constructed in 1990 in the adjoining area.

The compassion of the divine mother gives the benevolence of five elements such as Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Space to help us to lead an excellent life. Pooja is a way of showing our love and affection for the divine which provides these resources in abundance to us.

It is said by great saints and sages that when there is prayers in the mind, there is purity in thoughts, when there is purity in thought there is kindness in the heart, when there is kindness in the heart there is service in action, when there is service in action there is harmony in the community, when there is harmony in the community, there is unity in the nation, when there is unity in the nation, there is peace in the world.

Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar

Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar

Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar who was born on 1822, was deeply religious and was of the view that “Service to man was service to God”.

He served the Saiva religion, not because it was his religion, but he loved Lord Shiva. Even his service to the Tamil language was regarded by him as service to Saivism, because he thought that the study of Tamil was not an end, but a means to love and serve God.

Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar was born at a time when Sri Lanka had suffered three centuries of Western conquest multifaceted in its manifestations and consequence - political, economic, cultural and psychological. Indeed the techniques and preachings of Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar have influenced, inspired and transformed the Hindus of Sri Lanka.

He was considered as one of the greatest religious reformers like Ven. Anagarika Dharmapala and Ven. Gunananda thera who sacrificed their lives for the sake of independence of Sri Lanka.

Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar defended the values and virtues of his faith and opened the eyes of the people to the heritage that had been passed down to them by their forbearers. He exhorted the Hindus to full proud and worthy of their and language and the deep culture embodied in them.

He was able to achieve his objective through the transformation of the heart of the people by the schools he established, by the pamphlets and the books he published.

Blessed with a dialectical skill and a sharp logician mind, an oratorical ebullience combined with fearless and courageous mind, he was able to accomplish and achieve his objective and built round him a massive following who subscribed to the principles he extolled. Anyone who came within his magic appeal imbibed his crusading spirit and was moved by his lofty integrity and intense religious zeal.

Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar mastered the tenets of Saiva Sidhanda philosophy and acquired eloquence in speech and writing in clear and simple prose since, he was a scholar in English and Tamil language.

Rev. Peter employed Sri La Sri Arumuga Navalar to translate the Bible which was considered to be best translation and he was held in high esteem by Rev. Peter Percival.

Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan bestowed on him the immortal title of “Champion Reformer of the Hindus”.

He also established Hindu Tamil medium scholars schools in Jaffna Town and in the sacred city of Chidambaram in South India.

A series of events of great significance took place soon after the passing away of Arumuga Navalar and all of which bore his stamp. They are the establishment of the “Saiva Paripalana Sabai” for the conservation and development of Saivism in 1888, the publication of the “Hindu Organ” an English language newspaper in 1889 for the propagation of Hinduism and Tamil Language. He opened the Jaffna Hindu College in 1890 which is a landmark in the history of Hindu Education in this country and the inauguration of the Hindu Board of Education in 1924.

The inauguration of the Vivekananda Society in Colombo in 1902 and subsequent opening of the Ramakrishna Mission Centre in Colombo in 1930 have not only helped to propagate Hinduism in Sir Lanka, but also to harmonise relationship among various religious professed by the people. He also restored a number of Hindu temples.

A Glimpse of Saiva Siddhanta - part 1

Saiva Siddhanta unravels the profound fount of wisdom, grace and love that flowed from the ancient Agamas and Vedas teaching man that the fundamental aim of life is the realization of truth. There is only one reality, which is God or That (tat). Realization of truth has taken many forms. - from the primitive to the sublime showing distinctly his inherent belief in having an immortal Soul. This Soul according to the Vedantists is ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ ‘That thou art,’ while to the Siddhantists it merges with the Paramatman at the end of the pilgrimage becoming One with it.

Saint Tirumular is considered to be the father of Agamic Saivism and his celebrated work the Tirumantiram, is the tenth Saiva Anthology - ‘a compendium of Agamic religion, psychology and philosophy’. His mysticism was built on the firm foundation of Saiva devotion and Lord Siva is the Supreme One - both immanent and transcendental. His doctrine of Grace pervades the whole philosophy of Saiva Siddhanta. He speaks of achieving this through surrender to the Lord in beautiful imagery -

Lay the flower of naan - the anma at His Feet and then the “I” and “He” shall no more a puzzle be.

Several centuries later Shelley describes in his poem Adonais the immortality of the human Soul and the dying of the physical body which finally discarding the mortal coil goes back to the ‘burning fountain’ from where it came - the very same metaphysical thought of Saivism in the words -

“Dust to dust! but the pure spirit shall flow

Back to the burning fountain whence it came,

A portion of the Eternal which must glow

Through time and change, unquenchably the same.”

Saivism is timeless; in fact some feel that it is as old as man himself and say that it is co-existent with man. It is concerned with the practical aspect of life that one should lead, to realize God rather than the speculative aspect of the ultimate reality and its relation to the world of everyday experience. It is not dogmatic in its teachings; there are no rigid rules, nor coercive restrictions. Instead the philosophy allows each one to evolve according to his inner convictions.

The most important Schools of Saiva Thought are

- Saivism of Kashmir,

- Virasaivism or the Lingayat Saivism of Mysore and

- Saiva Siddhanta of the Tamils.

These three schools have common beliefs namely, - in Siva as the Supreme Reality, - In Sri Panchakshara as the most sacred mantram, - in Vibhuti and Rudraksha as the sacred symbols, - a belief in karma and reincarnation, - a reliance upon the Vedas and Agamas as their scriptural authority and - the ceremonies and rituals.

The devotional literature is in the language of the people even though these are based on the Agamas and Vedas, which are in Sanskrit. The doctrines of Kashmir Saivism and Virasaivism are closely connected while Vira Saivites hardly see any difference between their creed and that of the Saiva Siddhantists.

Saiva - Architecture in Hinduism

Sivanandini Duraiswamy

In Southern India where architecture blends closely with history, one sees Hindu art enshrined in the beautiful sculptures of the temples built by the Pallavas in Mahabalipuram, by the Cholas in Tanjore, by the Pandyans in Chidambaram and Tanjore, by the Nayakas in Madurai and Sri Rangam, by the Hoysalas in Belur and Halebid, and by the Chalukyans in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal. The fanaticism of the Mohammedan and Christian invaders did not spread into Southern India

and desecrate Hindu art. However, in Northern India during Aurangzeb’s reign to escape persecution, the contemporary Saivite teachers on the grounds of political expediency prohibited image worship and used the lingam and the Nandi instead. The Nandi is the vahanam, the Lord’s vehicle and wherever the lingam is enshrined an image of Nandi lies ‘contentedly before it.’ The Nandis are also beautifully carved. The vahanam is an alternate form from the animal kingdom, which is the manifestation of God’s divine essence. In temples, the vahanam is placed at the entrance to the sanctum - the bull for Siva, the lion for Durga, the peacock for Karttikeya and the mouse for Ganesha. In sculptural figures, one sees the vahanam at the base by the figure or the figure is portrayed astride the vahanam.

In the South, architecture developed as the dravidian style where the dravidians beginning with the Pallavas, laid the foundations of this style. The Cholas, Pandyans, Vijayanagar kings and the Nayakkas perfected the vimanam and gopuram. These towers are the manifestations of two ancient forms with beginnings in the Vedic era. The vimanam rises from a square base culminating in a rounded cupola. The gopuram is the tower at the entrance; it is oblong with an oblong vaulted roof at the top. The architectural types of the Buddhist with the Vedic ritual connections inspired the construction of these towers namely the vimanam from the vihara and the gopuram from the chaitya hall.

“Of all great powers that together made the history of Southern India, none had a more marked effect on the architecture of this region than the earliest of all, that of the Pallavas, whose productions provided the foundations of the Dravidian style,” says Percy Brown in his book on Indian Architecture. The Tamils sincerely believe that any place without a temple is not worth living in. The celebrated poetess, Dame Avvai says, “Do not live in a village where there is no temple.” These numerous temples of varying sizes some steeped in hoary antiquity characterise the landscape of Tamil Nadu.

The Polonnaruwa contribution to Hindu art and architecture is considerable. Polonnaruwa is an ancient city in Sri Lanka whose name is derived from Sage Pulasthiya as Pulasthiya Nagara. During the medieval age around the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Cholas extended their suzerainty over Sri Lanka. Polonnaruwa was their capital city. One inscription reads “Jana natha mangalam, the auspicious city of the Lord of the people, a reference to Siva. In another inscription we read, “Nikaril Chola valanattu Pulainariyana Jananathapuram - Pulainari or Jananathapuram in the Chola land of peerless fertility.”

To be continued