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Siva’s Iconography is of seminal importance in the history of Indian Art. The present work, Siva in Indian Art, for the first time, presents an exhaustive study of the impact of mythology on the iconography of Siva from the earliest to the 16th century C.E. The author compares the Saiva sculptures of Andhra with their counterparts belonging to the other schools of art like the Pallava, the Chalukya, the Chola, the Rashtrakuta, the Kalinga and others of South India which makes the work authoritative and exhaustive.

Further, the study also throws fresh light on the iconographical evolution of different forms of Siva, besides their physiognomy. The forms of Siva are grouped as Nrityamurtis, Samyuktamurtis, Samharamurtis, Anugrahamurtis, Saumyamurtis & Pratyekamurtis. Being a serious research work this is very valuable for the history of Iconography of Siva and serves as a beacon for further research in this field. With over 100 illustrations, this is an essential book for anyone interested in Indian art.

The Author
Dr. D. Kiran Kranth Choudary, (b.1954), Ph.D., D.Litt. is Professor of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology and also the Principal and Dean Faculty of Arts, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He is the Coordinator of the UGC SAP DRS-I. His field of specialization is Art and Architecture in which he contributed innovative articles. He has completed five Research Projects sponsored by the UGC and ICHR. He has organized seven conferences/seminars/ workshops on different themes. He was the Coordinator of the Association of Indian Universities, 78th Annual Meet of the All India Vice-Chancellors. He received training in Remote Sensing for Archaeology at NRSA, Hyderabad. He chaired many sessions in various conferences and seminars. As a resource person he delivered lectures/talks in different universities in India and Abroad.

Dr. Kiran Kranth has published books: Five Prominent Temples of Bhuvanesvar (1982), Ragadhuli (1984), Ramayana in Indian Art and Epigraphy (2006), Srikalahstisvara Temple, A Study based on Epigraphs and Sculptures (2008), Teluguvari Silpakala (2012) and also edited Sankaram, Recent Researches on Indian Culture (2000), Prasadam, Recent Researches on Archaeology, Art, Architecture and Culture (2004), Ancient Civilizations (2006) and Archaeology and Art: New Dimensions (2008). He has seventy six research papers to his credit published in reputed Research Journals. He served as Dean (Exams) and Special Officer (Evaluation) for the university and also former Head and Chairman Board of Studies, Dept of A.I.H.C. & Archaeology. He is awarded Sri Gomateshwara Vidyapeetha Award-2008, Srikalahastisvaraswamy vari Puraskaram-2010, Meritorious Teacher Award-2011and Government of Andhra Pradesh State Awards to Meritorious Teachers-2013. He is associated with many academic bodies in various capacities. As poet and creative writer he is associated with many literary and cultural organizations.

Contents
Preface ix
Foreword xiii
Abbreviations xxxi
List of Illustrations xxxiii
1. Introduction 1
2. Nṛityamūrtis 28
3. Saṁyuktamūrtis 47
4. Saṁhāramūrtis 68
5. Anugrahamūrtis 99
6. Saumyamūrtis 122
7. Pratyēkamūrtis 151
8. Epilogue 185
Glossary 206
Bibliography 214
Index 231
Plates 239

The Purana is a class of literature that treats of ancient religion, philosophy, history, sociology, politics and other subjects. It is an Encyclopaedia of various branches of knowledge and ancient wisdom. It has been defined as a class of literature that contains material on the topics of Creation, Dissolution of Manus, Ages of Manus, Genealogies and the History of glorious kings. For dealing primarily with these subjects it has been called Pancalaksana a little that was incorporated in the Puranas themselves and had become popular by the Fifth Century A.D., for it was included by Amarasimha in his lexicon 'Amarakosa'. But as the process of interpolation continued, the Pancalaksana definition was found inadequate. The Puranic redactors adopted a Dasalaksana definition that suited the contemporary text. Still the dynamic forces were at work and the process of insertion, modification and abridgement went on and it was soon discovered that the Dasalaksana definition too fell short of an actual fact. It was found that the puranas contained certain aspects that were not covered by any of the five or ten characteristics. Besides some of the characteristics covered by the Pancalaksana or Dasalaksana definition were not found in certain Puranas. In fact the Purana as a class represents the different phases and aspects of life of diverse ages. It is impossible to adopt a standard definition for the class of literary composition that contains heterogeneous phases and aspects. Moreover, a definition framed on the numerical basis of points is bound to be imperfect. The Puranas are divided into two classes the Mahapuranas and the Upapuranas. Each class consists of eighteen puranas. Thus the number of the Puranas is thirty six.

About the Book:-

This book, Siva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, isrevealed by the twentieth centurys great philosopher saint Swami Lakshmanjoo. This spiritual treasure, gifted by God to the sage Vasugupta for the upliftment of humankind, is considered to be one of Kashmir Shaivisms most important scriptures. Here, Swami Lakshmanjoo gives the reader a penetrating vision of the glorious journey of the Supreme Awakening: the traveling from limited individuality to absolute oneness with God. This secret teaching, contained with these pages, is revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo or the first time. Drawing on his own experience Swami Lakshmanjoo, basing his rendering on the esoteric commentary of Abhinavaguptas chief disciple Kshemaraja, shows us the way home.

Swami Lakshmanjoo was born in Srinagar, Kashmir on May 9, 1907. He was the last and the greatest of the saints and masters of the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. Having a deep understanding of the philosophy and practices of Kashmir Shaivism, he was like a splendid and rare jewel. Beginning from childhood he spent his whole life studying and practicing the teachings of this unique sacred tradition. Because of his intellectual power and strength of awareness, he realized both spiritually and intellectually the reality of its thought.

Cover: Hard Cover
Edition : 2010
Publisher : Munshiram Manoharlal Publication Pvt.Ltd
ISBN : 978-8121511841
Language : English
Pages : 348

Specification:

• Publisher : Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
• By : Jaideva Singh
• Cover : Paperback
• Language : English
• Edition : 2017
• Pages : 278
• Weight : 300 gm.
• Size : 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.8 inches
• ISBN-10 : 8120804074
• ISBN-13 : 978-8120804074

Description:

Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity by Jaideva Singh
Text of the Sutras and the Commentary Vimarsini of Ksemaraja

The Saiva philosophy of Kashmir is generally called Trika Sastra, because it is philosophy of the triad ñ (1) Siva (2) Sakti (3) Nara ñ the bound soul or (1) para ñ the highest (2) parapara ñ identity in difference and (3) apara ñ difference. The literature of the Trika system of Kashmir falls into three categories, viz., (1) the Agama Sastra, (2) the Spanda Sastra and (3) the Pratyabhijna Sastra. Agama Sastra is considered to be revelation by Siva. It lays down both the principles and practices of the system. The most important Agama of the Trika system was known as the Siva Sutras.

Siva Sutras are considered to be a revealed book of the Yoga: supreme identity of the individual self with the Divine. Here and English translation of the Siva Sutras has been provided, together with an abstract of each sutra, throws a flood of light on the entire system of Saiva Yoga. A glossary of technical terms and index are appended for the convenience of the reader.

Four commentaries on Siva Sutras are available at present, the Vimarsini commentary of Ksemaraja in prose, the Siva-sutra-vrtti by some anonymous author in prose, the Siva-sutra-varttikam by Varadaraja in verse.

The Siva-Sutra-vrtti is so close to Vimarsini that it appears to be either a preliminary draft or a later abstract of the Vimarsini. There is a strong presumption that the author of the Vrtti was Ksemaraja himself.

PECIFICATION:

Publisher :  MLBD
      By :     Jaideva Singh
Language : English
Pages : 294 pages
Weight : 400 Gram 
Size : ‎ 27 x 22 x 3 cm
ISBN-10 :  8120804074
ISBN-13 : ‎ 978-8120804074
Bound : Paperback 

 

DESCRIPTION:

Reading books is a kind of enjoyment. Reading books is a good habit. We bring you a different kinds of books. You can carry this book where ever you want. It is easy to carry. It can be an ideal gift to yourself and to your loved ones. Care instruction keep away from fire.

The Hindu poet-saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar describes herself as a demon, accompanying the god Siva as he dances in the cremation grounds. She is believed to be the first to write devotional poetry to Siva in the Tamil language and is considered the first of the sixty-three Tamil poet-saints. Written in the sixth or seventh century, her beautiful poetry presents the path of love and service that brings liberation. In Siva’s Demon Devotee, Elaine Craddock provides a historical, literary, and ethnographic exploration of Karaikkal Ammaiyar and her work. An annotated translation of the poet-saint’s 143 verses is included along with an introduction to the Tamil literary tradition. Craddock’s analysis of this poetry in its ancient context and of the narrative tradition that developed around the life of Karaikkal Ammaiyar centuries later reveals cultural tensions concerning women’s roles and the devotional path. Printed Pages: 205

About the Author

Elaine Craddock is Professor of Religion at Southwestern University George Town, Texas (U.S.A). She has contributed several articles to leadings journals around the world.

Introduction

Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the "Mother from Karaikkal," was probably the first poet to write hymns to the god Siva in Tamil, in approximately the mid-sixth century, when the boundaries between Siva's devotees and competing groups were just starting to be articulated in a self- conscious way. Speaking to god in one's mother tongue, rather than Sanskrit, was pivotal to the triumph of Hindu devotionalism over the religions of Jainism and Buddhism that reached the apex of their popularity in South India during the fifth and sixth centuries. The Tamil Saiva tradition considers Karaikkal Ammaiyar the author of four works of poetry. Her powerful poetry is what Indira Peterson calls a "rhetoric of immediacy," as it speaks to a particular community defining itself in a context of competing religious allegiances (1999, 165). Along with the hymns of the later saints, her 143 poems envision a world where devotees can dwell in perpetual bliss with Siva, ridicules those who cannot see that Siva is the only truth, and points to the sophisticated philosophy that would be systematized as Saiva Siddhanta centuries later.

In the southernmost Indian state of Tamilnadu, Saiva Siddhanta developed over many centuries to become the dominant philosophical, theological, and ritual system associated with the god Siva. The tradition was systematized between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries but draws its devotional perspectives from the stories and hymns of the nayaumars, or "leaders," the sixty-three devotees of Siva who were canonized as saints in Cekkilar's twelfth-century hagiography, the Periya Puranam. Seven of these saints wrote poems to Siva between the sixth and ninth centuries. Along with the Alvars who sang to Visnu, these poets were part of the bhakti or devotional movements that began in South India and spread the emotional worship of a personal god throughout the Indian subcontinent.

The devotional movements contained elements of social as well as religious reform, protesting Brahmanical orthodoxy along with the heterodox faiths of Buddhism and Jainism, But this revivalist Hinduism was rooted in the temple, which depended on royal patronage. So, although the devotional ideology undercut caste and gender hierarchies in principle, in practical terms the patriarchal boundaries remained. Statistically, women are not very visible among the Tamil devotional movements: Antal is the only woman Vaisnava saint, and out of the sixty-three Saiva nayanmars, only three are women (Ramaswamy 1997, 120-121). However, the life and poetry of Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the only woman poet among the nayaumars, reveals a fascinating portrait of the localization of a pan-Indian god and the potential space for women in this emerging tradition.

I first became acquainted with Karaikkal Ammaiyar many years ago when I saw Cola bronze images of her in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City and the Metropolitan Museum of New York. I was immediately attracted to her: Her beautiful face wore an expression of pure bliss; her mouth was open, singing her praises for Siva, her Lord. Her enraptured face seemed profoundly at odds with her skeletal, vaguely demonic form. Her striking image led me to read her poetry, and to discover that she indeed had a demon or pey form, in which she lived with Siva in the cremation ground. As I investigated Karaikkal Ammaiyar's life and work, it became clear that there is a continuing tension between the twelfth-century image of her created by Cekkilar and standardized in the ensuing centuries-that of a devoted wife whose love for Siva finally disrupts her domestic life-and the image she presents of herself in her poetry, a pey happily singing in the cremation ground, enraptured by Siva's dance. It turns out that the way I became acquainted with Karaikkal Ammaiyar is a common pattern even in South India, where most people know at least the outline of her story. Worshipers at temples to Siva in Tamilnadu see her image among the sixty-three saints recognized by the Saiva tradition. But not many people are acquainted with her poetry. The divergence between her poetry and her popular life story will be examined in detail in the following chapters.

Specification:

• Publisher : Sri Ramanasramam
  
• by : Lingeswara Rao
  
• Cover : Paperback
  
• Language : English
  
• Edition : 2018
  
• Pages : 459
  
• Weight : 670gm.
  
• Size : 22 x 14 x 4 cm
  
• ISBN-10: 8188225614
  
• ISBN-13: 978-8188225613

Description:

It is similar to Periyapuranam and gives an account of the lives of the sixty-three Nayanmars, the Shaivite saints of south India. Sri Ramanana Maharshi was profoundly influenced by the lives of these Nayanmars.

Devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi are well aware that he was profoundly influenced by the Periapuranam containing the lives of the Nayanmars, the sixtythree Saivite saints. Even after realizing the Self he prayed before the images of the Nayanmars at the Meenakshi temple that he may become a devotee like them! Sivabhakta Vilasam is similar to the Periapuranam and gives an account in Sanskrit of the lives of the Nayanmars. It has its origin in an episode in Kailasa when a congregation of rishis saw a brilliant light descending before them. Maharshi Upamanyu explained to the assembled rishis that it was Sundara, the preeminent Nayanar who came in that form. He also revealed the names and stories of all the sixtythree Nayanmars. This account by Maharshi Upamanyu was later given to others by Sri Suta Muni and Agastya Rishi. The present translation of Sivabhakta Vilasam into Enlglish is by Lingeswara Rao, a fellow devotee.

SPECIFICATION:

Publisher :  Divine Life Society
By :    Devotees
Cover : Paperback
Language : English
Pages : 426 pages
Weight :  400 Gram 
Size : ‎ 22.86 x 2.79 x 27.94 cm
ISBN-10 : 8170521866
ISBN-13 : 978-8170521860

There have been scores of biographies of Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj written by various disciples and devotees, but this work stands out as the best of all in many ways. It was the supreme effort of late Revered Sri Swami Venkatesanandaji Maharaj, who, while being a prominent biographer himself, painstakingly culled and compiled the matter from other biographies as well to make it most comprehensive. Suitable and attractive illustrations have profusely been added to enhance the value of the book. It is a must for any reader to know what is indeed the life of a true sage.

About This Book

In this book the many-faceted personality of Swami Sivananda is depicted through examples and stories as told by his close disciples, as well as from his letters and official accounts in The Divine Life Magazine. They relate the story of a very great human being in a most effective manner. All the complexities of a sage of infinite wisdom, compassion and love are explored. His unparalleled selfless service of humanity (first as a medical doctor and later as a realised sage) provides an inspiring example of strength, humility and devotion. His dedication to the welfare of not only his own disciples, but mankind at large, is described in this volume.

Inside Front Cover

Swami Sivananda was incomparable: he was indefinable. and therefore unpredictable. He had no Stereotyped behaviour, set responses or rigid routines. There was no dogma in him, and yet he was not necessarily opposed to dogma. He was not opposed to anything, not even to opposition! In him contradictions were reconciled into a complete wholeness and the changes blended into an unchanging light that defied description.

–Swami Venkatesananda

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We am indebted to:

H.H. Sri Swami Venkatesananda Maharaj, whose mammoth task it was to compile and edit almost 300 of Swami Sivananda’s books into 19 volumes, in spite of his demanding programmes and failing health.

H.H. Sri Swami Chidananda Maharaj for graciously allowing us the publishing rights for the first edition of these volumes.

H.H. Sri Swami Krishnananda Maharaj for his most comprehensive General Introduction to the volumes and for his support at various stages of the project.

Swami Brahmananda for his patient and painstaking help with the sanskrit quotes, etc.

Sri Narasimhuluji of the Divine Life Society Press, Rishikesh, for his continued encouragement.

Swami Venkatesananda’s many devotees around the world who helped with typing and checking the manuscripts.

Swami Lakshmi Ananda for the final editing.

Devotees of Sivananda Ashram, Fremantle, Western Australia, who have so lovingly prepared the manuscripts for the press.

Jan Rolfe for the graphics.

The Publishers.