Siva Kosha (Set of 2 Volumes)

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Siva is the deity that is worshipped all over the country by all classes of people; and the literature on Siva, Saiva Agama and Saiva pantheon is immense, and there are also numerous shrines in India where Siva is worshipped in one form (or aspect) or another. The available matter therefore justifies two volumes on the subject. We hope the scholars and students interested in Indian Culture Would welcome this publication.

Vidyalankar, Sastra-Chudamini, Sangita-Kalaratna, Professor Saligrama Krishna Ramachandra Rao, was a well-known scholar who had combined traditional learning with modern research. Well versed in Sanskrit, Pali, Ardhmagadhi and acquainted with Tibetan and some European language, he had written extensively on Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism, Indian Culture, Art and Literature.

He had written more than Sixty Books in Kannada, a play in Sanskrit, and a Pali Commentary on a Buddhist classic. One of his books on Iconography in Kannada has won the State Sahitya Academy Award, as also another of his Books on the Tirupati Temple.

Some of the books he had authored are Encyclopaedia of Indian Iconography, Agama Encyclopaedia, Lalita Kosha, Sri Vidya Kosha, Tantric Practices in Sri Vidya, Sri Cakras, Yantra.

Siva is a god of great antiquity and widespread popularity. He is of Vedic, Puranic and tantric celebrity. The aniconic (linga) from of Siva also presents the sense of mysterious; the iconic forms (called lilamurthi), twenty-four in number are replete with myths and legends associated with Siva and his acts of compassion and destruction. The agamas and the sculptural texts (Silpa- Sastra) give elaborate information about this god and the representation of his iconic and aniconic forms. The present attempts is to gather under one cover the multi-faceted grandeur of this god, called Siva or Rudra, in his benign as well as ferocious aspects. With due regard to the vast material (literary as well as pictorial) in Sanskrit and Tamil that is available, the Kosha is prepared in two volumes, the second volume including the source-materials, hymnology and worship rituals.

I am grateful to the Chief Patron of the Kalpatharu Research Academy, the pontiff of the Sringeri Peetham, Sri Sri Bharathi-Tirtha-Swamigal, the Administrator of the Srigeri-Peetham and the Chairman of the Academy, Sri V.R. Gowrishankar, and the Chief Editor and Director of the Academy Daivajna K.N. Somayaji, for having provided this opportunity for me.