Temples of Tamilnad (An Old and Rare Book)

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This book "Temples of Tamilnad contains legends of the mythological and philosophical aspects of the temples of Tamilnad from very early times. The Sthalapuranam of each of the temples has been vividly described bringing out the particular significance of each temple. This is a treasure-house of the glory of the temples dotting Tamilnad, as the reader will find for himself.

The 63 Nayanmars of the Saiva Sect and the 12 Alwar's of the Vaishnava Sect poured out their fervour in praise of the idols installed in each of the temples.

No wonder that the people of Tamilnad worship these Nayanmars and Alwar's for their devotional fervour and for their dedication to the spiritual development of the masses. Their poetic outpourings not only swayed the masses but added to the richness of the Tamil language.

The pleasure the reader is likely to derive by going through the book and acquainting himself with the wealth of the legends of the temples and the details connected with each Sthalapuranam.

Shri R. K. Das (born 11th March 1906) comes of Boudpur village, district of Balasore, Orissa, which is the centre of learning and culture, and is reputed for its Vaishnava cult working under the spiritual guidance of Shrimad Ram Das Babaji of Nawadwip.

Shri Das took his M. A. in History in 1930 from Patna University. He went to Burma and learnt salt manufacture. In 1937, he returned to Orissa to start investigation into the possibility of salt manufacture, and published his valuable reports on the trade. With the creation of the Central Excise and Salt. Department, Shri Das was taken up in Central Government service, and he served in many places in India. The last lap of his service, ex- tending to nine years, was in South India.

Retiring from the Indian Salt Services as an Assistant Commissioner in 1961, Shri Das accepted the post of Project Officer (Salt) under the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd.

An attempt has been made in this book to reproduce the legends connected with the temples of Tamilnad, with an idea to bring home to all, the mythological, spiritual and philosophical aspects of the anecdotes from early times to date. The Sthalapuranam, legendary history of the sacred places, are available for sale in almost all the temples of the South, and they give the particular significance of each temple with the chronology of the distinguished divine visitors who performed miracles and conducted their penances in those temples. The presence of such devotees doubly sanctified the shrines concerned, and added to their sacred glory. Unless one is fully conversant with the Tamil language and its Puranic legends, it is difficult for him to follow the exact history and significance of a particular temple. Therefore, it was desirable to have a book in English to help the general public who do not know Tamil.

Creation is a mystery. The questions as to what is creation, what is the cause for this creation and what is the purpose of this creation, are more controversial ones. To explain this, one has to assume that there is a super-natural power who is called God. At least all reconcile to the theory that there is some power or will which makes for motion. When anything moves, there must be a mover. Who is that mover, unseen and little known, to make the earth, the sun and the moon move? Here we come to that unseen power whose will makes matter and things move. This is a matter of belief. Our great sages have named the mover as 'God', whose will commands all movement. The experi- ence of day and night we undergo every day is at His will only, the Sun rises every morning and so too the Moon every night and there is also the eclipse of the Sun and the Moon, at scheduled times which have been meticulously calculated by our great sages long long past. Till today we have not seen any difference in their calculation which was based on the soundest theory of Ajapa Gayatri. It is based on the Mantra or Hymn called Hamsa, which is connected with the inhalation and exhalation of a human breath. Every human being starts chanting this Mantra the moment he is born into this world and it ends when he ceases to exist. The sound Ha' represents inhalation, i.e. the sound caused while inhaling breath, and the sound 'sha' is caused while exhaling. Control over this breath is the basic principle of Pranayama. When breath is controlled mind is controlled too. The fleeting nature of mind being controlled, it can be concentrated on divine thoughts. As a swan (Hamsa) is to be kept under control for utilising its services, the mind is to be brought under sway by controlling the breath, the hymns of Hamsa or Ajapa Gayatri. According to medical investigation, the normal healthy man has 15 breaths per minute or in other words 21,600 breaths per day. 60 Nadis go to make one Vinadi. 60 Vinadis or 3,600 Nadis are equivalent to 1 Nazhigai. 60 Nazhigais or 216,000 Nadis make one day. 360 days make one year. Kali Yuga consists of 4,32,000 such years. Dwapara Yuga consists of 8,64,000 years. Treta Yuga consists of 12,96,000 years and Krita Yuga consists of 17,28,000 years. A Chatur Yuga or Maha Yuga consists of 43,20,000 years. One Thousand Maha Yugas are equal to 1 Kalpa or a day of Brahma. 71 Maha Yugas are equal to one Manvantara and 14 Manvantaras are equal to one day of Brahma without the Sandhis.