Shaivism in the Light of Epics Puranas and Agamas

Contents: Abbreviations. Preface/Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat. Foreword. Contribution of the Saiva Agamas to Saivism. 1. Introduction. 2. A survey of the early history of Saivism. 3. The decline and fall of the Vedic Gods. The rise of the Hindu trinity of Gods. 4. Siva in the light of Puranic mythology. 5. The Linga and the images of Siva. 6. Forms of Siva worship and ritual in the South. 7. The ancillary cults. Appendices: 1. A brief account of a few works mentioned in this work. 2. Siva and his ancillary deities as depicted in the ancient Tamil works. 3. Some Puranic episodes relating to Siva mentioned in the Tevaram texts. 4. The Puranas and the South. 5. Temple building in South India. 6. Saiva temples in South India. 7. Construction of images. 8. Saiva Tirthas. Bibliography.

"Saivism encompasses all aspects of religion: a philosophy, a theology, a conception of the universe, a current of devotion, a world of myths, elaborate rituals in organized temples, expressions in plastic arts, in poetry, music, dance. Images of Siva of great variety and impressive beauty are countless all over India. To improve our understanding of such a rich and elevated subject, the sources are the Sanskrit texts of Epics, Puranas and Agamas. The present book gives a clear presentation of Saivism through a survey and an erudite reading of this vast literature. The Agamas are the key to the knowledge of temple organization and rituals, the description of which is a unique and original contribution of this work.

This very readable and reliable work contains and amazing quantity of information, carefully referenced at every step, and is likely to be of the greatest utility to researchers in history of religion, medieval to modern, as well as to the general reader interested in Saivism."