DIVINE INFORMATION PART 87 Respected friends,
While goingthrough one of my external memory device, I came across some good information stored from websites. I thought ofsharing interesting ones from them as a series. In part 88, I amstarting with 312th item in this posting. Kindly note the series is a compilation. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan28-08-21 312 Sun Worship in India The Vedicscriptures of the Hindu religion refer to the sun as the store house ofinexhaustible power and radiance. The sungod is referred to as Surya or Aditya.The Vedas are full of hymns describing the celestial body asthe source and sustainer of all life on earth. The origin of the worship of theSun in India is thus several centuries old. Referencesto sun worship are found in the puranas. The Ramayana speaks of Sage Agastyainitiating Rama into sun worship through theAditya Hridaya Mantra. Theastronomer and astrologer Varahamirhira makes references tothe intricacies of ceremonies connected with the installation of the icon ofthe Sun. Mayura, who lived in the court of Harshavardhana(1st millennium CE) composed the Surya Satakamin praise of Surya and is believed to have been cured of blindness. It is also said that Iranwas once a center of Solar worship and that some of theMagha priests of Iran had been brought to India toofficiate in ceremonies. Suntemples in ancient days were known as Aditya Grihas. The travellerKtesias mentions a site of sun worship in western India (400BC). Suntemples across the subcontinent absorb the flavor of the region that theybelong to. DakshinaarkaTemple in the Gangetic Plains (considered to be a site for making offerings toancestors), Suryanaar Koyil in South India, Arasavilliand Konarkon the East Coast of India, Modherain Gujarat (Western India), SuryaPahar in North Eastern India and Unaoin Central India are some of the well known sun temples of India. Itshould be mentioned here that remains of an ancient Sun temple are found at Martandanear Srinagar in Kashmir. It is said to date back to the firstcentury CE. Ruins of a sun temple which attracted thousands ofvisitors in the 7th century CE are found in Multanin Pakistan. Several temples dedicated to Shiva,feature a small shrine for Surya the Sun God. In addition, itis believed that Surya,the Sun God has offered worship at several of the shrines in Tamilnadu; many ofthese shrines have been designed in such a way that the sun’s rays illuminatethe sanctum (of Shiva) on certain days of the year. Several of the South Indian Temple Tanks also bearthe name Surya Theertham or SuryaPushkarini. 313 Beliefs related to Surya Surya isportrayed with two lotuses held in both his hand, and is occasionally shownwith the hood of the mythical serpent Adi Sesha spread over his head.At the base of his image are shown his gatekeepers Pingala(Agni) and Danda (Skanda). Surya is portrayed riding aseven horse chariot driven by Aruna or Anoora.Aruna (a charioteer devoid of legs) is said to be theson of Kasyapa muni and Vinataand brother of Garuda. TheIndian system of beliefs regards sunlight as the greatestof disinfectants, hence the sun is associated with healingpower. Legend has it that Samba theson of Krishna was cured of leprosy by his worship of the sun god . It is still believed by many that sunworship offered at several of the sun temples all over India, is a cure forleprosy and other skin ailments, blindness and infertility. The Vedasrefer to sun worship. Vishnu is also described as beingseated in the midst of the disk of the sun; over time Vishnu worship mergedwith sun worship (in some instances), and Surya is also referred to as Suryanarayana. Interestingly,Buddhism refers to Marichias an incarnation of Dhyan-Buddha-Vairochana, and is depicted with three facessymbolic of morning, noon and evening, on a chariot drawn by seven boars,driven by a Goddes without legs. 314 SuryanaarKoyil SuryanaarKoyil is located in thehamlet of Tirumangalakkudinear Kumbhakonamand Mayiladuturainear Thanjavurin Tamilnadu. This is a one of a kind temple dedicated to the Sun God and italso houses shrines to each of the other eight celestial bodies - the NavaGrahams. Very closeby, are the Shivastalams Tirumangalakkudiand Kanjanur(Sukrastalam) Shrinesfor Surya are seen in many temples in Tamilnadu such as Tirukkodikka,Alagadriputtur, Ennayiram, (Rajendra Chola), Tirumanikkuzhi(Kulottunga), Tirupparaitturai,Tiruppattur, Koviluretc. ; however a standalone temple for Surya is more of an exception thana rule. Suryanaar Koyil was built by the Cholakings. Inscriptions from the period of Kulottunga Chola I (1075-1120)refer to this temple as the Kulottunga Chola MartandaAlayam. KulottungaChola is said to have had a good relationship with the Gahadwal dynasty of Kanauj(1090 - 1194), whose rulers were Sun worshippers, and henceSuryanar Koyil, is considered to be an expression of their influence in SouthIndia. Inscriptionsfrom the period of Krishna Deva Raya, speaking ofendowments made to this temple are also seen here. The Suryanar temple faces west. Thepresiding deity here is Suryanarayana in a chariot likevimaanam, representing thesun’s chariot. There are also shrines to Kasi Viswanathar, Visalakshiand Brihaspati (Guru) in the sanctum. Shrines to the othercelestial bodies are located outside of the sanctum. Thesanctum and the ardhamandapam are built of stone, while the rest of the shrinesare brick structures. The Kol Theertha Vinayakar shrine isconsidered to be of importance here. An elaborate worship protocol involving circumambulating theentire temple nine times, isprescribed for devotees visiting the temple. Protocol requires that one visits the Tirumangalakkudi Shivastalam before visitingSuryanaar Koyil. RathaSaptami in the Tamil monthof Thai, and the first Sundays in the months of Aavani(Leo) and Kartikai (Scorpio) and VijayaDasami are celebrated in this temple. 315 Abodesof Surya TheIndian system of beliefs venerates the sun as an inexhaustablesource of energy. Sun worship in India dates back to ancient times. Perhaps the best known of thesun temples in India are the remains of the Konarktemple on the eastcoast of India and the remains of the Modhera sun temple in thewestern state of Gujarat. Sunworship inIndia: The Indian system of beliefs reveres the Sun as an inexhaustable sourceof energy. The Sun God portrayed in ancient temples bears symbols and ornamentsresembling those from Asia Minor. Legendsrelated to Surya: This article traces the various legendsassociated with Surya, hisconsorts Usha, Chhaaya and Padma. Surya- Iconography - Beliefs: The Sun is portrayed seated on achariot drawn by seven horses. A common thread of beliefs surrounds sun worshipall over the Indian subcontinent. SuryanaarKoyil near Kumbhakonam in Tamilnadu: was constructed byKulottunga Chola in the 1100s, to aid visiting dignitaries from Kanauj in sunworship. Suryanaar Koyil nearKumbhakonam in Tamilnadu: was constructed by Kulottunga Chola in the 1100s, toaid visiting dignitaries from Kanauj in sun worship. TheKonark Sun temple is probably the best and most majesticspecimen of temple art in Orissa, despite its ruined state. The Modherasun temple, even in its ruined state is a majestic one, bearing testimony tothe art of the ancient Chalukyas of Gujarat TheSuryanarayana temple at Arasavalliin Andhra Pradesh is an ancient one built by the Kalinga rulers in the 1stmillennium CE. The DakshinaarkaSun temple at Gaya is associated with the rites for making offerings toancestors. The SunTemple at Ranakpur: is a magnificientstructure in white soapstone. It is located in the vicinityof the grand Jain temple complex in Ranakpur in Rajasthan. The sun temple at Unaoin Madhya Pradesh is an ancient one, believed to be associated with cures forskin ailments. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/419502042.190379.1630207524493%40mail.yahoo.com.
