Shaiva Siddhanta

Samkhya	Kapila;
Yoga	Patanjali;
Vaisheshika	Kanada, Prashastapada;
Secular	Valluvar;

Shaiva Siddhanta (IAST: Śaiva-siddhānta)^[1]^[2] is a form of Shaivism popular in South India and Sri Lanka which propounds a devotional philosophy with the ultimate goal of experiencing union with Shiva. It draws primarily on the Tamil devotional hymns written by Shaiva saints from the 5th to the 9th century CE, known in their collected form as Tirumurai. Tirumular is considered to be the propounder of the term Siddhanta and its basic tenants. In the 12th century, Aghorasiva, the head of a branch monastery of the Amardaka order in Chidambaram, took up the task of formulating Shaiva Siddhanta. This is an earliest known Aghora Paddhati system of Shaiva Siddhanta of Adi Shaivas mathas in Kongu Nadu which rejects the Meykanda Shastras as a later addition. Meykandar (13th century) was the first systematic philosopher of the school.^[3] The normative rites, cosmology and theology of Shaiva Siddhanta draw upon a combination of Agamas and Vedic scriptures.^[4]

This tradition is thought to have been once practiced all over India,^[5] but the Muslim subjugation of North India restricted Shaiva Siddhanta to the south^[6] where it was preserved with the Tamil Shaiva movement expressed in the bhakti poetry of the Nayanars.^[7] It is in this historical context that Shaiva Siddhanta is commonly considered a "southern" tradition, one that is still very much alive.^[7] The Tamil compendium of devotional songs known as Tirumurai, the Shaiva Agamas and "Meykanda" or "Siddhanta" Shastras,^[8] form the scriptural canon of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta.

^ Xavier Irudayaraj,"Saiva Siddanta," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Vol.III, 2010, pp.10 ff.
^ Xavier Irudayaraj, "Self Understanding of Saiva Siddanta Scriptures" in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Vol.III, 2010, pp.14 ff.
^ "Shaiva-siddhanta | Hindu philosophy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
^ Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. P.120
^ Schomerus, Hilko Wiardo (2000). Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought : Presented as a System and Documented from the Original Tamil Sources (Reprint ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. pp. 5–7. ISBN 978-81-208-1569-8.
^ Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. P.34
^ ^a ^b Flood, Gavin. D. 1996. An Introduction to Hinduism. P.168
^ S. Arulsamy, Saivism - A Perspective of Grace, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, 1987, pp.1

[1] Xavier Irudayaraj,"Saiva Siddanta," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Vol.III, 2010, pp.10 ff.

[2] Xavier Irudayaraj, "Self Understanding of Saiva Siddanta Scriptures" in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, Vol.III, 2010, pp.14 ff.

[3] "Shaiva-siddhanta | Hindu philosophy". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2021.

[4] Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. P.120

[Schomerus-5] Schomerus, Hilko Wiardo (2000). Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought : Presented as a System and Documented from the Original Tamil Sources (Reprint ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. pp. 5–7. ISBN 978-81-208-1569-8.

[6] Flood, Gavin. D. 2006. The Tantric Body. P.34

[Flood,_Gavin_1996._P.168-7] Flood, Gavin. D. 1996. An Introduction to Hinduism. P.168

[arulsamy-8] S. Arulsamy, Saivism - A Perspective of Grace, Sterling Publishers Private Limited, New Delhi, 1987, pp.1

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