Importance of Sthala Puranas

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Importance of Sthala Puranas from Hindu Dharma

 

http://www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part14/chap18.htm

In my opinion, the Sthala Puranas not only enables us to have an

insight into history but also enrich our knowledge of local culture

and local customs. It seems to me that if they are read together in a

connected manner they will throe more light on our history than even

the 18 major Puranas and Upapuranas. In fact, they fill the gaps in

the major Puranas.

 

Local legends do help in a proper understanding of history. For

instance, educated people today do not believe that Sankara

Bhagavatpada visited any of the temples or that he brought the puja

performed there under a certain system. "The great non-dualist that

he was and exponent of the path of jnana, " they argue, "he would not

have concerned himself with devotion, temple worship, the Agasmas,

and the like. " But let us examine the stories that tell us that he

gave new life to certain temples, temples that are thousand miles or

more apart. Their connection with the Acharya is confirmed from such

stories and local legends. The priest who conducts the puja in

Badrinath(a) in the Himalaya is a Namputiri Brahmin from Kerala -he

is called "Rawal". Here, in Madras, the puja at the Tripurasundari

temple at Tiruvorriyur is also by a Namputiri. This is proof of the

oral tradition according to which the Acharya was a Namputiri who

engaged fellow Namputiris to conduct puja in the temples he revived.

 

In teaching us lessons in dharma also the Sthala Puranas are in no

way inferior to the major Puranas. It is in fact these local Puranas

which are a few hundred in number that throw light on the finer

points of dharma. Unfortunately, even the religious-minded among the

educated class today think poorly of them. But, until recently, these

Puranas were treated with respect by learned men in Tamil Nadu.

Distinguished Tamil scholars have written Puranas after those

existing in the name of great sages and also a number of Sthala

Puranas. There are works in Tamil describing the importance and

significance of places and temples - they are known variously as

Sthala Puranas, manmiyam, kalambagam, ula, etc. ("Mahima" means

greatness or glory; manmiyam is its Tamil form. )

 

Tamil literature is divided into the Sangam, Tevaram-Divyaprabandham

and Kambar-Ottakuttar periods. Scholars describe the 16th century as

the period of the Sthala Puranas. The chief authors of such works are

Kamalai Jnanaprakasar and Saiva Ellappa Navalar. We know the

worthiness of Sthala Puranas from the fact that among their authors

are Kacchiyappa Sivachariyar (he composed the Kanda Puranam),

Paranjyoti Muni (he is the author of the Thiruvilayadal Puranam),

Umapati Sivachariyar (a distinguished teacher of Saivism),

Sivaprakasa Svami, the Irattai Pulavars, Antakkavi Viraraghava

Mudaliar, Kottaiyur Sivakkozhundu Desigar, Trikuta Rasappakavirayar.

In recent times there was Mahavidvan Minaksisundaram Pillai who was

the guru of U. V. Svaminatha Ayyar. He has written a number of Sthala

Puranas. We learn from this that Sthala Puranas have a place of

honour in the Tamil religious tradition and literature.

 

A distinguished Sanskrit scholar and authority on the sastras,

Karungulam Krsna Sastri, has written a Tamil work called Vedaranya

Mahatmyam.

 

Tamil rulers gave their support to Sthala Puranas and their

propagation. More than four and half centuries ago, the Puranas

relating to Pancanadaksetra (Tiruvaiyaru, Tanjavur) was translated

into Tamil. The translator mentions that he undertook the work as

desired by Govinda Diksita who was responsible for the founding of

the Nayaka kingdom of Tanjavur.

 

Preserving the Puranas from Hindu Dharma

 

For a thousand or ten thousand years our temples and the festivals

associated with them have nurtured our religious traditions against

various opposing forces. Every temple has a story to tell; every

temple festival has a legend behind it. These have been preserved in

the Puranas. To ignore or neglect this great heritage, this great

treasure, is to cause serious hurt to the religious feelings of our

people.

 

In the past, when there was no printing press, the palm-leaf

manuscripts were jealously guarded generation after generation. Is it

right to keep them in neglect when so many books are churned out by

the printing presses today, the majority of them injurious to our

inner advancement? It is our duty to preserve the Puranas for future

generations. Not to do so is to deprive them of great source of

inspiration.