Saivism is one of the pervasive expressions of Indian Religious Culture stretching to the dim past of pre-history. The present work is a scholarly reconstruction of Saivism in its characteristic and classical form as Saiva Siddhanta, focusing mainly on the philosophical doctrine and presenting a conceptual analysis of its formative notions, problems and methods. Preceding the rise of the great systems of Vedanta including that of Sankara, Saiva Siddhanta in its fully systematised form as Mystical Theology in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries represents a constructive reaction to the theological, ethical and aesthetic aspects of Vedanta as a whole. A patient study of this much neglected phase of religo-philosophical development of India should prove useful for a more balanced understanding of Indian religiosity, providing a corrective to the view entertained not without justification that Indian religious thought does not affirm the values of freedom, love and personality. This methodical study, appended with very exhaustive glossary, bibliography and index and two hundred pages of references and footnotes is designed to meet the requirements of serious students of Eastern religious thought.
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