The book is in two parts dealing with the sacred hymns of the Alvars and Nayanmar; rooted in the Vedas, the Itihasas, the Gita and the Sahasranamas of Visnu and Siva. The first part presents the Roman transcription and English translation of the holiest of the hymns, the Tiruppavai and Tiruvempavai. The second part is on “Morphological Riddles and Mythological Setting” of the Alvars hymns, and historical reflections on the ‘Divyadesas” (Sacred Geography) of Visnuism in the Kaviri delta.
The book includes an historical introduction on the bhakti cult. Rooted in the ‘Bhagavata’ or Vrsni-vira worship, the bhakti adumbrated by the Alvars and the Nayanmar (6th-9th century CE) had a tremendous impact over the course liturgical literature, temple building and the temple arts, sculpture and painting through the ages in South and Southeast Asia.
Fourth and fifth chapters elaborately deal with the Tamil Veda, the ‘Nalayiram’ in the context of the ideas aired in second and third chapters. The annexures on Visnusahasranama and Sivasahasranama pinpoint their art historical relevance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR R K K Rajarajan
Born in 1973, Dr. R.K.K. Rajarajan had his schooling and university education at Madurai and Thanjavur. He did his M. Phil and Ph.D. under the inspiration of his father, Prof. Raju Kalidos. Since a college student, his father trained him in Hindu iconography. The thesis was unanimously “Highly Commended†by a board of experts, including Prof. Maurizio TADDEI. Taking the doctoral degree in 1989, he was conferred the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral fellowship and left for Germany in the same year. He worked for nearly three years in the Institut fur Indische Philologie und Kunstgeschichte, at the Freie Universitat Berlin, Berlin. He has attended several national seminars and an international conference at the University of Hong Kong. He has published a number of articles in international journals from Oxford, Rome, Naples and Berlin. Several more articles stand to his credit at home. Dr. Rajarajan has visited Hong Kong, several places in Germany, England (London) and Italy (Rome). Presently he is teaching history at the Eritrean Institute of Technology, Asmara, Eritrea.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR R.K. Parthiban
Prof. R.K. Parthiban [Parthiban Rajukalidos] completed bachelor of architecture (B. Arch.), in the Regional Engineering College, Tiruccirappalli (now NIT Trichy). He is a registered architect with the Council of Architecture, New Delhi. His master’s degree is from the UNESCO Chair of Heritage Studies, Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany. He is currently working in the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH) for his doctoral degree. Apart from regular academic teaching and research, he has published in Cottbus and Oslo.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Raju Kalidos
The Editor of the book, Professor Raju Kalidos, is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Chairman of the Department of Sculpture and Art History of the Tamil University of Thanjavur. Born in August 1947, Raju’s contribution to the nation is fitting if we look into the title and the sectarian trends of Indian politics at the time of the golden jubilee celebration of independence. Dr. Kalidos is an authority on South Indian art and Tamil literature, especially its bearing on iconology. The Editor has to his credit four books and a number of articles in internationally reputed Journals, published from Rome, Cambridge (U.K.), London, Nepales, Copenhagen and Osle. He has participated in international conferences at home and abroad; especially of the International Association of the Historians of Asia (Hong Kong and Thailand) and International Congress of Asian and North African Studies (Hong Kong). Publication in Journals of national level touch a centum. The associates of Raju Kalidos are equally meritorious, all having contributed/published in the international Journals. The are R.K.K. Rajarajan, S. Gopalakrishnan, V. Latha and A Meeneshwari. J. Rangasvami is Reader in the Department of Philosophy of the Tamil University. S. Ganeshram is Lecturer in the S.R. Naidu College, Sattur. Both of them are associated with the Editor in research projects for a pretty long time. V. Balambal was Professor of History in the University of Madras. A major UGC project, completed by Raju Kalidos on the Iconography of Early Medieval South India is being published by the Sharada Publishing House in five volumes.
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