Thread by @shrikanth_krish

Great talk to listen to on Shivaratri

Sutton identifies five strands of Shiva-worship in India (of which one is somewhat defunct)

1. Intermittent Shaivism of the smArthas - where Shiva shares the stage with Vishnu, and other deities

(Contd..)

2. Kashmir Shaivism : A non-dualist Tantric system pioneered in Kashmir some 1000+ years ago.

Abhinavagupta was a leading light of the school

This strand is perhaps the weakest today among the five

3. Shaiva Siddhanta : The dualistic system which was once pan-Indian but is now mostly centered in Tamil Nadu.

A region where Shiva is the supreme deity for millions. Thanks to the Bhakti pioneered by the 63 Nayanars

4. The Nath tradition pioneered some 1000 years ago by Matsyendranath / Gorakhnath in what is Eastern UP today

This movement champions asceticism, and haTha yOga, and one where Shiva is viewed as a Guru (teacher)

5. Veerashaivism / Lingayat tradition pioneered in Karnataka by Basava

Distinguished by its anti-brahminical orientation, relative to the other Shaivite strands we discussed.

Growing up in a Sri-vaishnavite family in the South, visiting a Shaiva shrine was only marginally more likely than visiting a church

So grew up with a somewhat hazy understanding of Shaivism

What's clear though is that Shaivism has declined considerably all across India in the past 1000 years - a millennium that has seen the strong ascent of Vaishnavism across geographies

What has hurt Shaivism over the past 1000 years is the absence of a strong "Shaivite" brahminical sect in the country

Vaishnavism of an exclusive sort did penetrate the SmArthas - resulting in the formation of Sri-Vaishnava and mAdhva sects

But not Shaivism

Shaivism among brAhmaNas for the most part is "intermittent".

Shiva is honored along with Vishnu, Ganesha, Surya, Devi by Smarthas

But sectarian Shaivism has not picked up among brahminical communities

Unlike Vaishnavism

Why that is the case is a million $ question

I think @GhorAngirasa has attempted to address it in some threads

@GhorAngirasa Personally I long for the day when Tamil Smarthas show as much enthusiasm for Shaivite figures like Sambandar or Appar as Iyengars do for Nammalvar or Andal

But doesn't seem likely

@GhorAngirasa As we look ahead, it is clear that Shaivism's epicenter in India is the द्राविड territory

Where Shiva is indeed the ishTa deva for tens of millions. Particularly in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Followed by AP and Kerala

Shaivism is relatively more lukewarm in the north. Lacking the same degree of popular support. Though Shiva is incredibly important.

What's interesting about the South is that the masses are predominantly Shaivite. Especially in TN and Karnataka

Though there isn't a single major numerically strong exclusively Shaivite brahmin sect in either state! (not counting Gurukkals who are too few in number)

So Shaivism of the masses in the two southern states of TN and Karnataka is despite the lack of establishment embrace of sectarian Shaivism

The brahminical establishment in both states is either smArtha or Vaishnavite

An irony

Will conclude by linking to a great Kannada movie song from the 50s - the debut movie of Rajkumar

A song that reminds us of the instrumental role Shaivism must have played over centuries as an agent of Sanskritization

A more high brow eulogy of Rudra from Yajurveda (Shri Rudram)

A magnificent composition

Reminder on the Vedic roots of Shiva

Rudra in YV is very much Shiva with similar iconography

"girisamta" (mountain dweller)
"kapardin" (one with braided hair)

Post-script : Some clarifications on the thread -

1. The "decline" of Shaivism I spoke of was only relative to Vaishnavism's vastly improved fortunes and reach in the past 1000 years

(Contd..)

2. Kashmir Shaivism - Too simplistic a term. I mentioned the non-dualist strand. But it is likely Shaiva-Siddhanta was as popular as Trika school in Kashmir

(Contd..)

3. Not totally accurate to say there is no brahminical sect that embraces Shaivism down south. We have the Adi-Shaivas ofc

Again my statement was relative to the numbers of the strongly Vaishnava brahmin sects