Skanda

This is a critique to Dr Raj Vedam's article tilted "When did we first celebrate Makar Sankaranti?" dealing with the mis-conception of synchronizing Makar Sankaranti with winter solstice (Uttarayana) and the debatable views on 'Fall of Abhijit'.

This paper establishes 10,000 BCE as  the date of the first ever Vedic Homa, heralding the start of the Vedic culture, from a narration lying un-deciphered in Mahabharata. The first Homa was done by Skanda, whose name is also associated with the re-design of the zodiac by including the star Krittika (Pleiades) to make up for exclusion of Abhijit (Vega) that was until then held as one among the 27 stars of the zodiac. This adjustment made sure that the star count always remained 27. The removal of Abhijit is being termed as the "fall" of Abhijit by the current generation of people, though no such reference is found in the scriptures.

Resumo A antiquíssima disputa ária-drávida aparece repetidamente na paisagem cultural indiana. O povo dravidiano reclama primazia em áreas nativas, enquanto os arianos controlam sua supremacia brahmânica. Os Vindhyas mantiveram uma distância resoluta entre as culturas do norte e do sul, apesar de séculos de tentativa de arianização. Entre os muitos símbolos culturais apropriados pelos indo-arianos, o deus popular Murugan é um bom exemplo. Vários estudiosos modernos têm estudado os Purāṇas como uma ferramenta para aculturação e com razão. O antigo deus das colinas, que tinha um culto independente, foi lentamente introduzido no grupo Shaiva através de vários Purāṇas. Mais aprovação popular foi gerada com a tradição Smārta de Ādi Śaṃkara. O deus guerreiro popular, que teve pouca menção nos Vedas, de repente faz uma aparição gloriosa no período pós-vêdico. Quem foi Skanda? De onde ele veio e por quê? Quão semelhantes ou dessemelhantes são o Murugan do sul e o Skanda-Kārttikeya do norte? Esse artigo traça a origem e o desenvolvimento desse deus na Índia ariana, enquanto o compara com seu equivalente do sul. Ao estudar os temas iconográficos e mitológicos, esse trabalho espera compreender as motivações religiosas e políticas por trás dessa apropriação. Os arianos foram totalmente bem sucedidos na aculturação de Murugan? A disputa começou nos primeiros séculos da Era Comum e continua até hoje.

In the dry jungle of remote southeastern Sri Lanka lies Kataragama or Katir-kamam, the (place of) 'light and love-passion', a shrine complex of exceptional antiquity and sanctity that attracts many thousands of Buddhist, Hindu and even Muslim devotees year round, particularly during the fortnight-long Aesala festival in July-August, when a small casket believed to contain the secret of the god's birth—nay, the god himself—is taken out in solemn yet joyful torch lit procession nightly, escorted by his women-votaries and troupes of riotous dancers representing the animal, human, chthonic and heavenly spheres. An archaic spirit of paradox, fertility, rejuvenation and play, the Kataragama god also preserves an essential soteriological dimension as the Divine Psychopomp who guides his followers beyond the Portals of Death into an unconditional realm of freedom from the tyranny of the pairs of opposites (Sanskrit: dvandva).

In this study, I propose to demonstrate, using structural and thematic analysis as well as historical evidence and my own field observations, how Kataragama actually embodies the survival into the twenty-first century of one of humanity's most archaic religious traditions long considered to be extinct—the initiatic mystery religion. Astonishing as this conclusion may appear to scholars, there are ample grounds for such an identification, which may be said to be inherent in the very structure of Kataragama itself. As such, Kataragama represents an extraordinary paradigm spanning both archaic and modern worldviews and over two thousand years of human history.

How could such a remarkable phenomenon pass unnoticed by millions of pilgrim-observers and generations of scholars and what implications may follow for our understanding of ancient and modern cultures the world over? This study, although not exhaustive, presents an overview of the evidence and an outline of the reasoning behind this hypothesis.

South Asian Archaeology 1987, Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe, held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, ed. M. TADDEI with the assistance of P.F. CALLIERI, Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio e Estremo Oriente, 1990, part 2, pp. 1067-1076.

Tirumalai and Piranmalai occupy a unique place in the art history of South India, housing images of Umasahita in garbha-grhas. The archaic nature of the caves and the contents of the sanctum would prove that they are survivals of the very ancient traditions. It is also likely that they should be dated prior to A.D. 600. The view among some scholars that the figures represent either Skanda or Jambala-Hariti could not be accepted. Historical and iconographical evidences are against such generalizations.

Across the ancient world from Europe to the Far East and from remote prehistory, down to modern times, the island known variously as Lanka, Serendib, or Taprobane has powerfully influenced the imagination of travelers, storytellers and students of sacred geography, or cosmography, the mapping of the known universe. Down the centuries, a host of colorful characters, from Gautama Buddha to Sinbad the Sailor, has in fact or in legend visited this resplendent isle to partake of its reputation for wisdom, wealth, and enchantment.

Only recently have modern scholars, through computer training, networking, and of course, use of the internet, begun to analyze in depth the patterns of structure and meaning common to all ancient accounts of Lanka, as truly fabulous as most of them are. In this article, a modern investigator of traditional lore surveys the field of Lankan cosmography down the ages with special attention to the methodology and purpose of 'sacred geography'.

... In this they reveal their common affinity to Hermes, the Greek god of cunning, theft and eloquence whose caduceus or herald's magical wand finds its counterpart in Skanda-Murukan's vel (Tamil: 'spear'), called his Jñāna Shakti or 'power of gnosis'. ...