Sacred Geography and Tamil Saivism: Temple, Landscape, and Memory in Thevaram Hymns

Abstract

Purpose: Thevaram consists of hymns by three Nayanmars (Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar) who praise Shiva and also lay the cement for building a\sacred geography' for the beginning of Tamil Saivism. This paper focuses on Thevaram Hymns and looks at the cross-section of elements of devotion, memory and landscape of Tamil Nadu. The Thevaram song fully and theologically sanctifies the Tamil landscape including rivers, hills, towns, cremation grounds and temples into a living a map of Theolog. The Thevaram anchors abstract religious ideas to a concrete physical location via its notes and descriptions of various the locations. Devotees were then able to experience the Divine in an active (via songs, personal memory and pilgrimages) authentic way.

Methodology: In this paper, the exploratory qualitative research method is used. The relevant information is collected using keyword-based search in Google search engine, Google Scholar search engine, and AI-driven GPTs. This information is analysed and interpreted as per the objectives of the paper.

Analysis/ Results: The s o n g s of the Thevaram initiated a highly decentralized, yet simultaneously unified, Shaivism world. This world was a tangible manifestation where the sacred and the profane, the divine and the human, coexisted and interacted within the same geographical loci. This study attempts to illustrate the importance of Thevaram to Indian Knowledge Systems and to contemporary religion as an embodied practice, all within the frameworks of spatial religion, memory studies, and lived theology.

Originality/ values: Thevaram's enduring strength is the extent to which it makes the land of Tamil Nadu an active locus of Saiva spiritual imagination. This paper suggests that the Thevaram's 'sacred geography' functions as an 'affective archive' of devotional routinization and the crystallization of communal identity.

Type of Paper: Exploratory Research.