My Naga Guru has mastered Koranic verses Hindu scriptures he was a teacher before he took Diksha became a Naga Sadhu.. This picture was shot after I had lived at his tent at Sadhugram Trimbakeshwar ..He stays at a Ashram near Film city , his temple is a a dugout cave where he retreats after the Kumbh ,,
I met him here it was 2004 I think ..he came to my house met my family and we kept in touch, he wanted me to come and visit him at Ardh Kumbh but that did not happen .. finally I shot the Maha Kumbh ..The Basant Panchami Shahi Snan I could have shot a lot but somehow I had to come back to Mumbai.. I met Chandraswamiji , I met various Maha Madleshwars ,, they all wondered how as a Muslim I was documenting their greatest Sadhu Saga ,,, I told them it was my destiny , behind the camera I was neither a Hindu or a Muslim I was only a cosmic photographer ,, Most of the events I saw like the Initiation of the Naga Sadhus Juna Akhada , but my Guru told me to hide my camera ,, he was incidentally a Kotwal so I was able to be part of the Maha Kumbh ..I have not met my Guru Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj since my return from Allahabad ,, he went into retreat sabbatical no phone etc . I have no time to go to Film City ,, but I have a contact his disciple in Hardwar we are in touch.. I will go for the Shahi Snans , I dont know I have not planned anything .. but I am more interested in connecting with my Tantric Guri who is deep into Occult and Dark Forces Kapoor Khamkhya hardcore disciple mystic of Goddess Khamakhya ,, he is powerfully connected he has promised to call me wen he reaches Nasik.. The Malang part of me is more fascinated with this part of Sadhudom..The Kumbh for the Hindus is Faith Religion Belief for me as a documentarist with over 65000 Hindu blogs it is capturing the minuest nuance of my great rich cultural inheritance.
Nasik Kumbh Mela Schedule of Events
14th July 2015 (Tuesday): Flag hoisting of the main ceremony at Ram Kunda
14th August 2015 (Friday): Flag hoisting of the Akhara at Sadhugram
26th August 2015 (Wednesday): Shravan Shudha- First Snan
29th August 2015 (Saturday): Shravan Purnima - First Shahi Snan at Ram Kunda
13th September 2015 (Sunday): Bhadrapad Amavasya - Second Shahi Snan/ Main bathing day
18th September 2015 (Friday): Bhadrapad Shukla Panchmi (Rushipanchami) - Third Shahi Snan
25th September 2015 (Friday): Bhadrapad Shukla Dwadashi - Vaman Dwadashi Snan
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Shaivism or Saivism is one of the four most widely followed sects of Hinduism, which reveres the God Shiva as the Supreme Being. It is also known as śaiva paṁtha (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ; lit. "pantha associated with Shiva") and Saivam (Tamil: சைவம்).
Shaivism or Saivism is one of the four most widely followed sects of Hinduism, which reveres the God Shiva as the Supreme Being. It is also known as śaiva paṁtha (Sanskrit: शैव पंथ; lit. "pantha associated with Shiva") and Saivam (Tamil: சைவம்). Followers of Shaivam are called "Shaivas" (also "Saivas", "Shaivites" or "Saivarkal"). They believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism, like some of the other forms of Hinduism, spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Java, Bali, and parts of the Southeast Asian continent, including Cambodia.
Shiva is sometimes depicted as the fierce God Bhairava. Saivists are more attracted to asceticism than adherents of other Hindu sects, and may be found wandering India with ashen faces performing self-purification rituals.[1][2][3] They worship in the temple and practice yoga, striving to be one with Shiva within.[4]
Sacred ash came to be used as a sign of Shaivism. Devotees of Shiva wear it as a sectarian mark on their foreheads and other parts of their bodies with reverence. The Sanskrit words bhasma[5] and vibhuti[6] can both be translated as "sacred ash".
History[edit]
The Development of the Saiva Traditions
Main article: History of Shaivism
The Śvetāśvatara Upanishad (400 - 200 BCE)[7] is the earliest known textual exposition of a systematic philosophy of Shaivism.[8] As explained by Gavin Flood, the text proposes:
... a theology which elevates Rudra to the status of supreme being, the Lord (Sanskrit: Īśa) who is transcendent yet also has cosmological functions, as does Śiva in later traditions.[9]
During the Gupta Dynasty (c. 320 - 500 CE) Puranic religion developed and Shaivism spread rapidly, eventually throughout the subcontinent, spread by the singers and composers of the Puranic narratives.[10]
Major schools[edit]
Shaivism Groupings
Shaivism has many different schools reflecting both regional and temporal variations and differences in philosophy.[11] Shaivism has a vast literature that includes texts representing multiple philosophical schools, including non-dualist (abheda), dualist (bheda), and non-dual-with-dualism (bhedābheda) perspectives.[12]
Puranic and non-Puranic[edit]
A review of Shaivite groups makes a broad distinction into two groups, with further subdivisions within each group:[13]
Vedic, Puranic. Shaivism as a Vedic Origin and Science is the basis of this Religion. The Sections of "Smartha" Brahmins in South and North comprise the Shaivism Practise of Vedic Religion; the Sanatana Dharma. The Shiva Purana is the ultimate resource of the Historical Presence of Shaivism in Society of Modern India.
Non-Puranic. These devotees are distinguished by undergoing initiation (dīkṣa) into a specific cult affiliation for the dual purposes of obtaining liberation in this life (mukti) and/or obtaining other aims (bhukti). Sanderson subdivides this group further into two subgroups:
Those that follow the outer or higher path (atimārga), seeking only liberation. Among the atimārga groups two are particularly important, the Pāśupatas and a sub-branch, the Lakula, from whom another important sect, the Kalamukhas, developed.[14]
Those that follow the path of mantras (mantramārga), seeking both liberation and worldly objectives.
Pashupata Shaivism[edit]
Pashupata Shaivism influence in India
Pashupata Shaivism: The Pashupatas (Sanskrit: Pāśupatas) are the oldest named Shaivite group.[15] The Pashupatas were ascetics.[16] Noted areas of influence (clockwise) include Gujarat, Kashmir and Nepal.[citation needed] But there is plentiful evidence of the existence of Pāśupata groups in every area of the Indian subcontinent. In the far South, for example, a dramatic farce called the Mattavilāsanaprahasana ascribed to a seventh-century Pallava king centres around a Pāśupata ascetic in the city of Kāñcīpuram who mistakes a Buddhist mendicant's begging bowl for his own skull-bowl. Inscriptions of comparable date in various parts of South East Asia attest to the spread of Pāśupata forms of Śaivism before the arrival there of tantric schools such as the Shaiva Siddhanta.[17]
Shaiva Siddhanta[edit]
Shaiva Siddhanta influence in India
Shaiva Siddhanta: Considered normative tantric Saivism, Shaiva Siddhanta provides the normative rites, cosmology and theological categories of tantric Saivism.[18] There is a dualistic dimension to Shaivism, as expounded by Meykandar. The pure, or Shuddha Saivism,however, proclaimed by Rishi Thirumular and his paramparai (guru lineage), is strictly non-dualistic, and proclaims the soul to be at all times one with Shiva.[19] This tradition was once practiced all over India. For example the theologians Sadyojoti, Bhatta Nārāyanakantha and his son Bhatta Rāmakantha (ca. 950-1000 AD) developed a sophisticated Siddhanta theology in Kashmir.[20] However the Muslim subjugation of north India restricted Shaiva Siddhanta to the south,[21] where it merged with the Tamil Saiva cult expressed in the bhakti poetry of the Nayanars(600 C.E. and 1100 C.E).[22] It is in this historical context that Shaiva Siddhanta is commonly considered a "southern" tradition, one that is still very much alive.[22]
Kashmir Shaivism[edit]
Kashmir Shaivism influence in India
Kashmir Shaivism: Kashmir Saivism, a householder religion, was based on a strong monistic interpretation of the Bhairava Tantras (and its subcategory the Kaula Tantras), which were tantras written by the Kapalikas.[23] There was additionally a revelation of the Siva Sutras to Vasugupta.[23] Kashmir Saivism claimed to supersede the dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta.[24] Somananda, the first theologian of monistic Saivism, was the teacher of Utpaladeva, who was the grand-teacher of Abhinavagupta, who in turn was the teacher of Ksemaraja.[23][25] The label Kashmir Shaivism, though unfortunately now widely adopted, is really a misnomer, for it is clear that the dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta was also in North India at one point in time.
Siddha Siddhanta[edit]
Natha Siddha Siddhanta: Founded by Matsyendranatha (ca 800–1000) and expounded by Rishi Gorakshanatha (ca 950), this monism is known as Bhedabheda, embracing both the transcendent Shiva as well as the immanent Shiva. Shiva is efficient and material cause. The creation and final return of soul and cosmos to Shiva are likened to bubbles arising and returning to water. Influential in Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
Lingayatism[edit]
Vira Shaivism influence in India
Lingayatism: Made popular by Basavanna (1105–1167), this version of qualified nondualism, Shakti Vishishtadvaita, accepts both difference and nondifference between soul and God, like rays are to the sun. Shiva and the cosmic force are one, yet Shiva is beyond His creation, which is real, not illusory. God is efficient and material cause. Influential primarily in Karnataka.
Shiva Advaita[edit]
Shiva Advaita influence in India
Shiva Advaita: This monistic theism, formulated by Srikantha (ca 1050), is called Shiva Vishishtadvaita. The soul does not ultimately become perfectly one with Brahman, but shares with the Supreme all excellent qualities. Appaya Dikshita (1554–1626) attempted to resolve this union in favor of an absolute identity—Shuddhadvaita. Its area of origin and influence covers most of Karnataka state.
Influence[edit]
Shaivism left a major imprint on the intellectual life of classical Cambodia, Champa in what is today southern Vietnam, Java and the Tamil lands. The wave of Shaivite devotionalism that swept through late classical and early medieval India redefined Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Shaivite worship legitimized several ruling dynasties in pre-modern India, incluidng the Chola and the Rajputs. A similar trend was witnessed in early medieval Indonesia with the Majapahit empire and pre-Islamic Malaya.[26][27] Nepal is the only country in the world where Shaivism is the most popular form of Hinduism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaivism
