Knowing about Hinduism
by K.S.Sivakumaran
On the 15th of this month I had the privilege of being with some high ranking state officers who were all from the majority community. They understood English. The opportunity to speak with them rather than speak down to them was a rewarding engagement. They were all well disciplined listeners and asked pertinent questions to form a clear picture of Hinduism. That was the subject we discussed.
Two days after - March 17, 2007 - I witnessed the launch of two books in Tamil relating to Hinduism.
Although I am a Hindu by birth I would not claim that I am soaked in my religion -Saivaism which is one of the components of a larger area of Hinduism. I am not a strict practitioner of all the intricate rituals involved in this perhaps the oldest faith in the world. They say that it exists for more than 8000 years!
The two books published were by the All Ceylon Hindu Congress at 91 / 1, Sir Chittamalam Mawatha, Colombo 02 (Tel: 011 2344720). One was the Quarterly Indu Oli (Hindu Light) dated March 10, 2007 and the other was titled Indu Nagarikam (The Hindu Civilization).
I shall say something about the latter book. It is edited by
T.Manoharan with the assistance from various scholars on the subject.
This 382 page is elegantly published by the Uni Arts (Pvt) Ltd. The book is priced at Rs.250/- but it is worth more because there are excellent articles and materials on the subject in two sections.
Although the book is meant primarily for the Lankan GCE A Level
students who offer Hindu Civilization as a subject for their examination, the book is very useful even for the degree students and readers like me.
All who could read Tamil irrespective of their own religion could
gather a lot of information on the culture of the Tamilians, most of whom practice Saivaism.
Some of the subjects dealt with are the Sivalingam (phallic symbol of Lord Siva or Shiva) worship during the Indus valley civilization, Saiva Sidhantham (The Theory of Saivaism), the significance of the Dance of Shiva eruditely explained earlier in English by the late Dr Ananda Ccoomaraswamy), the Temple Architecture and the like.
The book is a fine compendium of the Hindu Civilization in general and the Tamilian Culture as related to Saivaism in particular.
Moving on, on Saturday, March 24, 2007, the Department of Hindu Cultural Affairs launched the eighth volume of the Indu Kalai
Kalanchiyam (The Hindu Encyclopedia) at the Columbu Tamil Sangam at Wellawatta in Colombo..
Emeritus History Professor S.Pathmanathan and his team had compiled this worthwhile encyclopedia of researched entries beginning with the Tamil alphabet ‘Thi’ to ‘Tho’
Yours truly was also one of those who introduced this encyclopedia to the audience.
All this suggests that yours truly ageing as he is, now seemingly
inclined towards spiritualism, which is the only way for all of us to
get rid of the sad things happening around us almost as daily
occurrences.
Contact:
Contact: sivakumaranks@yahoo.com
