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Dear murugappan,
As I had expected you have studied the basic books of saiva siddhantha and it is very much evident from your accounts of the texts in your letter. Now I will introduce you to the process of hermeneutics .

SAIVA SIDDHANTHAM,HERMENEUTICS AND PSYCHOANALYSIS:
The agama school are very rich in phenomenology and psycho-analysis. Unfortunately this aspect is not known to most Tamils and Saiva onlookers. It is possible psychoanalysis was practiced in tamilagam 1000years ago. I have tried to bring them to the fore front. 

Books like sivagnana siddhiar are very rich in this aspect. A full area of research on agamic psychology is underway in Malaysia by Prof.K.Loganthan(Univ.Sans.Malay-Penang) . Agamic psychology may benefit modern psychiatry too. There could be difference of opinion in this matter especially with the core ontologists  of saivism. However I have received good responses from the psychiatry circles. I leave it to the readers to make their own impressions.

The term hermeneutics originally refers to the biblical exegesis. It was first used by Freidreich Schleiermacher in the early 19th century. It was further developed by Thomas Dilthey, Martin Heidegger in the late 19th century and early 20th century. In modern times it is actively worked by H.G.Garderner, E. Belli, Michael Foucalt, J.Lacan, and Jacques Derrida .

Hermeneutics is concerned with uncovering hidden meanings that are beneath an explicit memory. Whereas psychoanalysis is a science producing generalizations based upon observations of the individual meanings generated in specific instances of discourse and the meanings for the same.

Paul Ricoeur is a French hermeneutic philosopher. His project was to make psychoanalysis philosophically respectable by showing how it is dealing with problems of interpreting our responses to the world and ourselves. He views the psychoanalysis as a method primarily concerned with uncovering hidden meanings behind the explicit memories.

Behavior, verbal expressions, and experiences are inherently symbolic. The explicit memories and their meanings are not transparent. But they are interpretable as conveying meanings that lies underneath .
      Hermeneutics is an important sub discipline continental (European) philosophy. It is deals with the individual meanings produced in a specific instance of discourse. It also deals with the methodology by which the meanings are extracted. Ricoeur views psychoanalysis as a kind of hermeneutics of the mind. The progress of hermeneutics into a fullfledged science is dealt here.

 Hermeneutics is not new in tamil. Tolkapiam a grammar book written in the 5th century CE calls it “ nool neri”நூல்நெறி. Hermeneutic aspects of saivism are very fascinating we shall see them one by one.The religious practices of Hinduism and saivism in particular have enormous symbolism. The temple art and the “puranic” stories are very salient examples.

The Siva puranam and linga puranam have a lot of symbolisms. The idols and the iconography of saiva temples are inherent with symbolisms. Notable amongst them are the images like gajasamharar, kalabairavar, pitchadanar, rishabarudar, dhakshinamoorthy, annamalaiyar…etc.

The place names in Cauvery delta are also has many symbolic connotations. Pull-riku-vell-ur(vaidheeswarankovil), kazhumalam (seer-kazhi ), thiru- kudamukku , karuvoor, thiru-avadu-thurai…etc.
Seerkazhi is originally  called as kazhumalam. The name is mentioned in the sangam texts like patinapalai. Here  karikalan was garlanded by the royal elephant and was chosen as the king. The term kazhu-malam has metaphysical connotations. Kazhu stands for “rinsing” and “malam “ for the anava,kanma and maya. The river here is called as “kazhumalayaru”.

  Kumabakonam as it is called now is mentioned as thiru-kuda –mukku. In the mythological deluge lord shiva came here and floated the pots containing the germinal seeds of life. The pots met at this point and the seeds of life were released for the life to flourish once again after the deluge. The deluge is celebrated even now as mahamaham. Lords arrival in a boat along with the sakthi is idolised in seerkazhi brahmapureeswarar temple and worshiped as “thoniappar”.
 Each place has  a story and an unconscious symbolism beneath that. Each idol has a meaning and a story behind it. Each temple has a mythology and a philosophy underneath.These are examples for the need for hermeneutics within saivism. This extends to the temple formation itself.

Temple structures themselves contain the hidden meanings.  The core philosophy is symbolized and made into the pattern of temple.Repetetive stereotype of temples with the same basic pattern tells anyone who see them there could be a idea behind these.The temple   culture as a whole in cholamandalam gives us the need for observing them and go into their hidden meanings of the ancient people who constructed and imparted  into them.
Well, shall write more on these lines on the next letter.

Affectionately
Gandhibabu




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