The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Tiruttontar Puranam
the primary to the university level, and
the latter in providing the funds to help
build many of the larger Hindu temples
in the United States and Europe.
Tiruppan
(9th c.) One of the Alvars, a group of
twelve poet-saints who lived in southern
India between the seventh and tenth
centuries. All of the Alvars were devotees
(bhakta) of the god Vishnu, and their
stress on passionate devotion (bhakti)
to a personal god, conveyed through
hymns sung in the Tamil language,
transformed and revitalized Hindu religious
life. According to tradition,
Tiruppan was a foundling who was
adopted by a musician. As he grew up,
he developed deep devotion for Vishnu
in his form as Ranganatha at the temple
of Shrirangam, but because his family
status was unknown, he never went into
the temple itself out of fear that his presence
might render it impure. Tiruppan
finally gained entrance when one of the
temple’s brahmin priests, who had earlier
insulted him, received a divine command
to carry Tiruppan on his
shoulders to Ranganatha’s image. As
with many stories in the lives of the
bhakti saints, the lesson here clearly
emphasizes the superiority of devotion
over birth. For further information see
Kamil Zvelebil, Tamil Literature, 1975;
and John Stirling Morley Hooper, Hymns
of the Alvars, 1929.
Tirupparankunram
Tirtha (sacred site) ten miles southwest
of Madurai in central Tamil Nadu.
Tirupparankunram is famous for one of
the six temples in Tamil Nadu built to
honor Murugan, a hill deity assimilated
into the pantheon as a form of Skanda.
It is said to be where he marries
Devasena, the bride given by Indra and
the gods after he has proven his mettle
in battle, and thus reflects his acceptance
into the larger pantheon. Five of
these temples are definitively identified
and scattered throughout the state, but
the sixth is said to be every other shrine
to Murugan in Tamil Nadu. The cult of
Murugan is thus a symbolic vehicle for
Tamil pride and identity, and because
the number six has connotations of
completeness—as in the six directions,
or the six chakras in the subtle body—it
also connotes that nothing outside is
needed. For further information see
Fred Clothey, “Pilgrimage Centers in the
Tamil Cultus of Murukan,” in Journal of
the American Academy of Religion, Vol.
40, No. 1, 1972.
Tiruttani
Tirtha (sacred site) in the hills of Tamil
Nadu, seventy-five miles of Madras. It is
famous for one of the six temples in
Tamil Nadu built to honor Murugan, a
hill deity assimilated into the pantheon
as a form of Skanda. Tiruttani is celebrated
as the place where he marries his
tribal bride Valli, which gives him a family
connection with southern India. Five
of these temples are definitively identified
and scattered throughout the state,
but the sixth is said to be every other
shrine to Murugan in Tamil Nadu. The
cult of Murugan is thus a symbolic vehicle
for Tamil pride and identity, and
because the number six has connotations
of completeness—as in the six
directions or the six chakras in the subtle
body—it also connotes that nothing
outside is needed. For further information
see Fred Clothey, “Pilgrimage
Centers in the Tamil Cultus of
Murukan,” in Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1972.
Tiruttontar Puranam
(“history of the holy servants [of Shiva]”)
Another name for the Periya Purana, a
hagiographical account (an idealizing
biography of saints or venerated figures)
of the lives of the sixty-three Nayanars,
written by the twelfth-century figure
Cekkilar. The Nayanars were a group of
Shaiva poet-saints who lived in southern
India in the seventh and eighth centuries.
See Periya Purana.
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