Rites and Rituals in South Indian Temples Instrument and Purpose

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Dr. CARL GUSTAV DIEHL in this study, probes through a set of different soure materials, starting from the clas sical Tamil and Sanskrit texts on Agamas, a detailed study of Tamil Agamas, Temple festival calendars, Mantrika texts, As trological remedies, Details the importance of Rituals, Religious temple festivals, Mantrika treatments, and Pilgrimages for the solace of the personal griefs, and how these are paving the way for the betterment of the person as a whole. The daily rituals in the temples and its importance and practice are well presented by the detailed analysis of the source materials in Tamil and Sanskrit. Though there are differences in details of worship be- tween Saiva temples and Vaishnava temples, the art of wor- ship is essentially one and the same. A comparative analysis of different ritualistic rites for the Saiva and Vaishanava temples have been amply studied.

The characteristics of these ritualistic instruments are found right through the material presented; in the temple ritu- als; in the rites performed at home and also in the many acts of precaution and remedying resorted to at times of crisis.

The material presented, of which the author's own notes and observations during 20 years of his stay in India, with priests and in temple precincts etc. forms a part of the study and is considered sufficient to make so to speak an incision into the daily life of the people of the Tamil country from a certain point of time.

This study began more than twenty years ago, when my work in India gave me opportunities of studying popu- lar Hinduism at close range. Before that my interest in dif- ferent manifestations of religious life was aroused during my studies as a young student under Professor Edvard Lehmann. I am deeply grateful to all my teachers under whom I have studied successively: Professor Edvard Lehmann, Professor Efraim Briem, preceptor Carl-Martin Edsman and Professor Erland Ehnmark. Preceptor Edsmann guided my studies for higher degrees and en- couraged me to carry on the investigation of rituals in South India. I am very grateful to him for that. Professor Ehnmark is, however, the teacher who has been more closely con- nected with the work of bringing this investigation to a completion. I owe professor Ehnmark a very great debt of gratitude for his keen and patient interest in my work, which he has followed almost day by day with constructive criticism and inspiring guidance.

It has been a rare privilege to work in the Library of Professor Martin P.Nilsson, where the institution for com- parative religion is now housed. Its stimulating atmosphere has materialized in frequent visits of the learned scholar him- self. Professor Nilsson was also kind enough to read parts of my manuscript, for which I pay him my grateful respects.

Docent Olof Pettersson has been of great help to me in going through the manuscript and presenting well founded criticism, particularly concerning principles and terms. My missionary colleague, the Rev. Bror Tiliander, Ph. lic, has done me a very good service in scrutinizing the book and in reading proofs. His long experience of South India has been of the greatest value.

**Contents and Sample Pages**