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Re: Authenticity of Divya sthalams

From the Bhakti List Archives

schakrav • May 26, 2000 


Murali Kadambi wrote:

> Just because the sthaLa purANas may be of a later
> origin and just because the vibhavAvatArams "took
> place" in North India, there is no valid reason for us
> to assume that the divya sthaLams of South India are
> any less "divine," and that they are more "historical"

That is true.  The entire universe (as an embodiment of
Paramatma) is divine; archas are especially so because
they are objects of devotion and focal points of worship.
So are the ArAdhana daivams of the mutts and even in our
own homes.  My curiosity was academic.  I'm interested
in knowing the origins of temple towns, and whether those
are tied to scripture, history or legend.  Unfortunately,
reference material is scant and/or unreliable.  I thank
those people who emailed me information about svayamvyaktas
etc.  Perhaps the origins of most temples are masked in
legends, which build up over centuries to become elaborate
sthala purANas which don't have any basis in the fundamental
Srivaishnava scriptures.  It is this kind of pattern which
I would like to identify for the sake of my own interest;
not necessarily to gain or lose devotion in the process!! 

aDiyEn
-Srinath Chakravarty
email: xsrinath@ti.com      

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