![]() Devotees of Śiva like Basavaṇṇa, a statesman-poet, and Akka Mahādevī, an ecstatic female poet-saint, wrote lyrics that inspire people to this day. It is the best-provided city in the world."Īs mentioned above, medieval Karṇātaka also witnessed an incredible flowering of devotional poetry written in the language of the common people. What I saw from thence seemed to me as large as Rome, and very beautiful to the sight there are many groves of trees within it, in the gardens of the houses, and many conduits of water which flow into the midst of it, and in places there are lakes and the king has close to his palace a palm-grove and other rich-bearing fruit-trees. One Portuguese visitor wrote in 1522, "The size of this city I do not write here, because it cannot all be seen from any one spot, but I climbed a hill whence I could see a great part of it I could not see it all because it lies between several ranges of hills. This capital, now in glorious ruins, was so wealthy, clean, huge, and beautiful that 500 years ago it was famous from Europe to China. Its capital was at Pampā (now called Hampi), which features one of the most impressive landscapes of all India. The political golden age in Karṇātaka was in the 14th and 15th centuries, with the flourishing of the Vijayanagara empire, the last great Hindu empire. Furthermore-and this is simply astonishing-all the artisans who made the sculptures had (or were supposed to have had) śaktipāta (spiritual awakening)! And in this and other Hoysala temples, the image of the deity was consecrated exclusively by practitioners who had experienced advaitācāra: the spiritual experience in which the deity, the mantra, and oneself are all one and the same. this verse has circulated widely, accruing variants here and there, as a fixture of devotional liturgy across communities."Īccording to Fisher's partner Jason Schwartz (they're both brilliant young Sanskrit scholars), this temple was a joint venture among religious communities usually thought to be at odds with each other (Śaivas, Śāktas and Vaiṣṇavas). May that One always grant you the results you desire.Īs the translator of this verse, Elaine Fisher, comments: "This verse captures a pervasive motif of religious thought: one particular God, revered by a community of devotees, encapsulates in his-or her-very being the entire scope of divinity. ![]() The Logicians as “Creator,” those with a mind for the Jaina teachings as “Arhat,” and Mīmāṃsakas as “Ritual”. The One whom Śaivas worship as “Shiva,” Vedāntins as “Brahman,”īuddhists, skilled in the authorities of knowledge, as “Buddha,” A similar ecumenical spirit is found in an inscription on the walls of the the Chenna Keshava Temple (a Vaiṣhṇava center of worship in Belur, Karṇātaka): The tolerance and inclusivity in this description is as surprising as it is heart-warming. ![]() a place where many helpless sick people are harbored and treated a place of assurance of safety for all living creatures. and to Jain and Buddhist mendicants, to brāhmanical ascetics, and to haṃsa and paramahaṃsa ascetics. a place where food is always given to the poor, the helpless, the blind, the deaf, and to professional story-tellers, singers, musicians. a place for (studying) the eighteen Purāṇas, the legal literature, and all the poetical compositions. There is a place - a place devoted to the observances of Śaiva saints, a place for the quiet study of the four Vedas, a place where commentaries are composed on the various systems of spiritual philosophy, including Sāṅkhya, Buddhism, the Kālamukha doctrine, Patañjali's Yoga-science, and more. A Kālamukha temple complex in northwest Karṇātaka was described this way in the year 1162: Though Tantrik Shaivism was present, the non-tantrik adherents of Shaivism (such as the Pāśupatas and Kālamukhas) were especially widespread. While Europe was just beginning to emerge from the Dark Ages, all the various branches of yoga and spiritual philosophy flourished in Karṇātaka, especially the Śaiva varieties. ![]() The golden age in Karṇātaka, from a spiritual perspective, was probably the 12th century.
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