Page:South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses.djvu/109

Rh a campaign in the north. It is well known that as a sacred place of pilgrimage Chidambaram is intimately connected with the Saiva saint Mānikyavāchaka (Mānikkavāsagar), the Pariah saint Nandanār both of whom attained their salvation there and with the Saiva philosopher and scholar AppayaDīkshita who was much devoted to that temple. The place is mentioned in the Saiva hymns of the Dēvāram, in which it is called Tillai. The 3,000 Brāhmana families of Tillai (which may have once lived there but have at present dwindled down to a few hundreds) claim Siva to be one of them and worship Natarāja as their family deity.

. The Āgamas mention, as already stated, twenty-five sportive forms (lilā-mūrtis) of Siva, most of which are usually met with in South-Indian temples. One of the more important of these is Dakshināmūrti. In Chōla temples this image generally occupies a niche in the south wall of the central shrine. Dakshināmūrti or Dharma-Vyākhyānamūrti is the form of Siva engaged in yōga or philosophic contemplation. Once upon a time Daksha, the father-in-law of Siva, insulted him and his consort Umā, by not inviting them to a sacrifice which he was performing. Umā nevertheless went uninvited to her father's house, but being grossly neglected jumped into the sacrificial fire-pit and destroyed herself. Siva was furious ; he created out of a lock of his hair the terrible Vīrabhadra (see below, p. 155) who destroyed Daksha. Siva then retired to a forest with the resolve not to marry again and sat underneath a banyan tree deeply engaged in meditation. The gods were much concerned ; for it meant that the world would loose the benefit of Siva's direct intervention in its affairs. They accordingly induced Kāma, the god of love, to stir up once again in the mind of Siva the dormant embers of love. The fool-hardy Kāma incautiously approached the god engaged in meditation and shot his flowery arrows at him and hit him. Siva then opened his eye of fire and looked straight at Kāma, when lo! he was at once reduced to a heap of ashes. Still Kāma had succeeded. For, soon afterwards Siva gave up his