H-M synthesis: savor and preserve Eclectic Heritage

Every religion contains the thou-ghts of wise human beings. At the
Hindu temple of Palani in Tamil Nadu, many Muslims come to give thanks
to the deity, who is Lord Subrahmanya. For the millions who annually
trek the route to Ayyappa's temple in Kerala's Sabarimalai hills, the
shrine of Vavaruswami, a Muslim saint, is a sacred landmark. The dargah
is worshipped by all who climb the hills singing hymns in praise of Lord
Ayyappa and Vavaruswami.


At the Baba Budan Hills in Karnataka,
Muslims revere the shrine as their saint's, while Hindus revere him as
Lord Dattatreya. The shrine's manager is Muslim. The Haji Malang shrine
near Mumbai is managed by Hindus. At the Sai Baba shrine at Shirdi,
pilgrims are never referred to as Hindus or Muslims. For, the great
saint ''lived in a dilapidated mosque in the village. He uttered the
words Allah Maalik (God is Lord) as fervently as he sang bhajans''. He
convinced the villagers to hold the Muslim fair and Ramanavami
celebrations on the same day. The saint refused to permit the mosque's
renovation until all the temples in the area were repaired first.


The Nanjundeswara deity at the Nanjanagud temple in Karnataka is known
as Hyder Ali Lingam as it was gifted by the Muslim king Hyder Ali.
Another temple at Srirangam is dedicated to Thuluka Nachiar or Turkish
Goddess. The deity is actually a Muslim princess who had fallen in love
with the image. She is believed to have 'disappeared' into the sanctum
sanctorum. She is worshipped here as Vishnu's consort, and the
ceremonial naivedya or offering, is of bread and butter.


Khwaja
Moinuddin Chishti's tomb at Ajmer attracts pilgrims from round the
world; often there are more non-Muslim worshippers than Muslims. At
Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, centuries ago a young Hindu shepherd saw a
beautiful woman with a child in her arms who asked him for some milk.
Though frightened, he couldn't refuse her request. When he reached home,
he found his milkpot brimming over.


For more than 700 years
Sufis in India have celebrated Holi. Amir Khusro's devotional Holi songs
are well known. Our great composite culture draws its inspiration from
Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jewish, Buddhist, Jain, Christian and many
more. Such is the rich tapestry of Indian spiritua- lity and tradition.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-06-25/edit-page/27318111_1_hindu-temple-muslim-shrine

Rashmun wrote:Every religion contains the thou-ghts of wise human beings. At the
Hindu temple of Palani in Tamil Nadu, many Muslims come to give thanks
to the deity, who is Lord Subrahmanya.

For this reason, the presiding deity at Palani attracts people from all over
the world. Even the orthodox Muslims make regular visits to the Palani temple and
worship the Lord. For them, the Lord is known as Palani Bādshah. Palani āntavar
lights the spiritual path by which the pilgrims walk through in search of their spiritual goal
to attain self realisation.


http://palani.org/saravanan.htm

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I had once written about a chinese saint-scholar called Bogar who is believed to have spent a considerable amount of time in Tamil Nadu. I quote from what i had written:

Of the eighteen sittars mentioned in these Tantrika works, one had
the name Bogar in Tamil. A considerable number of medical and alchemical
works are attributed to him. According to these sources, Bogar was
originally a Chinese who came to India in the third century A.D.To begin
with, he spent some time in Patna and Gaya before moving down south
where he got himself initiated in Tantrism by the Tamil sittars.
Eventually, he himself acquired the status of a sittar and by all means a
foremost one. He not only wrote his treatises on alchemy and medicine;
it is also believed that the South Indian sittars learnt a lot about
these subjects from him as well. I quote from the book(HCAMA, pg 326):





"He[Bogar] is said to have visited Arabia and then returned
to his country. It is further believed that some of his Tamil disciples
accompanied him to China and after learning some mechanical arts
returned to Tamil Nad."


http://rashmun.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/09/tantrism-in-tamil-nad.htm

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Imagine my surprise on finding that there seems to be an intimate connection between the famous Murugan temple at Palani and the chinese saint-scholar Bogar:

http://www.palani.in/palani-murugan-temple/bhogar-shrine-in-palani.html

This thread covers Tamil Nadu. Note to self: TN, UP, and Kerala have been covered.

this is what one hand clapping must sound like

Propagandhi711 wrote:this is what one hand clapping must sound like

thus speaketh the man who does not have knowledge about his own culture.