It is important to be cognizant of the fact that whether the Six-fold religion of the family of Siva, which developed from the Sivalinka worship, started from the North and spread to the South or it was from the South to the North.
Today, amongst the existing Indian spoken languages, only in the Tamil language can one get literature completely for the Six-fold religion.
It is in Tamilnadu that there are many temples for the Six-fold religion of the family of Siva. Apart from Tamilnadu, we can not see such a large number of temples in any other state of India. All over India the temples of the Six-fold religion are scattered here and there. The Six main temples for Kumarakkadavul are in Tamilnadu alone.
We cannot see Pillaiyar or Ganapathi worship which is given great importance in Tamilnadu, anywhere else in India.
The Aiyappan worship is given much importance in Kerala, which was a part of Tamilnadu. In Tamilnadu alone we can see the Sakthi (or) Amman temples in all the villages and towns.
Temples of Vishnu in three postures such as standing, sitting and lying are in Tamilnadu alone. If we say temple, it refers to 'Chidambaram' only for Saivities and 'Thiruvarangam' alone for Vaishnavites and they are both in Tamilnadu..
The four Saivite preceptors (Appar, Sampantar, Sundarar and Manicka Vacagar) who were the root cause for the development of Saivism, belonged to Tamilnadu, and the 63 Saivite Nayanmaras, belonged to Tamilnadu.
The twelve Alvars who were the root cause for the development of Vaishnavism, belonged to Tamilnadu only.
The Saivite and Vaishnavite philosophies that developed after 8th C.A.D. were from South India, from and around Tamilnadu only. The philosophies such as Advaita was from Kaladi, which was a part of Tamilnadu, Visishtadvaita and Saiva Sittanta were from Tamilnadu, and Dvaita was from Karnataka, where the Dravidian language was spoken. Most of the literature and philosophies for the Six-fold religion of the family of Siva were originated in South and spread to North.
In order to spread and propagate the Six-fold religious themes, that are in Tamil, to the Northern most part of India, Sanskrit was utilized by the Dravidians as a link language for the Dravidians of India. Sanskrit was never spoken by the Indians anywhere and it is not a language of the common people. Dravidians formed Sanskrit as a link language, so that the valuable thoughts could be understood by all the Indians.
It should be keenly noted that Valmiki and Veda Vyasa who wrote the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha respectively, were Dravidians, and the great Sanskrit scholar Kalidasa was also a Dravidian. It is Veda Vyasa, a Dravidian, who compiled the nomadic sacrificial songs and classified them as the four Vedas, and compiled the Upanisads, and wrote Mahabharata which contains the Bhagavad Gita.
Thus we can conclude from the facts mentioned above that it was the Tamilians who were the root cause for the development of the Six-fold religion of the family of Siva. Also it was by the Dravidians that the bhakti movement of the Six-fold religion which originated in South spread to North.
However, when we study the sculptures, the development of iconography in the temples of the Six-fold religion, can be seen from North. This development started from Taxila and spread to the South. The Gandhara art that originated from Taxila spread all over India. A historical analysis reveals that the Yavanas (Greeks, Romans, Jews and Syrians) and their culture are the root cause for the development of the Gandharian art.
The historical analysis also reveals that the development of iconography started from Taxila, the northern most part of India and spread towards South, and the development of the Bhakthi Movement started from Tamilnadu, the southern most part of India, and spread to the North. Hence, Taxila which is in the North and Tamilnadu which is in the south, have played a significant role in the development of Six-fold religion in India.
A keen examination of these two places would reveal that the Bactrian rulers (Pahlavas) who ruled in the 1st c.A.D, had Taxila as their capital, from which the Gandhara art developed. The Pallavas who ruled Tamilnadu and had Kanchi as their capital, were the root cause for the development of the Six-fold religion of the family of Siva are from the same stock or community. Also the scholars are of the opinion that the Pahlavas and the Pallavas are the same people.
"It is to be noted that to Taxila, which was ruled by Gondophares, a Pahlava, the apostle St. Thomas is said to have brought India's first knowledge of Christianity . And it was in Mylapore, in Tamilnadu, which was ruled by Pallavas, St. Thomas, was martyred while doing his ministry".1
It is to be observed that the Six-fold religious leaders wear neither a white dress, that is considered to be of the Jains, nor a yellow dress which is considered to be of the Buddhists, but wear a saffron colour robe. It can be compared with an ideology that
'those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb'2
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who shed blood and redeemed the world, the robe which was dipped in his blood and washed which can be compared with the saffron dress.
There is no connection between the Aryans and the saffron robe. It is to be pointed out that in our National Flag, the saffron colour which is on the top of the three colours, denotes sacrifice.
Also the name 'Thyagaraja' (king of Sacrifice) for the head of the family of Siva is to be remembered here.
An in-depth study should be done on St. Thomas, and on the evidences and the symbols (saffron robes, sacred ash and Thiruman, etc.) of the Six-fold religion. The correlation between Pahlava and the Pallava and St. Thomas is to be deeply analysed.
References:
- A.L.Basham, The Wonder that was India, P.61
- Revelation 7:14
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