FW: Deepa Mehta's _Fire_

[Samar Abbas]

On Fri, 8 Jan 1999, N. Ganesan wrote:
>   There is only one 'Siva.
>   He is of golden color  (pon2n2Ar mEn2iyan2E! - Tevaram);
>   His hair is red (ceJcaTai appan2 in Tiruppan2antAL temple;
>                    aruNajaTezvarasvAmi)

The 2 traditions of Siva worship are:
1. Kashimir Shaivism of Tibetic origin, where Siva has the attributes you
describe. This is iconic, and the Tibetic Shiva has the features you
describe.
2. Dravidian Shaivism which is aniconic in ite purest form (eg. the
Lingayats or Virasaivites). There would thus be no iconic evidence of hair
colour etc. In general the aniconic form of Siva worshipped is of the
darkest material, often considerably darker than the surrounding temple
material.

>   'Siva in Tamil texts is NOT black either.

Later Tamil texts may have some Aryan and/or Tibetan influence. One must
analyze the `pure' Dravidian religion of the `Outcaste' Dravidians living
in isolated jungles to find if their Siva is white. As per my knowledge,
he isn't.

>   Only his throat is dark/deep blue.

This indicates that this form of Shiva was an import from Tibet, since he
is identical in form to the Tibetic Shiva. In short, the Later Tamil SIva
you describe is probably an import from Tibet, having displaced the
earlier `Black Siva'.