Shaiva Siddhanta
Shaiva siddhanta, provides the normative rites and theological categories of Agamic and Vedic Shaivam combined. Being a dualistic philosophy, the goal of Shaiva Siddhanta is to become an enlightened soul through Lord Shiva's Grace; this tradition was once practiced all over India. However the Muslim subjugation of North India restricted Shaiva Siddhanta to the south, where it merged with the Tamil Saiva movement expressed in the bhakti poetry of the Nayanars, it is in this historical context that Shaiva Siddhanta is considered a "southern" tradition, one, still much alive. The Tamil compendium of devotional songs known as Tirumurai, the Shaiva Agamas and "Meykanda" or "Siddhanta" Shastras, form the scriptural canon of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. Shaiva Siddhanta encompasses tens of millions of adherents, predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Today it has thousands of active temples there and numerous monastic and ascetic traditions, along with its own community of priests, the Adishaivas, who are qualified to perform Agama based Shaiva Temple rituals.
Monier-Williams gives the meaning of siddhanta as ‘any fixed or established or canonical text-book or received scientific treatise on any subject... as.. Brahma-siddhanta ब्रह्म-सिद्धान्त... Surya-siddhanta, etc.’ The name of the school could be translated as "the settled view of Shaiva doctrine" or "perfected Shaivism." Saiva Siddhanta's original form is uncertain. Some hold, it seems to others, that the early Śaiva Siddhānta may have developed somewhere in Northern India, as a religion built around the notion of a ritual initiation that conferred liberation. Such a notion of liberatory initiation appears to have been borrowed from a Pashupata tradition. At the time of the early development of the theology of the school, the question of monism or dualism, which became so central to theological debates, had not yet emerged as an important issue. From the fifth to the eighth CE Buddhism and Jainism had spread in Tamil Nadu before a forceful Shaiva bhakti movement arose. Between the seventh and ninth centuries, pilgrim saints such as Sambandar and Sundarar used songs of Shiva’s greatness to refute concepts of Buddhism and Jainism.
Manikkavacakar's heart-melting verses, called Tiruvacakam, are full of visionary experience, divine love and urgent striving for truth. The songs of these four saints are part of the compendium known as Tirumurai which, along with the Vedas, Shaiva Agamas, the Meykanda Shastras, are now considered to form the scriptural basis of the Śaiva Siddhānta in Tamil Nadu, it seems probable that the Tirumurai devotional literature was not, considered to belong to the Śaiva Siddhānta canon at the time when it was first composed: the hymns themselves appear to make no such claim for themselves. The Bhakti movement should not be exaggerated as an articulation of a'class struggle', there is a strong sense against rigid structures in the society. In the twelfth century Aghorasiva, the head of a branch monastery of the Amardaka order in Chidambaram, took up the task of amalgamating Sanskrit and Tamil Siddhanta. Refuting monist interpretations of Siddhanta, Aghorasiva brought a change in the understanding of Siva by reclassifying the first five principles, or tattvas, into the category of pasa, stating they were effects of a cause and inherently unconscious substances, a departure from the traditional teaching in which these five were part of the divine nature of God.
Aghorasiva was successful in preserving the Sanskrit rituals of the ancient Āgamic tradition. To this day, Aghorasiva's Siddhanta philosophy is followed by all of the hereditary temple priests, his texts on the Āgamas have become the standard puja manuals, his Kriyakramadyotika is a vast work covering nearly all aspects of Shaiva Siddhanta ritual, including the daily worship of Siva, occasional rituals, initiation rites, funerary rites, festivals. In Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta, the thirteenth century Meykandar, Arulnandi Sivacharya, Umapati Sivacharya further spread Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. Meykandar's twelve-verse Śivajñānabodham and subsequent works by other writers, all of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, laid the foundation of the Meykandar Sampradaya, which propounds a pluralistic realism wherein God and world are coexistent and without beginning. Siva is an efficient but not material cause, they view the soul's merging in Siva as salt in water, an eternal oneness, twoness. Saiva Siddhanta today is practiced among the Saiva's of southern India and Sri Lanka by members of the Vellalar community.
It is prevalent among Saiva's of the Tamil diaspora around the world. Prominent Siddhanta societies and monasteries exist in a number of other countries; the United States island of Kauai, a part of Hawaii, is home to the Saiva Siddhanta Peetam, an organization that promotes the union of worldwide Hindus, through a publication called Hinduism Today. This was founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, under the auspices of Subramuniyaswami's designated successor, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami; this lineage, which traces itself back to the Shaiva Siddhars of Northern Sri Lanka, adheres to the philosophical position that the original Shaiva Siddhanta as expounded by Tirumular, was and is monistic, propagates this teaching as Advaita Saiva Siddhanta. The famous songs of the Sri Lankan Shaiva Sage, Shiva Yogaswami, attest to this view of the nature of God and World as being one; the texts revered by the southern Saiva Siddhanta are the
Smarta tradition
Smarta tradition is a movement in Hinduism that developed during its classical period around the beginning of the Common Era. It reflects a Hindu synthesis of four philosophical strands: Mimamsa, Advaita and theism; the Smarta tradition rejects theistic sectarianism, it is notable for the domestic worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal – Vishnu, Brahma and Devi. The Smarta tradition contrasted with the older Shrauta tradition, based on elaborate rituals and rites. There has been considerable overlap in the ideas and practices of the Smarta tradition with other significant historic movements within Hinduism, namely Shaivism, Brahmanism and Shaktism; the Smarta tradition is aligned with Advaita Vedanta, regards Adi Shankara as its founder or reformer. Shankara championed the ultimate reality is impersonal and Nirguna and any symbolic god serves the same equivalent purpose. Inspired by this belief, the Smarta tradition followers, along with the five Hindu gods include a sixth impersonal god in their practice.
The tradition has been called by William Jackson as "advaitin, monistic in its outlook". The term Smarta refers to Brahmins who specialize in the Smriti corpus of texts named the Grihya Sutras, in contrast to Shrauta Sutras. Smarta Brahmins with their focus on the Smriti corpus, contrast from Srauta Brahmins who specialize in the Sruti corpus, rituals and ceremonies that follow the Vedas. Smarta स्मार्त is an adjective derived from Smriti; the smriti are a specific body of Hindu texts attributed to an author, traditionally written down but revised, in contrast to Śrutis considered authorless, that were transmitted verbally across the generations and fixed. Smarta has several meanings: Relating to memory Recorded in or based on the Smriti Based on tradition, prescribed or sanctioned by traditional law Orthodox Brahmin versed in or guided by traditional law and Vedanta doctrineIn Smarta tradition context, the term Smarta means "follower of Smriti". Smarta is specially associated with a "sect founded by Shankaracharya", states Monier Williams.
See Late Middle Kingdoms - The Late-Classical Age and Classical Hinduism The Vedanga texts, states Alf Hiltebeitel, are Smriti texts that were composed in the second half of the Vedic period that ended around 500 BCE. The Vedanga texts include the Kalpa texts consisting of the Srautasutras and Dharmasutras, many of which were revised well past the Vedic period; the Grihyasutras and Dharmasutras, states Hiltebeitel, were composed between 600 BCE and 400 CE, these are sometimes called the Smartasutras, the roots of the Smriti tradition. The Smriti texts accept the knowledge in the Sruti, but they interpret it in a number of ways, which gave rise to six darsanas of Hindu philosophy. Of these, states Hiltebeitel, the Mimamsa and Vedanta have sometimes been called the Smarta schools which emphasize the Vedas with reason and other pramanas, in contrast to Haituka schools which emphasize hetu independent of the Vedas while accepting the authority of the Vedas. Of the two Smarta traditions, Mimamsa focussed on Vedic ritual traditions, while Vedanta focussed on Upanishadic knowledge tradition.
Around the start of the common era, thereafter, a syncretism of Haituka schools, the Smarta schools with ancient theistic ideas gave rise to a growth in traditions such as Shaivism and Shaktism. Hiltebeitel and Flood locate the origins of a revived orthodox Smarta Tradition in the Classical Period of Hinduism with nondualist interpretation of Vedanta, around the time when different Hindu traditions emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions; the revived Smarta Tradition attempted to integrate varied and conflicting devotional practices, with its ideas of nondual experience of Atman as Brahman. The rapprochement included the practice of pancayatana-puja, wherein a Hindu could focus on any saguna deity of choice such as Vishnu, Durga, Surya or Ganesha, as an interim step towards realizing the nirguna Brahman; the growth of this Smarta Tradition began in the Gupta period, was dominated by Dvija classes, in particular the Brahmins, of the early medieval Indian society.
This Smarta Tradition competed with other major traditions of Hinduism such as Shaivism and Shaktism. The ideas of Smarta Tradition were influential, creative with concepts such as of Harihara and Ardhanarishvara, many of the major scholars of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Bhakti movement came out of the Smarta Tradition. Medieval era scholars such as Vedanta Desika and Vallabhacharya recognized Smarta Tradition as competing with Vaishnavism and other traditions. According to Jeffrey Timm, for example, in verse 10 of the Tattvarthadipanibandha, Vallabhacharya states that, "Mutually contradictory conclusions are non-contradictory when they are considered from their respective contexts, like Vaishnava, etc."According to Murray Milner Jr. a professor of Sociology, the Smarta tradition refers to "Hindus who tend toward Brahmanical orthodoxy in both thought and behavior". Smartas are committed to a "relatively unified Hinduism" and they reject extreme forms of sectarian isolationism, reminiscent of the European discourse about church and Christian sects.
The tradition, states Milner, has roots that emerged sometime between 3rd century BCE and 3rd century CE, likel
Samkhya
Samkhya or Sankhya is one of the six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, it was influential on other schools of Indian philosophy. Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepts three of six pramanas as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge; these include anumāṇa and śabda. Sometimes described as one of the rationalist schools of Indian philosophy, this ancient school's reliance on reason was exclusive but strong. Samkhya is dualist. Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of puruṣa and prakṛti. Jiva is; this fusion, state the Samkhya scholars, led to the emergence of ahaṅkāra. The universe is described by this school as one created by purusa-prakṛti entities infused with various permutations and combinations of variously enumerated elements, feelings and mind. During the state of imbalance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage of the mind; the end of this imbalance, bondage is called kaivalya, by the Samkhya school.
The existence of God or supreme being is not directly asserted, nor considered relevant by the Samkhya philosophers. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara. While the Samkhya school considers the Vedas as a reliable source of knowledge, it is an atheistic philosophy according to Paul Deussen and other scholars. A key difference between Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars, is that Yoga school accepts a "personal, yet inactive, deity" or "personal god". However, Radhanath Phukan, in the introduction to his translation of the Samkhya Karika of Isvarakrsna has argued that commentators who see the unmanifested as non-conscious make the mistake of regarding Samkhya as atheistic, though Samkhya is as much as theistic as Yoga is. Samkhya is known for its theory of guṇas. Guṇa, it states, are of three types: sattva being goodness, compassion and positivity. All matter, states Samkhya, in different proportions; the interplay of these guṇas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life.
The Samkhya theory of guṇas was discussed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies. Samkhya's philosophical treatises influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics. Samkhya referred to as Sankhya, Sāṃkhya, or Sāṅkhya, is a Sanskrit word that, depending on the context, means "to reckon, enumerate, deliberate, reasoning by numeric enumeration, relating to number, rational." In the context of ancient Indian philosophies, Samkhya refers to the philosophical school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration and rational examination. The word samkhya means relating to numbers. Although the term had been used in the general sense of metaphysical knowledge before, in technical usage it refers to the Samkhya school of thought that evolved into a cohesive philosophical system in early centuries CE; the Samkhya system is called so because "it ` enumerates' twenty true principles. Some 19th and 20th century scholars suggested. Richard Garbe stated in 1898, "The origin of the Sankhya system appears in the proper light only when we understand that in those regions of India which were little influenced by Brahmanism the first attempt had been made to solve the riddles of the world and of our existence by means of reason.
For the Sankhya philosophy is, in its essence, not only atheistic but inimical to the Veda." Dandekar wrote in 1968, "The origin of the Sankhya is to be traced to the pre-Vedic non-Aryan thought complex". Some scholars disagreed with this view. Surendranath Dasgupta, for example in 1922, Samkhya can be traced to Upanishads such as Katha and Maitrayani, the "extant Samkhya" is a system that unites the doctrine of permanence of the Upanishads with the doctrine of momentariness of Buddhism and the doctrine of relativism of Jainism. Arthur Keith in 1925 stated, "Samkhya owes its origin to the Vedic-Upanisadic-epic heritage is quite evident," and "Samkhya is most derived out of the speculations in the Vedas and the Upanishads."Johnston in 1937, analyzed available Hindu and Buddhist texts for the origins of Samkhya wrote "the origin lay in the analysis of the individual undertaken in the Brahmanas and earliest Upanishads, at first with a view to assuring the efficacy of the sacrificial rites and in order to discover the meaning of salvation in the religious sense and the methods of attaining it.
Here – in Kaushitaki Upanishad and Chandogya Upanishad – the germ are to be found two of the main ideas of classical Samkhya."Chandradhar Sharma in 1960 affirmed that Samkhya in the beginning was based on the theistic absolute of Upanishads, but on under the influence of Jaina and Buddhist thought it rejected theistic monism and was content with spiritualistic pluralism and atheistic realism. This explains why some of the Samkhyas, e.g. Vijnanabhiksu in the sixteenth century, tried to revive the earlier theism in Samkhya. More recent scholarship offers a
Vedanta
Vedanta or Uttara Mīmāṃsā is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta means "end of the Vedas", reflecting ideas that emerged from the speculations and philosophies contained in the Upanishads, it does not stand for one unifying doctrine. Rather it is an umbrella term for many sub-traditions, ranging from dualism to non-dualism, all of which developed on the basis of a common textual connection called the Prasthanatrayi; the Prasthanatrayi is a collective term for the Principal Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. All Vedanta schools, in their deliberations, concern themselves with the following three categories but differ in their views regarding the concept and the relations between them: Brahman – the ultimate metaphysical reality, Ātman / Jivātman – the individual soul or self, Prakriti – the empirical world, ever-changing physical universe and matter; some of the better known sub-traditions of Vedanta include Advaita and Dvaita. Most other Vedantic sub-traditions are subsumed under the term Bhedabheda.
Over time, Vedanta adopted ideas from other orthodox schools like Yoga and Nyaya, through this syncretism, became the most prominent school of Hinduism. Many extant forms of Vaishnavism and Shaktism have been shaped and influenced by the doctrines of different schools of Vedanta; the Vedanta school has had a central influence on Hinduism. The word Vedanta means the end of the Vedas and referred to the Upanishads. Vedanta was concerned with the jñānakāṇḍa or Vedic knowledge part called the Upanishads; the denotation of Vedanta subsequently widened to include the various philosophical traditions based on to the Prasthanatrayi. The Upanishads may be regarded as the end of Vedas in different senses: These were the last literary products of the Vedic period; these mark. These were debated last, in the Brahmacharya stage. Vedanta is one of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy, it is called Uttara Mīmāṃsā, the'latter enquiry' or'higher enquiry'. Pūrva Mīmāṃsā deals with the karmakāṇḍa or rituals part in the Vedas.
The Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras constitute the basis of Vedanta. All schools of Vedanta propound their philosophy by interpreting these texts, collectively called the Prasthanatrayi three sources; the Upanishads, or Śruti prasthāna. The Brahma Sutras, or Nyaya prasthana / Yukti prasthana; the Bhagavad Gita, or Smriti prasthāna. The Brahma Sutras attempted to synthesize the teachings of the Upanishads; the diversity in the teaching of the Upanishads necessitated the systematization of these teachings. This was done in many ways in ancient India, but the only surviving version of this synthesis is the Brahma Sutras of Badarayana. All major Vedantic teachers, including Shankara, Ramanuja, Nimbarka and Madhva, have composed commentaries not only on the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras, but on the Bhagavad Gita; the Bhagavad Gita, due to its syncretism of Samkhya and Upanishadic thought, has played a major role in Vedantic thought. The Upanishads present an associative philosophical inquiry in the form of identifying various doctrines and presenting arguments for or against them.
They form Vedanta interprets them through rigorous philosophical exegesis. Varying interpretations of the Upanishads and their synthesis, the Brahma Sutras, led to the development of different schools of Vedanta over time of which three, five or six are prominent. Bhedabheda, as early as the 7th century CE, or the 4th century CE; some scholars are inclined to consider it as a "tradition" rather than a school of Vedanta. Upadhika, founded by Bhaskara in the 9th Century CE Svabhavikabhedabheda or Dvaitādvaita, founded by Nimbarka in the 7th century CE Achintya Bheda Abheda, founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Advaita, many scholars of which most prominent are Gaudapada and Adi Shankaracharya Vishishtadvaita, prominent scholars are Nathamuni, Yāmuna and Ramanuja Dvaita, founded by Madhvacharya Suddhadvaita, founded by Vallabha The history of Vedanta is divided into two periods: one prior to the composition of the Brahma Sutras and the other encompassing the schools that developed after the Brahma Sutras were written.
Little is known of schools of Vedanta existing before the composition of the Brahma Sutras. It is clear that Badarayana, the writer of Brahma Sutras, was not the first person to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads, as he quotes six Vedantic teachers before him – Ashmarathya, Audulomi, Kashakrtsna and Atreya. References to other early Vedanta teachers – Brahmadatta, Pandaya and Dravidacharya – are found in secondary literature of periods; the works of these ancient teachers have not survived, but based on the quotes attributed to them in literature, Sharma postulates that Ashmarathya and Audulomi were Bhedabheda scholars and Brahmadatta were Advaita scholars, while Tanka and Dravidacharya were either Advaita or Vishistadvaita scholars. Badarayana summarized and interpreted teachings of the Upanishads in the Brahma Sutras called the Vedanta Sutra "written from a Bhedābhed
Nammalvar
Nammalwar is one of the twelve alwar saints of Tamil Nadu, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of alwars are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered are classified as Divya Desam. Nammalwar is considered the fifth in the line of the twelve alwars, he is regarded as a great mystic of the Vaishnava tradition. He is considered the greatest among the twelve alwars and his contributions amount to 1352 among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam. According to traditional scriptures, Nammalwar was born in 3059 BCE in Alwarthirunagiri. In Hindu legend, Nammalwar remained speechless from his birth sitting in a tamarind tree and he first interacted with Madhurakavi Alvar, who saw a bright light shining to the south, followed it until he reached the tree where the boy was residing; the works of Nammalwar were compiled by Madhurakavi as four different works, the Tiruvayumoli, Thiruvaasiriam andPeriya Thiruvanthadi. The works of Nammalwar contributed to the theological ideas of Vaishnavism.
Along with the three Shaiva Nayanars Appar and Sambandar, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings of South India, changing the religious geography from Buddhism and Jainism to Hinduism. The Garudasevai festival in Nava Tirupathi, the nine Vishnu temples in Thoothukudi region and the Araiyar Sevai during the Vaikunta Ekadesi festival in Srirangam temple are dedicated to him; the verses of Nammalwar and other alwars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in most Vishnu temples in South India. The word alwar means the one; the Alwars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism. The religious works of these saints in Tamil, songs of love and devotion, are compiled as Nalayira Divya Prabandham containing 4000 verses and the 108 temples revered in their songs are classified as Divya Desam; the saints belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three alwars, Poigai Azhwar, Bhoothath Azhwar and Pey Azhwar were born miraculously.
Thirumalisai Alvar was the son of a sage, Thondaradippodi Alvar, Madhurakavi Alvar and Andal were from brahmin community, Kulashekhara Alwar a kshatriya, Nammalwar a Vellala, Thiruppaan Alvar a paanar and Thirumangai Alvar a kallar. The Divya Suri Charitra by Garuda-Vahana Pandita, Guruparamparaprabhavam by Pinbaragiya Perumal Jiyar, Periya tiru mudi adaivu by Anbillai Kandadiappan, Yatindra Pranava Prabavam by Pillai Lokacharya, commentaries on Divya Prabandam, Guru Parampara texts, temple records and inscriptions give a detailed account of the alwars and their works. According to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. Poigai is considered an incarnation of Panchajanya, Bhoothath of Kaumodakee, Pey of Nandaka, Thirumalisai of Sudarshanam, Namm of Vishvaksena, Madhurakavi of Vainatheya, Kulasekhara of Kaustubha, Periya of Garuda, Andal of Bhoodevi, Thondaradippodi of Vanamaalai, Thiruppaan of Srivatsa and Thirumangai of Sharanga, Rama's bow; the songs of Prabandam are sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily and during festivals.
According to traditional account by Manavala Mamunigal, the first three alwars namely Poigai and Pey belong to the Dvapara Yuga. It is accepted by tradition and historians that the trio are the earliest among the twelve alwars. Along with the three Shaiva Nayanars, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings, creating a bhakti movement that resulted in changing the religious geography from Buddhism and Jainism to Hinduism; the alwars were instrumental in promoting the Bhagavatha cult and the two epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The alwars were instrumental in spreading Vaishnavism throughout the region; the verses of the various alwars were compiled by Nathamuni, a 10th-century Vaishnava theologian, who called it the "Tamil Veda". According to traditional scriptures, Nammalwar was born in 43rd Kali of 3059 BC, he was born in a Pillai family at Thirukurukur in the southernmost region of the Tamil country. Some sources consider his to have been a princely family. Tradition says that he must have been born enlightened because as a baby he never cried or suckled and never opened his eyes.
According to legend, as a child he responded to no external stimuli and his parents left him at the feet of the deity of Sri Adhinathar in Alwarthirunagari. The child got up and climbed into a hole in a tamarind, sat in the lotus position, began to meditate, it appears he was in this state for as long as sixteen years when a Tamil poet and scholar in named Madhurakavi Alvar, born in Thirukolur and had travelled to North India on a temple trip. As he was performing his Nitya Anushtanam one day, he saw a bright light shining to the south, followed it until he reached the tree where the boy was residing. Unable to elicit any reaction from the child, he asked him a riddle: "If the small is born in a dead's body, what will it eat and where will it stay?" meaning, if the subtle soul is embodied in the gross body, what are its actions and thoughts? Namma
Bharuch
Bharuch known as Broach, or Bhrugukachchha is a village at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District and is a municipality of about 370,000 inhabitants. Being one of the biggest industrial areas including Ankleshwar GIDC, it is at times referred to as the chemical capital of India; the village of Bharuch and its surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a ship building centre and sea port in the pre-compass coastal trading routes to points West as far back as the days of the pharaohs; the route made use of the predictable monsoon winds or galleys. Many goods from the Far East were shipped there during the annual monsoon winds, making it a terminus for several key land-sea trade routes. Bharuch was known to the Greeks, the various Persian Empires, in the Roman Republic and Empire, in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. In the 3rd century, Bharuch port was mentioned as Barugaza.
Arab traders entered Gujarat via Bharuch to do business. The British and the Dutch established their business centres here. At the end of the 17th century, it resurged quickly. Afterwards, a proverb was composed about it, “Bhangyu Bhangyu Toye Bharuch”; as a trading depot, the limitations of coastal shipping made it a regular terminus via several mixed trade routes of the fabled spice and silk trading between East and West. During the British Raj it was known as Broach. Bharuch has been the home to the Gujarati Bhargav Brahmin community for ages; the community traces its lineage to Maharshi Bhrigu rishi and Bhagwan Parshuram, considered to be incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Bhargav community still administers a large number of public trusts in the city; however the present day Bhargav Brahmins have migrated to Mumbai, Vadodara and other countries like the US, UK and Australia. The city has chemical plants, long staple cotton, dairy products and much more. Gujarat's biggest liquid cargo terminal is situated there.
It houses many multinational companies, such as Videocon, BASF, Safari Construction Equipments Pvt. Ltd. and Welspun Maxsteel Ltd. Bharuch is a shopping centre well known for its salty peanuts; because of the distinctive colour of its soil, Bharuch is sometimes referred to as'Kanam Pradesh'. According to the Skanda Purana, the sage Bhrigu came to Bharuch sitting on a tortoise; the tortoise is known as Kachchha in Sanskrit. Hence the place was named'Bhrigukachchha'. Another theory states that the city derived its name from "Bhr̥igukachchha", the residence of the great saint Bhrigu Rishi; the city became known as'Bharukachch', abridged to Bharuch. In ancient India, Bharuch was an important trading port with merchants from the Arabian peninsula using this port for trading with the lucrative Indian market. Bharuch has been known by various names in various eras, it was known as Bhrigukachchha, Bhrigutirtha, Bhrigukaksha as per Hindu Puranas and during the BC and early AD eras and earlier Shrinagar as an abode of the goddess Lakshmi.
It was known as Barygaza, Bargosa etc. for the Greek, the Romans adopted the Greek name of this port. It was known as'Bharukachchha' in the 8th to 10th century,'Bharuch' under Muslim rule,'Bhadoch' under Maratha rule, as'Broach' under British rule. According to the Skanda Purana, before Bhrigu Rishi came here, Bharuch was the residence of the Goddess Lakshmi. Bharuch derives its name from the great sage Bhrigu; the original name of Bharuch is'Bhrigukachchha'. Bhrigu Rishi was one of the ten sons of Lord Brahma. There is a story which indicates that Brighu along with his kins asked for temporary access to Bharuch which belonged to Lakshmi since Bharuch is located on the banks of river Narmada known as Rudra Deha. Chanra Mauli Mahadev is the Kul Devata of Bhargavs of Bharuch Brighu never left the place and the Ashram of Brighu Rishi is located on the banks of Narmada. Bharuch was considered to be sacred among sages, they would come to Bharuch to pray; the priests of Bharuch were famous for their learning in the other regions too.
As per the mythological stories and Samvedi – the learned priests of Bharuch – were famous up to the Kashi in the northern India. Sages like Shukra, Chyavana and Jamadagni were from the lineage of Bhrigu Rishi. Parshurama was born in the seventh generation of Bhrigu. According to the Skanda Purana, there are 55 tirthas located in Bharuch. Many great sages, such as Kashyapa, Mandavya, Adi Sankaracharya have performed penances in Bharuch. Bharuch finds its mention in major Hindu scriptures, such as Bhagavata Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, Kurma Purana, Matsya Purana and Mahabharata; the Narmada is one of the Seven Holy Rivers of India. It is believed. According to a legend, the river Ganges is polluted by millions of people bathing in it. To cleanse herself, Ganges acquires the form of a black cow and comes to the Narmada to bath in its holy waters. Legends mention that the Narmada River is older than the river Ganges. Bharuch is a sacred tirtha for Jains; this tirtha is situated in the Bharuch city in the Shrimali Pole.
Here we see the idol of Muni Suvrata S
