Influence of Skanda Purāṇa in Sri Lankan Hindu Tradition

Abstract

Purāṇas are a genre of Smriti literature in Sanskrit; it is called as fifth Veda. The Purāṇa means an event of the past; an ancient tale or legend; old traditional history. Mahā Purāṇas are eighteen, which were compiled by Veda Vyāsa. SkandaPurāṇa is the largest of the major eighteen Purāṇas. It consists of 88100 verses and is divided into seven parts. Skanda Purāṇa got its name from Skanda, the son of Lord Siva. The advent of Kumāra (Skanda) has been celebrated by poet Kalidāsa in Kumārasambava and paṇini’s Vyākaraṇa Sūtra speaks of his forms, the Saiva Agamas and Kumāra Tantra deal mainly with the ceremonial worship of Skanda. He plays a prominent role in South Indian Religion. His most popular Tamil name is Muruga. Kantha Purāṇa in Tamil of Kachiappasivachariar is a prolific work adopted from Sanskrit Skanda Purāṇa in 12th century. The cult of the Gods in Sri Lanka has been influenced by Hinduism of India throughout the centuries. The Muruga (Skanda) cult is one such thing. Kataragama is one of the identification places of Muruga, which has a pre-historical connection with the history of Kantha Purāṇa tradition. Kataragama is a place where people of all religion come together and pray for their common requests. Lord Skanda is mostly worshiped by Tamil Hindus referring him as the Tamil God. Tamil Kantha Purāṇam is holding a prestigious place particularly among the Tamils of Jaffna. The culture of Kanthapuranam called as “KanthapuranaKalasaram” in Tamil (Tradition of kantha Purana) is the culture of the people in the North. The Hindus in the North East and elsewhere in the country consider Lord Muruga or Kanthan as one of the primary deities of the Saivaitee Tamil. The historical famous Nallur temple, Selvasannathi, Mavittapuram are in the North, Mandoor is in the East and Kataragama is in the Southwest of Sri Lanka. Lord Skanda is considered as a war god as he killed the demon king Tārakasura. The war between Skanda and Tāraka is being performed in a dramatic way in the Hindu temples. This event with its moral significance of the expiration of sins is yearly celebrated by festivals and fasts in Tamil lands in the month of Pushya on such occasion the Tamil Kantha Purāṇa is read and expounded with solemnity. This research is described by Descriptive, Historical & Comparative research methodologies based on the main source in Sanskrit and secondary sources