THE HISTORY OF MANIKKA-VACAGAR. 137 



cannot be rendered into simple prose without entirely misrepresenting 

 them, and to put them rigidly into metre would involve a sacrifice of 

 exactness in the rendering. In a translation I hope to publish they 

 are given line for line, and almost word for word, in language answering, 

 as nearly as I knew how to shape it, to the tone and manner of the Tamil 

 originals. I find this the way in which I can produce the most literal 

 version. It is quite certain that the influence of these poems in South 

 India is like that of the Psalms among Christians, and that they have 

 touched for generations the hearts of the vast majority of the Tamil- 

 fjpeaking people. There is in them a strange combination of lofty feeling 

 and spirituality with what we must pronounce to be the grossest idolatry. 

 And this leads to the thought that in the Qaiva system of to-day two 

 things that would appear to be mutually destructive are found to flourish 

 together and even to strengthen one another. The more philosophical 

 and refined the ^aivite becomes, the more enthusiastic does he often 

 appear to be in the pei'formance of the incongruous rites of the popular 

 worship. In general Caivites pay peculiar adoration to two distinct 

 idols, leaving out of question Gane^a and Suppiramanya, the so-called 

 sons of (^iva. These two symbols are first the ' lingam' with the 

 ' lingi,' and secondly the image of ^iva accompanied with Uma, whose 

 form is generally combined into one with his. These really represent 

 one idea, Civan and (^atti, the god and the energy that is inseparable 

 from him, which combine to create, sustain, and destroy the phenomenal 

 universe. (Note XIII.) 



It is sometimes thought and said that the idols in these temples are 

 mere signs, representing as symbols the Divine Being and some of his 

 works and attributes. This is not altogether an adequate statement of 

 the case. Each image by a peculiar service which is called Avaganam 

 (S. AvAHANAM^' bringing unto ') becomes the permanent abode of an 

 indwelling deity, and is itself divine. The worshii^pers, as will be seen in 

 our legends, seem to believe that the images of the god consume the food 

 presented to them, and are strengthened and refreshed by it. The images 

 are treated and sj^oken of as living and sentient beings. They are seen to 

 smile, to lift up hands to bless, to move from place to place, and to issue 

 audible commands. Devout and enthusiastic worshipi^ers amid the glare 

 of the lamps and the smoke of the incense seem to be carried away so as 

 to entirely identify the invisible object of their thoughts with that which 

 is presented before their eyes. It was certainly so with our poet. If it 

 is remembered that some of these images have been worshipped, tended, 

 garlanded, and treated as human beings, for a thousand years ; that each 



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