The Nayanmars

The Nayanars of southern India were poet saints who played an instrumental role between 6th and 8th century AD in popularizing the devotional worship of  Siva among the rural people. Through devotional singing and public display of religious fervor, they preached the path of devotion (bhaktimarg) to Siva as an effective means to spread their message of divine love and surrender to God and inculcate among people the habit of religious worship and ethical living. Their activities also helped in containing the influence of Jainism and Buddhism in southern India and reviving the Vedic tradition. The Saiva tradition lists 63 Nayanars. Prominent among them were Kannappa, Karaikkal, Sundarar, Manikkavachakar, Nambi Andar Nambi, Sekkilar, Appar and Sundarar. Their compositions are preserved in such works as Tirumurai and Tevaram. Apart from them, Lakulisa, Vasugupta, Gorakshanath and Basavanna were some of the religious teachers, who played a prominent role in ensuring the continuation of Saivism as a major religious sect in the Indian subcontinent.

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples

The 12 Jyotirlinga temples mentioned in the Sivapurana are:

1. The Somnath temple,

1. The Mallikarjuna temple at Srisailam,

1. The Mahakaleswar temple at Ujjain,

1. The Omkareshwar temple at Omkareshwar,

1. The Kedarnath temple in the Himalayas,

1. The Bhimashankar temple in Maharashtra,

1. The Kashivishwanath temple at Varanasi,

1. The Triambakeshwar temple at Naski,

1. The Baidyanath temple at Deogarh,

1. The Nageshwar temple in Dwaraka,

1. The Ramalingeshwar temple at Rameswaram 

1. Grishneshwar temple near Ellora caves

Shaiva Puranas

By the time the Puranas were composed, Lord Siva was recognized as a part of Hindu Trinity and His worship became popular in many parts of the Indian subcontinent. Both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention Lord Siva as a prominent Hindu god. Credit goes to the Saiva Puranas, which were composed mostly in the early Christian era, in making Saivism a popular religious sect. Of the 18 Puranas originally composed, six were Shaiva Puranas, namely Siva Purana, Linga Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Skanda Purana and Agni Purana. The Agamas are the most authoritative works on Saivism. They deal with the methods of ritual worship and contemplation of Lord Siva