It is with a sense of great and joyous expectation that millions of people in the whole country of India are today eagerly following the progress of the construction of the grand temple for Sri Rama at Ayodhya. When the sacred day, sometime in 2023-24, does arrive for the grand consecration of the Temple, it will certainly mark an unforgettable red-letter day for all devotees of Sri Rama across the country who await it indeed with bated breath.
There is a question in the minds of all devotees of Ram regarding the manner in which the eventual consecration of the temple is going to be performed, as well as, going forward, about the religious regimen of rituals and festivities that will be followed as per prescribed “saastras” in the Ram Temple in times to come.
The temple at Ayodhya has Sri Rama as the main consecrated icon and Rama, being an avatar of the Vedic God Vishnu, it must be noted, is a Vaishnavite Deity. Hence, one expects that the temple will be observing any one or the other of the well- known and long-established traditions of ancient Agamaas which for centuries past have been venerated as being authoritative manuals that lay down the procedures for how Vaishnava temples ought to be religiously administered.
The Agamaas are collected works inspired by Vedic and Puraanic revelations and they deal with (a) knowledge, or philosophy, (b) yoga, or concentration techniques (c) ritual, which includes the formation of icons and the building architectures of temples and (d) the conduct of religious worship and social practice through ritual and religious festivity. In general, the last two subjects preponderate in the Agama texts while the philosophical parts tend to be syncretic mixture of yoga, sound- symbols (mantras), esoteric doctrines, Samkhya and Vedanta thought.
It is well known that the vast number of temples everywhere in India are classified according to the form of the main Deity that preside over them. Thus, there are temples to Shiva, to Vishnu and to the goddess Shakthi. These temples follow respectively that particular Agama that relates to the presiding deity and hence the Shiva temples are administered according to the Shaiva Agamas which are found to be broadly three in number and tradition viz. Kashmir Saivism (“siva-sutra”), Veera-Saivism (of Basava’s “1150 vachanams”) and Saiva-Siddhaantam (which comprises 28 Agamaas and about 150 sub-Agamaas). Similarly, for the Deity of Shakthi, the goddess of Cosmic Energy, there are traditional temple-agama texts known to be belonging to the Saakta-Tantra system that has evolved from the times of Baana and Bhavabhuta in the 7th century CE.
The Vaishnava Agamaas are more particularly known as Vaishnava Samhitaas and they are principally two ancient texts: Vaikhaanasa and Paancharaatra texts. The latter group is the prevailing one today; more than 200 titles and, officially, at least 108 samhitaas in this tradition are known today amongst the priestly classes and institutions of South India.
Vaikhaanasa Samhitaas are collections of Vaishnava school of the community of Vaikhaanasas who were originally ascetics and they embody the original temple manuals for the “bhaagavatha tradition” of temple worship with its origins dating back to the time of the Rg Veda but which became more structured and formalized by the 11th or 12th century CE to become supplanted by the Paancharaatra Samhitas (collections of the Paancharaatra Samhitas –“the system of the 5 nights”) which became the collections of the Vaishnava school of Paancharaatra.
Both these Vaishnava temple traditions are today being followed by the vast number of Vaishnavite temples in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, greater Andhra, Karnataka and even in a few temples in the north and western parts of India. For instance, the famous temple of Venkateshwara in Tirupati, is administered according to the Vaikhaanasa System whereas the equally famous temple of Sri Ranganatha at Sri Rangam follows the Paancharaatra tradition.
Since the temple of Ram now under construction in Ayodhya is without any doubt going to be a grand and outstanding symbol of Hindu temple traditions of India, that is Bhaaratha Varsha, and since Rama is one of the most endearing Vaishnava avatars of Vishnu, millions of Vaishnavas all across India are being led to believe that the temple will be run according to the “aagama saastra” of the ancient Vaishnava Samhitaa viz, either the Vaikhaanasa or Paancharaatra systems.
Therefore, this is an earnest appeal to the authorities of the Ram Mandir Trust at Ayodhya to please come forward and make a public announcement for the benefit of all devotees as to which Vaishnava Samhita is going to be observed by this magnificent temple of India.
Sudarshan Madabushi
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