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Arguing the Taste of Fresh Butter: Īcūr Caccitāṉanta Cuvāmikaḷ’s Advaitic Interpretation of Tamil Śaiva Theology

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Abstract

By the turn of the twentieth century, Tamil Śaivism had largely come to be identified with the theological tradition known as Śaiva Siddhānta. Nevertheless, one of the most popular texts among Tamil-speaking Śaiva intellectuals during the colonial period was in fact a work on Advaita Vedānta entitled Kaivalliyanavanītam (The Fresh Butter of Liberation). This article explores how the Kaivalliyanavanītam was read by its non-Brāhmaṇa audience, focusing on a late nineteenth-century commentary by the Śaiva intellectual Īcūr Caccitāṉanta Cuvāmikaḷ (1815–86). It examines the rhetoric, terminology, and hermeneutics utilized by Caccitāṉanta to critique the dualism of Śaiva Siddhānta and reinscribe Tamil Śaiva theology as a monism. The article concludes by reflecting on the relationship between Cacci-tāṉanta’s work and Advaita Vedānta in the context of colonial South India.

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  1. Department of Religious Studies and Classics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Eric Steinschneider

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Steinschneider, E. Arguing the Taste of Fresh Butter: Īcūr Caccitāṉanta Cuvāmikaḷ’s Advaitic Interpretation of Tamil Śaiva Theology. Hindu Studies 21, 299–318 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-017-9217-x

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