pa.nchAyatana pUjA (was Re: A Question???)

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> >of skanda is in the context of Siva worship, as Siva is usually worshipped
> >as sa-umA-skanda mUrti in Tamil Nadu temples. There is another opinion
> >that talks of shan-mata, or the six matas, namely saiva, vaishNava,
> >SAkta, Saura, gAnapatya and kaumAra.
>
> Hmm, never heard of this opinion. The books I have seen, one from
> Sringeri, one from the Kanchi Mutt and one from R.S.Vadhyar and sons, a
> famous publisher from Palghat, all mention only sUrya. The book from

For the shan-mata opinion, check

    Conference on Sankara and Shanmata, Madras, 1969.
    Sankara and shanmata; souvenir published in connection with the
    Conference on Sankara and Shanmata held in Madras from June 1-June 9,
    1969. [Madras, Distributors: M.L.J. Office, 1969].

There is some evidence from some medieval Tamil literature that there were
groups which worshipped Murugan (skanda) exclusively (even to the
exclusion of Siva). One name that I can recollect is Poyyamozhi, who had
to be convinced to worship Siva also.

Vidyasankar