CONTENTS List of Illustrations ix List of Appendices xiv Preface xv Author's Acknowledgements xix Publishers Acknowledgements xxi List of Abbreviations xxli Introduction 1 The Making of a Religious Tradition: Perspectives from Pre-colonial South India SECTION I: PURANIC RELIGION, BHAKTI, AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS 1. From Devotion and Dissent to Dominance: The Bhakti of the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars53 2. Puranic Religion and the Evolution of the Tamil Saiva Tradition 87 3. Akara and Puranic Religion 121 4. Vaisnava Concepts in Early Tamil Nadu 165 5. The Sacred Geography of the Murukan Cult 197 SECTION II: RELIGION, CANON, AND COMMUNITY 6. Patikam Pdtuvar. Ritual Singing as a Means of Communication in Early Medieval South India 215 7 Caste and Community: Oscillating Identities in Pre-modcrn South India 235 8. The Matha: Monachism as the Base of a Parallel 286 Authority Structure SECTION III: COUNTER TRADITIONS: THE SRAMANAS 9. Buddhism in South India: Patterns of Patronage 321 10. Jainism in Tamil Nadu: A Historical Overview 356 11. Jainism in Andhra and Karnataka 411 12. The Bhakti Movement and Religious Conflict in Early Medieval Tamilakam 438 SECTION IV: TEMPLE AS SYMBOL AND METAPHOR 13. Symbol and Metaphor: Temple Architecture and Iconography in South India 463 14. Iconographic Programme and Political Imagery in Early Medieval Tamilakam: The Rajasimhesvara and rhe Rajarajes'vara 495 15. Bhdgavata Scenes in Pallava and Co|a Sculptures 515 16. Tanjavur, the Ceremonial City of the Colas 552 17. The Drdvida Style of Architecture: A Historical Perspective 566 SECTION V: IDEOLOGY AND SOVEREIGNTY 18. The Sovereignty of the Divine: The VaisnavaTantheon and Temporal Power in South India587 19. Ideology and the State in South India 606