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Tuesday, 4 October 2016

The Tamil Philosopher Appar



P
erhaps in the whole of India , it is difficult to  come across an individual as great as Appar who single handedly changed the cultural  map of Tamilnadu and indirectly also the whole of India. 

He was the architect of the Ahimsa way of battling with the political and religious tyrannies and this was more than 1500 years ago. This involvement with sociopolitical processes also made him a revolutionary thinker and who churned out hymns after hymns  of outstanding beauties and depth. 

Unlike the various religious heads with their pomposity and exhibitionism designed to make oneself god-like for the masses, he was one of the most humble and who moved about without seeking to leave behind any marks of his presence ( yaatum cuvadupadaamal ).

Appar was earlier than Sambantar and is assigned to 6th-7th cent AD and lived to a ripe old age

In the  Patikam ( 6: 95 - Tanit Tiruttaandkam) where occurs the phrase “ aadduvittaal aar oruvar aadaataaree” a phrase that is immensely alive to this day, not only among the Saivites but all the Tamils. 

I hope that with an in-depth study of this Patikam, the enormous wealth of philosophical ideas of the Tamil mind and Tamil Language comes to be better known. Indian philosophical thinking is NOT exhausted by the Vedas, Upanishads, Bagavath Gita and so forth. 

The highest reaches of metaphysical insights of the Hindu mind are available only in Tamil and I hope the world comes to know these ideas so that there is a better understanding of what genuine Hinduism is and which is Agamism or Tantrism.



Loganathan @ Ullaganar

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