Synopsis
Sacred Complex of the Guruvayur Temple is the first comprehensive study of the tantric aspects of the famous Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple, which has become the second richest and busy pilgrim centre of India in recent years. Guruvayur is the centre of a great cultural tradition embracing sacred and secular institutions with diverse religious and social functions, cultural values and symbolic configurations. Pilgrims from different parts of India and abroad have celebrated the diversity of traditions that have shaped Kerala's culture and religion. The history of Guruvayur is the rich and polyvalent religious history of Kerala. A quintessential expression of this history, Sri Krishna cult of the Zamorin of Calicut found its lasting manifestation in the monumental Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayur. The Guruvayur cult has been hailed for visvapapahatya, removal of earthly sufferings, and bestowal of saukhyam and avesam, earthly well being and pleasure, leading to anandam, or heavenly bliss. The uniqueness of the Guruvayur Sacred Complex is its universal appeal. The secrets of the Sacred Complex of Guruvayur are described in simple language for the lay devotees by the author. The author has combined the humility of a votary with the objectivity of a scientific researcher. This pioneering and outstanding work is expected to receive attention from social scientists, planners and administrators and inspire researchers to study other sacred temple complexes as mirrors to Indian religious tradition.
About the Author
P.R.G. Mathur (b. 1934), a distinguished anthropologist, has earned national and international attention for his painstaking efforts in the area of applied anthropology, to the chagrin of several vested interests. His stewardship of the Kerala Institute for Research and Training and Development Studies for SC&ST (KIRTADS) over a decade gave a fillip to applied anthropology in India in the true sense of the term, and some of his controversial reports received appro-bation at the highest Court of Indian judiciary. His extensive experience on community studies in India earned him many rewards. In recognition of his dedicated service to Indian anthro-pology for the past five decades. Dr. Mathur has been honoured with Fulbright Fellowship in 1982 and the first Ananathakrishna Iyer Memorial Award instituted by the Anthropological Association, Mysore in 2007. He was earlier nominated 'Man of the Year' twice, in 1994 and 2002, by American Biographical Institute. Author of several well acclaimed contributions to anthropological literature in the form of papers and monographs, his books: Didayi - A Forgotten Tribe of Orissa (1969), Tribal Situation in Kerala (1978), The Mappila Fisherfolk of Kerala (1978), Khasi of Meghalaya (1979), Applied Anthropology and Development Administration (1994) and Ecology, Technology and Economy: Continuity and Change among the Fisherfolk of Kerala (2008) are widely circulated all over the world. Podikkulangara Ramaswamy Govindankutty (P.R.G.) Mathur lives in his native village, Mathur in Palakkad (Kerala), with his better-half, Mrs. Rugmani Mathur.
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