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Sabarimala The name of the summit of the Neelimala hill in Kerala, known for its temple of the Hindu god AYYAPPA, the Sannidhanam, and for the great Ayappa pilgrimage that takes place every year.

Preparations for the pilgrimage begin forty-one days in advance and include austerities such as wearing black, blue, or saffron clothes, sleeping on the floor and remaining celibate. The pilgrimage is open to men and to women after the age of menopause, or to young girls below the age of ten. For the abhisheka (anointing of the god), the pilgrim carries clarified butter on his head, filled in coconut shells, placed in irumudi, a particular kind of cloth bag with two compartments. The pilgrimage concludes around the end of December. After a few days’ break, the temple reopens to prepare for the Makara Vilakku festival. Thousands of pilgrims reach the temple in a steady stream, chanting Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappan, the chant reaching a crescendo. On the evening of 14 January, known as MAKARA SANKRANTI, the grand spectacle of a natural light, the Makara Jyoti, appears to the north-east of the temple on the opposite hill. This light is believed to come from an ARTI performed by DEVAS and RISHIS who live at a place called Kantamala on this hill. After this the festival of Makara Vilakku continues until the closure of the temple on 20 January. The Ayyappa shrine here is open only from mid-November to January, and for the first five days of every Malayalam month.

The present shrine was reconstructed in 1950, after a fire destroyed the old temple. After a 3 km trek up the hill, the shrine is approached by the Patinettampadi, the holy eighteen stairs. The temple has an inner shrine with a gold-plated roof, topped by four gold finials, two MANDAPAS and the belikalpura, which contains the altar. The deity, about half-a-metre tall, is made of an amalgam of five metals.

At the foot of the eighteen stairs are shrines of Karuppaswamy or Karuppan, a local deity, and Kaduthaswamy, said to have been a warrior devoted to Ayyappa. Near the stairs is also the shrine of Vavarswami, a Muslim who was Ayyappa’s close companion. Here a Muslim priest conducts the PUJA, and the deity is represented by a stone slab. A green silken cloth and an old sword hang across the wall, and the special offering here is green pepper. Some pilgrims come to this shrine along with a goat, which they believe helps them to reach the temple safely. The goats are later auctioned by the temple.

There are several other shrines near the temple, including that of GANESHA, known here as Kannimula Ganapati. The temple of Mallikappurathamma, which contains the shrines of DEVI and Kaduthaswamy is nearby. On the way is the holy tank, the Bhasma Kulam, where the ascetic Sabari entered a fire to end her life, and after whom the peak is named. To the left of the Mallika temple are shrines of the snake deities, Nagaraja and Nagayakshi.

Sabarimala is open to all castes, religions and nationalities.

Sabbath/Shabbat In Judaism, the Sabbath, or weekly day of rest, is observed very strictly. The Pentateuch, comprising the first five books of the BIBLE, states that on this day there must be a total abstention from work. God laboured for six days to create the world and then rested, therefore man must do the same, and it is only by refraining from work that the spiritual state necessary on the Sabbath can be created. A passage in the Bible says: ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates.’ (Ex 20.8–11).

In Judaism the Sabbath is observed on a Saturday, but it begins on Friday evening because the religious day (as in Islam) starts in the evening. Special prayers are prescribed before the Friday night meal, after which the kitchen fire is not lit until Saturday evening. At the end of the Sabbath the Havdalah is recited, a prayer over wine, spices and fire; wine symbolizing the joy of the Sabbath, spices to raise the spirits of people who are saddened by its end, and fire to indicate that the working week begins.

Sabiri A SUFI order that was a branch of the CHISTI order. Its founder, Shaikh Alauddin Sabir, is said to have been a disciple of Baba FARID. He settled at Kaliyar in present Uttar Pradesh, his DARGAH being known as Kaliyar Sharif. His immediate successor was Shaikh Shamsuddin Turk of Panipat, who was succeeded by Shaikh Jalaluddin Mahmud of Panipat. Among the notable later saints of the order was Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Haqq of Rudauli (d. 1433). His teachings have been explained in the Anwar al-Uyan, written by Shaikh ABDUL QUDDUS GANGOHI (d. 1537), another Sufi of the order. Shah Muhibullah of Allahabad (d. 1648), Shah Abul Maali (d. 1700), and Shah Abdul Hadi of Amroha (d. 1776) were among other leading saints. This order combined adherence to the SHARIA with metaphysics, and experiences of divine ecstasy.

sachkhand A term in Sikhism describing the state of bliss and final union with God. The Sikh prayer, the JAPJI, provides an account of stages on the path. The first stage is dharamkhand, where a person acts according to DHARMA or right conduct. The second stage is jnanakhand, where by seeking JNANA or knowledge, insight and understanding grows. The third stage is saramkhand, which has been interpreted in different ways, but is generally taken to mean ‘effort’. The fourth stage is karamkhand, which indicates the stage of action or of finally overcoming KARMA, either through one’s own actions or through God’s grace. Finally sachkhand, the true state, is reached.

sacraments Holy ceremonies that take place in Christianity, particularly in ROMAN CATHOLICISM. The seven sacraments of Roman Catholics are BAPTISM, confirmation, the EUCHARIST, penance, holy orders, marriage, and extreme unction or anointing of the sick. Baptism signifies initiation into the faith, while confirmation indicates spiritual adulthood. The eucharist, forming part of the MASS is a special method of worship. Penance is also called confession; Catholics confess their sins to a priest, who forgives them in the name of God. Holy orders is the sacrament by which individuals choose to serve the church and become its ministers. The marriage sacrament helps couples to fulfill the obligations of marriage. Extreme unction or anointing of the sick is for those who are very ill or on the verge of death, when the priest anoints the dying person with oil and prays that they may be freed from sin, strengthened in soul, and restored to health. The sacraments of baptism, confirmation and holy orders take place only once in a lifetime. Marriage normally takes place only once, unless the partner dies, divorce not being permitted for Catholics. Confession of sins and holy communion, which form part of the eucharist, are essential at least once a year.

PROTESTANTS do not follow all the sacraments, and various Protestant denominations disagree on what to follow. Baptism is common to most Protestants.

The ORTHODOX CHURCH follows the seven mysteries, which correspond to the seven sacraments. They are: baptism, chrismation, confession, eucharist, marriage, euchelaion and ordination. Chrismation corresponds to confirmation, and euchelaion to extreme unction.

sacred places Every village and city in India is associated with sacred shrines, but in each religion there are some particularly sacred places. Seven cities are considered the most sacred centres of pilgrimage for Hindus. They are: AYODHYA, MATHURA, GAYA, KASHI, KANCHIPURAM, UJJAIN and DVARAKA. In addition there are several sacred places in the Himalayan region, sacred sites along rivers all over India, and the great sacred centres of the south, which include KUMBAKONAM, KANCHIPURAM and MADURAI. In Islam the DARGAHS of SUFI saints are centres of pilgrimage, particularly those of Shaikh MUINUDDIN CHISTI at Ajmer and Shaikh SALIM CHISTI at Fatehpur Sikri, though there are several others. In Christianity, particular churches associated with miraculous cures or prayers answered are visited by all communities, among these being the shrine of Our Lady of Health at Velankanni, OUR LADY OF GRACE at Sardhana, and Catholic churches in Goa. Buddhism reveres sites associated with the life of the BUDDHA, particularly BODH GAYA, while Jain sacred sites include the PARASNATH hill, the SHATRUNJAYA hill, and SHRAVANA BELAGOLA in south India, among others. For PARSIS there are sites mainly in Gujarat, associated with their arrival in India, and the earliest Zoroastrian temples erected in the country.

sacred thread A thread signifying belonging to the religion, worn by certain Hindu castes, as well as by Zoroastrians. In Hinduism, the thread, known as the yajnopavita, is conferred traditionally at the UPANAYANA ceremony, the time when a young male of any of the three upper castes begins his studies with his guru. In modern times it may be conferred later. In Zoroastrianism the sacred thread is known as the KUSTI; it is conferred on both males and females at the NAVJOTE ceremony, the time of formal initiation into the religion.

sacrifices Sacrifices, known in Sanskrit as YAJNA, take many different forms. At a sacrifice, a ritual fire is lit, and offerings may be made of fruit, flowers, grain, milk, water, or sometimes of animals. Among the sacrifices conducted in ancient times in India, there were several to increase or assert the power of a king, such as the ASHVAMEDHA or horse sacrifice, the RAJASUYA, vajapeya, punar abhisheka and aindra mahabhisheka. The darsha-purnamasa, or new and full moon sacrifices, pinda-pitra-yajna, or sacrifices to the ancestors, chaturmasya, or four monthly seasonal sacrifices, and Soma sacrifices are described in ancient texts. Other sacrifices included fire sacrifices of the agnihotra, agnishtoma, and daily household sacrifices. Sacrifices of animals were common in ancient times and are still practised in some Hindu temples. Large-scale sacrifices involving hundreds of animals are described in the RAMAYANA and other texts; the SARPA SATRA or snake sacrifice also involved killing living beings. The purushamedha, or human sacrifice, is mentioned though some feel this was only symbolic. Buddhism and Jainism rejected animal sacrifices and so did VAISHNAVISM and several later Hindu sects. Sacrificial rituals are believed to bring about a connection with the divine. Today there is an attempt in some cases to substitute a real animal with a terracotta figurine or a pumpkin, though daily animal sacrifices still take place in certain KALI temples. Biannual sacrifices at DEVI temples in rural areas later turn into feasts in which the whole village participates. The sacrifice of animals also takes place in other religions, including Islam.

Other types of sacrifices, such as offering lights, incense, flowers, etc., along with ritual prayers occur in all religions.

Sadashiva A name of the Hindu god SHIVA, meaning the ‘eternal one’.

Saddharma Pundarika A MAHAYANA Buddhist text composed in Sanskrit, in about the second century CE, possibly in the region of GANDHARA or Kapisha. Literally, the name means ‘The Lotus of the True Law’, and it is popularly known as the Lotus Sutra. The Sutra has been described as a narrative drama, with a series of dialogues between BUDDHAS, BODHISATTVAS and ordinary people. The text states that all living beings who believe in the BUDDHA and follow his DHARMA will attain Buddhahood.

The first half of the Sutra deals with three traditional paths, that of the Shravaka (HINAYANA path), of the Pratyeka Buddha (solitary Buddha, one who achieves Buddhahood on his own), and the path of the BODHISATTVA. All these are different aspects of the one path and goal. The second half of the text represents the fully developed theory of the Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism. According to this the Buddha is eternal, and has always existed. He is the essence of Buddhahood, free from all concepts of being or non-being. As he is eternal and unchanging, he never attained NIRVANA, for there was nothing to be attained. His life in the world is only a cosmic drama, a device through which the Truth is to be understood. This concept was later accepted by VAJRAYANA Buddhists.

The theory of the eternal essence of Buddhahood is also similar to that of the ATMAN or BRAHMAN in some of the UPANISHADS, clearly explained by SHANKARA in his theory of ADVAITA.

The Saddharma Pundarika was first translated into Chinese by the third century. It is one of the most influential Mahayana texts and the main text for several schools of Buddhism, including the Tendai and Nichiren schools of Japan. A branch of the Nichiren school, the SOKKA GAKAI, is active in India.

sadhana A Sanskrit term that usually refers to a daily purificatory practice. It can involve the worship of, or devotion to, a deity, religious rites of some kind, contemplation, meditation, or any other practice. It can also refer to non-religious disciplines. The term has several meanings, including ‘the act of mastering, accomplishment, fulfilment, achievement and perfection’.

sadhu A saint or a holy person. There are several formal sadhu sects, such as the DASNAMIS and the NAGA SADHUS, though sadhus need not belong to any sect. Sadhu is often used as a synonym for SANNYASI. Literally, the word in Sanskrit means ‘good’ or ‘virtuous’, and it is also used in this sense in ancient texts.

Sadhyas A class of semi-divine beings. In the RIG VEDA they are called the ‘gods of old’, and in the Taittiriya Samhita they are said to have existed before creation. According to the PURANAS, they are the sons of DHARMA and Sadhya, who was a daughter of DAKSHA. They were associated with the ASHVAMEDHA or horse sacrifice, and with the Pushyasnana, the sacred bath before the annual consecration ceremony of a king. Twelve Sadhyas are named in the AGNI PURANA: Manas (mind), Manta (thought), Prana (life-force or breath), Nara (man), Apana (a type of breath), Viryavan (brave), Vibhu (powerful), Haya (horse), Naya (prudent), Hamsa (swan), Narayana (refuge of man), Prabhu (lord). In some Puranas, seventeen Sadhyas are listed.

Safa Shahouri Masjid The oldest mosque located in Goa, also known as the PONDA MOSQUE.

Sagar Island An island in the GANGA delta on the river Hughli, which is a centre of pilgrimage. See Ganga Sagara.

Saguna Brahman BRAHMAN, a term for the Absolute in Hinduism, can be known in two ways—without form and with form. Saguna Brahman is the representation of Brahman through different forms or deities. Literally it means ‘with attributes’, and thus each deity has various qualities or attributes, but still reflects Brahman.

Sahadeva The youngest of the five PANDAVAS, the twin of NAKULA, described in the MAHABHARATA. Sahadeva and Nakula were born when their mother MADRI invoked the twin deities of the ASHVINS. Sahadeva studied astronomy with DRONA and was an expert at managing cattle. His son from Draupadi was Shrutasena or Shrutakarman. In addition, he married Vijaya and had a son named Suhotra.

Sahaja Yoga A system of union with the divine, founded by Mata NIRMALA DEVI. Sahaja Yoga implies a spontaneous union, or Self-realization, through the raising of the KUNDALINI. Nirmala Devi is said to have devised a method by which the kundalini could be raised instantly, for a number of people at one time. ‘Self-realization is the first encounter with reality’, she says. Sahaja Yoga is transmitted through a simple initiation process, performed by Nirmala Devi or her senior disciples. After the first initiation, practitioners of Sahaja Yoga meditate every day to enable the divine power to flow through them.

There are Sahaja Yoga temples and hundreds of thousands of Sahaja Yoga followers all over the world. According to Nirmala Devi, ‘Sahaja Yoga establishes the proof of Truth and enables you to experience it.’

Sahaj-dhari A term in Sikhism for a Sikh who does not belong to the KHALSA.

Sahajiya A Tantric system of worship in Hinduism, similar to the SAHAJIYANA of Buddhism. The name comes from sahaja, which means ‘easy’ or ‘natural’. Sahajiyas believe that the innate and natural functions of the body, such as sex, should not be suppressed, but should be experienced, and their power used for divine transformation. For VAISHNAVA Sahajiyas, KRISHNA and RADHA are the role models, while for SHAIVITES or SHAKTAS the examples are SHIVA and SHAKTI. Several BAULS were also part of the Sahajiya movement. The BHAKTI saint CHANDIDAS is said to have been a Sahajiya, on the basis of some poems attributed to him, though probably these belong to a later date.

Sahajiyana, Buddhist A branch of Buddhist TANTRA that is said to have originated with Lui-pa, a yogi from Kashmir (c. 750–800). The earliest texts are from Bengal, the Dohakosha being written in Apabhramsa, a form of Prakrit, and the Charyagita in early Bengali. The basic doctrine is that Sahaja is the same as the Bodhichitta, the innate thought of enlightenment, which can be realized by combining prajna (wisdom), with upaya (skillful means). The same concept exists in VAJRAYANA, but the Sahajiyas also used the outer interpretation of prajna and upaya, as the feminine and male principles, the union of the two being achieved through sex. Sahajiyanas were against the settled Buddhist establishment, the SANGHA, with its rules and norms, and were homeless wanderers travelling from place to place, often accompanied by their female consorts. They rejected all accepted norms of conduct or fixed rules, unlike the Vajrayana, who formalized Tantric thought into academic disciplines. Sahajiyas can be compared in some ways with the later QALANDARS of Islam.

Sahasrara Chakra One of the seven main CHAKRAS or hidden energy centres within the body. The Sahasrara Chakra is at the crown of the head and is described as a lotus of a thousand petals, with its head downwards, lustrous and whiter than the full moon. Its clustered filaments are of the colour of the rising sun, and within it is the full moon, shining like lightning, spreading its rays, moist and cool like nectar. Inside this is a shining triangle, and within that shunya, the void, which represents the sun that destroys ignorance and delusion. People call it by different names, but it is the highest abode, and the one who knows this place with a controlled mind, possesses the power to do anything, has divine knowledge and is not affected by actions. The Supreme, as subtle as the ten-millionth part of the end of a hair, resides here, and through her flows a stream of love and a knowledge of the Truth. The KUNDALINI should be led to this chakra, and all things should be absorbed in her.

Sahibzadas A respectful term that refers to the four sons of Guru GOBIND SINGH, who all died in the cause of Sikhism, and who are remembered every day in the ARDAS prayer. Baba Ajit Singh (b. 1687) and Baba Jujhar Singh (b. 1689), the guru’s elder sons, were both killed fighting in the battle of CHAMKAUR in 1704. At the time of the battle, the two younger sons, Baba Zorawar Singh (b. 1696) and Baba Fateh Singh (b. 1698) were captured by Nawab Wazir Khan, the governor of Sirhind, and given the choice of death or conversion to Islam. The two small children refused to convert and were bricked up in a wall.

Sai Baba, of Shirdi A saint of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who settled at Shirdi in Maharashtra. There are different versions of his early life, with some claiming he was born a Muslim, and others a Hindu. According to one version, he was born to Hindu BRAHMANA parents in the state of Hyderabad, but after they died he was adopted and brought up by a Muslim faqir or saint. Later he also had a Hindu guru. At some time, it is not clear when, he came to Shirdi, and was addressed by someone as ‘Sai’, meaning holy or good, and soon came to be known as Sai Baba. He loved singing KABIR’s songs, and wandered around Shirdi before settling down in an old mosque. He referred to god as ALLAH, but was familiar with Hindu deities and methods of worship.

He lived simply and answered philosophical questions on Advaitic lines (see Advaita), helped people with their material problems and was said to have miraculous powers. He soon attracted crowds of devotees and followers who claimed that he cured diseases and fulfilled wishes and desires. He was not in favour of doing this, but his love and compassion did not allow him to turn anyone away. He never changed his simple life, shared the food given to him with others, and cultivated a small garden himself, where he meditated and prayed in private. After his death in 1918, the mosque where he had stayed and his SAMADHI continued to attract thousands of pilgrims. His comments and discussions were noted down and translated into English from the original Marathi by Narasimhaswami as Sri Sai Baba’s Charters and Sayings, available in several books and pamphlets. Sri Sai Satcharita, a hagiographic biography in Marathi verse by G.R. Dabholkar, provides an account of his life.

Sai Baba asked people to meditate on the question ‘Who am I?’, as many other Vedantic teachers have done. He said he was the formless Absolute, who came into the world because of the action of KARMA. ‘The world is my abode. BRAHMAN [the Absolute] is my father and MAYA [illusion] my mother. By their interlocking I got this body.’

He also referred to Brahman as Suddha Chaitanya, the origin and essence of all life that permeates the universe.

Sai Baba, Sathya A saint of the twentieth century. Born on 23 November 1926 at Puttaparthi in present Andhra Pradesh, his original name was Sathyanarayana Raju. He began to reveal exceptional powers by the age of eight, and by the age of fifteen he renounced the world. When he was twenty-one years old, he founded an ASHRAM, Prasantha Nilayam, at Puttaparthi and attracted a number of disciples. He is known for his apparent ability to produce objects out of the air, gifting them to his devotees, and also for the Vibhuti, or sacred ash, that seems to fall out of photographs of him. His disciples consider him an incarnation of SAI BABA OF SHIRDI.

Sathya Sai Baba has founded schools, colleges and institutes of higher education, hospitals, and a number of other philanthropic institutions. He is revered by millions in India and abroad. His teachings are based on universal truth and Oneness. He encourages people to recognize the Atman within, and realize Prema or divine love, leading to selfless service for all.

Sair-e-Gul Faroshan (Phul Walon ki Sair) A festival that takes place in the Mehrauli area of New Delhi in the month of Bhadrapada (August to September). It symbolizes harmony between Hindus and Muslims who jointly participate in the festival, which is said to have been started by one of the later Mughal emperors, Muhammad Shah ‘Rangila’ (1719–48), also known for his patronage of music and musicians. Large hand-fans of palm leaves, made specially for this occasion, are strung with flowers and decorated with tinsel and carried in a procession by Hindus and Muslims together, first to the DARGAH of the SUFI saint QUTBUDDIN BAKHTIYAR KAKI and then to the YOGA MAYA TEMPLE. The fans are presented to the temple and kept there till the following year. After this, people gather to listen to qawwalis and Sufi music, representing the spirit of oneness. The celebration of the festival had declined but was restarted in 1961 by the prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and continues to be celebrated every year.

Saiyyid/Sayyed Also spelt Syed or Saiyyad, Saiyyid was initially a respectful term, but later was used by Muslims who claim descent from the Prophet MUHAMMAD through his daughter Fatima. In India Saiyyid families maintain genealogies to prove their descent. Saiyyids can be either SUNNIS or SHIAS.

Sakya Lama The head of the SAKYA order of TIBETAN BUDDHISM.

The current head (in 2005) is the forty-first Sakya Lama, who came to India in 1959 at the age of fourteen. Sakya Lamas are allowed to marry, and the title is inherited either by his son or his nephew.

Sakya order A school of TIBETAN BUDDHISM that has several monasteries in India. The Sakya order traces its origin to the Indian yogi Virupa, who is one of the eighty-four MAHASIDDHAS. Drogmi (Brogmi) Shakya Yeshe (992–1074) travelled to India and received the teachings of this yogi as well as of other Indian masters. One of his teachers was Shantipa at the VIKRAMSHILA university. His disciple Khon Konchok Gyalpo founded a monastery in 1073 in central Tibet, named Sakya, from which the school took its name. In the thirteenth century, the Sakyas gained political control in Tibet. Later, several subsects of the Sakya order emerged.

Sakya teachings combine esoteric and exoteric disciplines, and its concepts are known as ‘lambras’, or ‘the path and its fruit’. It believes that there is no difference between SAMSARA and NIRVANA, as both are products of the mind. Right meditation and other practices are prescribed. Their texts include eighteen major works on monastic discipline, the PRAJNAPARAMITA or perfection of wisdom texts, logic, as well as the HEVAJRA, Chakrasambhara and other TANTRAS.

After the migration of Tibetans to India in 1959, a number of Sakya monasteries have been established in India. These include Tsechen Tenpai Gatsal and Ngore-vam Chodhen in Dehradun, Uttarakhand; Ngor-evam Shadrup Dargye Ling in Bir, Himachal Pradesh; and Tsechen Dhongag Choeling in Mundgod, Karnataka. The SAKYA LAMA, the head of the order in India, resides in Dehradun.

Salar Masud Ghazi, Sayyid A Muslim saint whose shrine or DARGAH is worshipped at Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, and who is popularly known as Ghazi Miyan. According to traditional accounts of his life, compiled in the seventeenth century by ABDUR RAHIM CHISTI in his Mirat-i Masudi, Ghazi Miyan was born in 1015, the nephew of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, who invaded India in the early eleventh century. Scholars, however, feel this is an invented story, and that Ghazi Miyan was an unknown warrior. Legends state that he accompanied Mahmud on his expedition to Somanatha, but was against the plunder that took place there, and decided to follow a spiritual path. He became the disciple of a PIR, wandered through the plains of north India, and finally reached Bahraich. Meanwhile his mother, father, and revered teacher all died, and Ghazi Miyan decided to spend his days in worship and prayer in the forests of Bahraich. He was revered as a spiritual leader, and as his fame grew he was challenged by a local raja who feared a threat to his throne. Though he assured the raja that he had no worldly ambitions, the raja was not convinced, and Ghazi Miyan was forced to fight a series of battles and was finally killed in 1033, at the young age of nineteen. A shrine soon grew around his tomb, and stories of miracles were reported. An annual pilgrimage to GHAZI MIYAN’S DARGAH began, in which all communities participated. It still takes place every year in May–June.

Some kings were against this pilgrimage and both Sultan Sikandar Lodi (ruled 1489–1517) and the Mughal emperor AURANGZEB tried to stop the pilgrimage to his tomb, while the emperor AKBAR blessed it. Apart from his main shrine at Bahraich, there are several others in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, among them being shrines at Meerut, Sambhal in Moradabad, Satrikh, Maner in Bihar, and elsewhere.

The saint seems to have been well known by the thirteenth century and the time of Sultan Iltutmish (ruled 1211–36). His dargah is mentioned by AMIR KHUSRAU and was visited by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq (ruled 1325–51).

Whatever his actual ancestry, he seems to have been a military adventurer from Central Asia or Afghanistan, known for his bravery and piety.

Salim Chisti, Shaikh A SUFI saint who belonged to the CHISTI order and lived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Sheikh Salim was a descendant of the Sufi saint Faridud-din Ganj-i-Shakar (c. 1175–1265), popularly known as Baba FARID, of Pak Patan, now in Pakistan. Born in DELHI in 1479–80, Salim and his family moved to Sikri near AGRA, when he was still a child. In 1524–25 he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and visited several other Arab countries, returning to Sikri in 1537–38. He married and had several children from his many wives. In 1563, when he was over eighty years old, he began the construction of a KHANQAH (residence for Sufi disciples) and mosque on the Sikri ridge.

In 1556 the Mughal emperor AKBAR succeeded his father Humayun and began to rule from Agra. Akbar had no children, and it was after the blessing of Sheikh Salim, whom he met in 1568, that three children were born to him. The first was named Salim after the Shaikh, and later became the emperor Jahangir.

Akbar built a whole city, Fatehpur Sikri, near the residence of the saint. After Salim Chisti’s death in 1572, a beautiful tomb was erected over his cell. The deserted city, with the DARGAH of the saint within it, can still be seen. People from all religions come here to make offerings and seek blessings at the tomb of Sheikh Salim.

sallekhana A term for the rite of religious suicide in Jainism. This rite consists of death through starvation and is the ideal end for the advanced Jain monk or nun. All food contains life, and water too contains minute forms of living beings, therefore refraining from these frees one from the KARMA, which is generated by taking life. Sallekhana in ancient days could be performed standing, or lying on a bed of thorny grass, but today it can be undertaken on a simple bed. Usually, the person first refrains from food, purifying the mind with prayers and meditation, and then ceases to take even water. Sallekhana still takes place, and is considered extremely meritorious.

Salvation Army A Christian movement that has a presence in India. It was started by William Booth (1829–1912) in 1865 in London, and was originally known as the Christian Mission. Booth’s wife Catherine and eldest son William Bramwell Booth are considered co-founders of the movement. It was renamed the Salvation Army in 1878. Booth was initially a priest in the METHODIST New Connection Church. The Salvation Army symbolizes ‘spiritual warfare’, and uses uniforms, ranks, badges, flags and bands like a real army, and is an evangelical movement with a focus on social work. The flag, of blue, red and yellow, represents the TRINITY, while bands and music help to attract people. The leaders, who are ministers of religion, are known as commissioned officers, and the highest leader is a general, elected by the High Council. Women have an equal status. High moral standards are advocated, including abstinence from alcohol and tobacco. The headquarters is at London, and the movement exists in over ninety countries.

The organization was introduced in India in 1882 in Mumbai (Bombay) by Frederick George De Latour Tucker, previously in the Indian Civil Service, who took the name Fakir Singh and adopted an Indian lifestyle. The organization spread to Travancore by 1889, and then expanded further. It provided relief in natural calamities, opened educational institutions and started cottage industries to provide employment. In India, its main office is at DELHI.

sama A term used in SUFISM, literally ‘listening’. It implies a focus on songs and music, which lead to divine ecstasy. Sama was popular particularly with the CHISTIS, and was frowned upon by some SUFI orders as being non-Islamic.

Sama Veda One of the four VEDIC SAMHITAS. It consists of hymns to be chanted at sacrifices, and has 1810 verses or 1549 without repetitions, most of which can be found in the RIG VEDA, with some variations. Priests who chant the Sama Veda are known as udgatris.

samadhi (1) A Sanskrit term indicating union with the divine. Samadhi is a state of deep meditation, in which Oneness or non-duality is experienced. It is described as the eighth and final stage in the system of Raja YOGA. The term is used in Buddhism and other philosophies as well.

(2) A samadhi is also a place where a saint or yogi is buried or enshrined after death. In several SANNYASI sects a person who has attained a high stage of communion with the divine is entombed after death seated in a yogic posture. Other saintly people are also enshrined in this way and not cremated, as is otherwise the custom in Hinduism. Pilgrims then visit the samadhi and gain the blessings of the saint. The DARGAH of a saint in Islam has a similar function.

Some saints are believed to have never died, remaining in samadhi in a cave or somewhere beneath the ground, meditating for thousands of years, for the good of the world.

Samantabhadra, Buddhist A celestial BODHISATTVA associated with the Buddha VAIROCHANA. He is usually depicted as blue in colour and is often seated on a sixtusked white elephant.

Samantabhadra, Jain A Jain scholar and philosopher who, according to the DIGAMBARA sect, lived in the second century CE. A twelfth-century inscription at SHRAVANA BELAGOLA states that he was a disciple of Balakapichha, a pupil of UMASVAMI. Some scholars, however, place him in the eighth century. Samantabhadra wrote a number of books, including a commentary on Umasvami’s Tattvarthadhigama Sutra, known as the Devagama Sutra or Aptamimansa. Only the introduction of this text exists today. The text explained the SYADVADA philosophy and was commented on by non-Jain philosophers such as KUMARILA (eighth–ninth centuries) and Vachaspatimishra.

Samaraichcha Kaha A Jain dharma katha, or religious novel, written by HARIBHADRA SURI in the eighth century, in PRAKRIT prose (Jain Maharashtri), interspersed with verse. It contains a number of stories that trace the successive lives of people through adventures and romance, until they finally understand the true meaning of life and become Jain monks and nuns. There are numerous other such novels in Jain literature.

Samavayamga A Jain text, the fourth of the twelve ANGAS. Much of it is arranged in numerical groups, like the THANAMGA, though instead of using groups from one to ten, there are number groups that exceed one hundred and even reach one million. Thus it deals with two Rasis, two types of hellish creatures, three types of Vedas, and other subjects grouped together. Its later date is indicated by the eighteen types of Brahmi script mentioned under the number eighteen. The text lists the contents of the fourteen PURVAS and provides an account of the ANGAS.

Samayasundara A Jain scholar of the Kharatara GACHCHHA who lived in the sixteenth century, and was conferred the title of Upadhyaya by the Mughal emperor AKBAR. Samayasundara accompanied JINACHANDRA SURI to Akbar’s court, and on one occasion he read out to the emperor a work composed by him, known as Ashtalakshi. He explained how a sentence of three Sanskrit words, ‘Rajno dadate soukhyam’ (the king alone can bestow pleasure), could be interpreted in 8,00,000 ways. Grammatically, the sentence had 10,22,407 meanings.

This indicates the great learning of Jain scholars, which extended beyond Jainism to several other fields.

Sambandar (Campantar) A BHAKTI saint of the seventh century who was one of the NAYANARS and worshipped the Hindu god, SHIVA. Born in a BRAHMANA family in the village of Sirkazi near CHIDAMBARAM in the Tamil region, he was a devotee of Shiva and PARVATI from childhood. He composed hymns and songs to Shiva, which are included in the Tevaram, a sacred SHAIVITE text which forms part of the TIRUMURAI.

sambhogakaya A term for one of the three bodies (TRIKAYA) of the BUDDHA, a concept that developed in MAHAYANA Buddhism.

Samet Shikhara A sacred Jain site, another name of the PARASNATH HILL in Jharkhand, where most of the TIRTHANKARAS are said to have attained MOKSHA or liberation.

samhita A term in Sanskrit that means ‘putting together’ and refers to a collection or compilation. A number of early texts are known as Samhitas. Among them are the first section of the VEDAS, which have hymns or verses. The four VEDIC SAMHITAS are: the Rig Veda Samhita, the Sama Veda Samhita, the Yajur Veda Samhita and the Atharva Veda Samhita. They are generally referred to as the RIG VEDA, SAMA VEDA, YAJUR VEDA and ATHARVA VEDA. The Brahmanas and other Vedic texts are attached to the Vedic Samhitas.

Samkhya One of the six classical systems of ancient Indian philosophy, said to have been founded by the sage KAPILA. In early texts, the term Samkhya is used in the sense of philosophical reflection, and this system reaches its understanding by reflecting on the nature of the world. It sees the world as a result of two principles, PURUSHA and PRAKRITI. The latter is the active principle, the potentiality of all nature, through which the material and psychic world comes into being. It is not exactly the same as matter, and it has three components through which it arises: sattva, rajas and tamas. Sattva is potential consciousness and indicates perfection, goodness and happiness. Rajas is the source of all activity, producing enjoyment as well as restlessness and pain. Tamas resists activity, leading to indifference and slothfulness. The three are never separate, but one or the other predominates. Sattva is the essence of that which is to be realized, tamas the obstacle preventing its realization, and rajas the force that overcomes the obstacle. Prakriti evolves for the sake of Purusha. It develops into buddhi, higher intelligence, thought, and the objects of thought, as well as the ego. Purusha can be translated as soul and is similar to the concept of BRAHMAN. In each living being there is a Purusha, yet essentially all Purushas are the same. According to S. Radhakrishnan, it is ‘not the mind, life or body, but the informing and sustaining soul, silent, peaceful, eternal’. It illuminates all the activities that take place, but does not participate in them. Purusha is eternally free, but to realize its nature one requires virtue, including unselfish activity, and vairagya or detachment, as well as higher knowledge. With right discrimination (viveka), freedom from bondage is achieved. Prakriti provides the experiences that enable Purusha to free itself.

The Samkhya system is against sacrifices and caste, but believes in the path of liberation through knowledge and understanding. Elements of the Samkhya philosophy are found in the UPANISHADS and the MAHABHARATA, and are also explained in the BHAGAVAD GITA.

The legendary Kapila is said to have existed some time between the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, but the texts attributed to him, the Samkhyapravachana Sutra and the Tattvasamasa, seem to have been written much later. In fact the former is dated by some scholars to the fourteenth century CE, though there was probably an earlier version. The earliest available text seems to be the Samkhya Karika of the third century CE, written by Ishvarakrishna. Among other major works explaining Samkhya philosophy are Vachaspati’s Samkhyatattvakaumudi of the ninth century, and Vijnanabhikshu’s Samkhya-pravachanabhashya of the sixteenth century.

Sammatiya A school of HINAYANA Buddhism that emerged out of the VATSIPUTRIYA. Like the Vatsiputriya, it believed in the PUDGALA concept, the essence of a person, not identifiable with its components. However, it implied that the Pudgala, though real, is undefinable. Regarding ARHATS, it believed an Arhat can fall from the perfect state. Sammatiyas also emphasized acts of charity or generosity, which provide merit to the giver.

XUANZANG, the Chinese pilgrim of the seventh century, records their existence in numerous monasteries from north-west to western India, and they are also said to have existed in eastern India, up to the time of the Pala dynasty in the eleventh century.

Samru, Begam A Muslim woman who became a Catholic and founded a Catholic church. Farzana, a young Muslim girl of fifteen, later known as Begam Samru, married Walter Reinhardt, a mercenary from Luxemburg who became the commander of the army of Najaf Khan, a local Afghan ruler. Reinhardt was known as ‘Le Sombre’ because of his dark and pensive appearance. This name turned into ‘Samru’ in Hindustani, and thus Farzana became Begam Samru. Reinhardt was given the pargana of Sardhana neer Meerut in present Uttar Pradesh, by Najaf Khan, and after his death in 1778 it came to Begam Samru, who ruled over it. In 1781 she became a Roman Catholic and was renamed Joanna. In 1793 she married Le Vessault, the French commander of her artillery, but he died a tragic death. Begam Samru successfully took care of her territory until her death in 1836, despite the political intrigues and conspiracies in the area. She built St. Mary’s Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which once functioned as a cathedral, and is now known as the Church of OUR LADY OF GRACES.

samsara A Sanskrit term for the concept of reincarnation or transmigration of the soul in Hinduism. According to this concept, the soul occupies a series of bodies, from plant to animal to human life, though it always remains the same, untouched, eternal and pure. When the individual realizes the truth of the eternal soul and ceases to identify with the ego, MOKSHA, freedom from the process of rebirth, is achieved. In Jainism, the term refers to the cycle of transmigration, leading to the entanglement of the JIVA or soul, in matter.

samskara A Sanskrit term that has a number of meanings, but is broadly used in two ways: it indicates ceremonies and rituals practised in Hinduism, as well as the tendencies and qualities that accumulate around a person in succeeding lives, and influence his fate. The two meanings are connected, as the correct practice of rituals generates new qualities. In orthodox Hinduism, samskaras in the form of rituals are to be practised from before birth to after death, mainly by the three higher castes. Texts prescribe different numbers of samskaras, ranging from ten to forty-eight or more. Later authorities recommended sixteen essential ceremonies. Many of these, relating to birth, marriage and death, are still in use.

samudramanthana The term for the churning of the ocean of milk, a myth in Hinduism related to the obtaining of AMRITA or divine nectar by the DEVAS. The story occurs in the MAHABHARATA and PURANAS, with some variations.

samyak charitra One of the TRIRATNA, the three jewels or ideals of Jainism. Samyak charitra means right conduct and is based on the other two jewels, SAMYAK DARSHANA (right belief) and SAMYAK JNANA (right knowledge). When these two are understood, conduct is perfected, by following all Jain ethical principles, particularly that of AHIMSA or non-violence.

samyak darshana One of the TRIRATNA, the three jewels or ideals of Jainism. Samyak darshana is translated as right belief or faith, or sometimes right perception. Samyak darshana is of two kinds, belief with attachment and belief without attachment, through the purity of the soul. Right belief can be attained through intuition or by acquiring knowledge from external sources.

samyak jnana One of the TRIRATNA, the three jewels or ideals of Jainism. Samyak jnana, or right knowledge, is of five kinds: (1) knowledge derived through the senses or the mind; (2) knowledge through the study of scriptures; (3) direct knowledge of matter; (4) direct knowledge of others thoughts; (5) perfect knowledge.

Samyutta Nikaya A Buddhist text of the PALI CANON, literally ‘the grouped discourses or suttas’. The Samyutta Nikaya is part of the SUTTA PITAKA, and has five sections or vaggas, subdivided into fifty-six groups (samyuttas) of suttas. Among the samyuttas is the Devata Samyutta, with diverse sayings attributed to Devatas or deities. The Bhikkuni Samyutta has ten stories of bhikkunis or nuns, who resisted the temptations of MARA. The Naga Samyutta has fifty suttas on NAGAS (snake deities) and on snakes. There is some beautiful poetry in this Nikaya, as well as discourses in the form of riddles.

Sanat Kumara (1) A mind-born son of the Hindu god BRAHMA, that is, a son born through the power of his mind. His other mind-born sons are usually mentioned as Sanaka, Sananda and Sanatana, while some texts list a total of seven. According to Puranic myths, these sons refused to marry because they were created from the pure element of Sattva. They remained innocent and celibate eternally, and some PURANAS state that they never grew beyond the age of five. They had mastered all the VEDAS and travelled together to VAIKUNTHA, the heaven of VISHNU.

In the hierarchy of deities acknowledged by the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Sanat Kumara is at the apex, and was eternally sixteen years old. In his young days J. KRISHNAMURTI, is said to have visited him in his astral body. He recounted: ‘He is a boy not much older than I am, but the handsomest I have ever seen, all shining and glorious, and when He smiles it is like sunlight. He is strong like the sea, so that nothing could stand against him for a moment, and yet he is nothing but love, so that I could not be in the least afraid of Him.’ Sanat Kumara is also mentioned in TANTRAS.

(2) In one passage of the MAHABHARATA Sanat Kumara is equated with KARTTIKEYA. He is mentioned in the CHHANDOGYA UPANISHAD, where he instructs the rishi NARADA in Brahmavidya. Here he is described as the same as Skanda, another name for Karttikeya.

(3) In Jainism, Sanat Kumara is the fourth of the twelve Chakravartins or world rulers, a contemporary of the fifteenth TIRTHANKARA, Dharmanatha. According to stories in Jain texts, Sanat Kumara ruled for 3,00,000 years before he renounced the world, and after practising asceticism, reached the Sanat Kumara heaven.

(4) Sanat Kumara is a name sometimes applied to other great ascetics.

sanatana A term that means ‘eternal’. Hinduism is often described as Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion.

Sanchi Stupa A Buddhist STUPA located at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, which dates back to the third century BCE. Additions were made to it in the second and first centuries BCE. The stupa has a diameter of 36 m and a height of 16.5 m, and is a hemispherical dome with a flattened top. Decorated plaster once covered it. There are two processional paths and four carved gateways, which support architraves with sculpted panels depicting scenes from the JATAKAS and from the BUDDHA’s life. While the Buddha is indicated only by symbols (such as an empty throne, an open umbrella, or footprints), animals, birds and people are realistically carved.

Sanchi was an important centre of Buddhism, with several monasteries dating from the third century BCE to the twelfth century CE. Among them is the Devi Vihara, where Devi, a queen of the Mauryan emperor ASHOKA, lived.

sandha-bhasha A term for the secret language of TANTRA. Several Tantric texts are written in symbolic language that can be understood only by initiates.

Sangam Literature A term for a group of Tamil texts, probably composed between the last few centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. According to traditional accounts, three great literary gatherings (sangams or cankams in Tamil) were held at MADURAI in ancient times. Gods and sages participated in the first, but their compositions are lost. At the second and third, there were saints and sages, as well as poets and writers. The Tolkappiyam, a Tamil grammar, is attributed to the second sangam. At the third Sangam, the ETTUTOGAI was composed as well as several other texts. The eight texts of the Ettutogai, have over 2000 poems written by 200 poets. The PATTUPATTU, or ten idylls, are in a similar style. There are differing views on the dates of these texts, but much of the Ettutogai and parts of the Pattupattu are believed to date between the third century BCE and the third century CE. These texts throw some light on the early history of the Tamil country, including aspects of caste and religion.

Other texts included by some scholars in Sangam literature, though they are somewhat later, are the PADINENKILKANAKKU, or eighteen didactical texts. These texts also provide information on the early history of south India.

sangha, Buddhist The Buddhist monastic order, first established at the time of the BUDDHA. On joining the Sangha, the initiate took certain vows and gave up his worldly life. The texts of the VINAYA PITAKA provided the rules and precepts of the monastic order, and the basic vows included celibacy and refraining from all intoxicants. Initially, only monks were admitted into the order, but ANANDA, the Buddha’s closest disciple, advocated the admittance of women. The Buddha was against this, but finally agreed. The first woman to be admitted was his foster mother and aunt, MAHAPRAJAPATI. Both monks and nuns of the sangha, wore yellow robes and had their heads shaved. Elaborate rules for every aspect of their lives were worked out and recorded in the Vinaya, but differences arose and several schisms took place in the sangha. Some sects formulated their own Vinaya Pitakas, while others continued to use the texts of the PALI CANON.

sangha, Jain In Jainism, the Sangha is a term for a community or group of Jains. Sometimes, the term is also used for a sect. Sanghas are headed by acharyas and within each sangha there are smaller groups, such as GANAS, kulas and shakhas, while GACHCHAS form another subdivision. Jain inscriptions from the first and third centuries CE at MATHURA, have numerous references to ganas, kulas and shakhas, though sanghas are not mentioned. The term seems to have been used later and to have been more popular in south India. According to texts and inscriptions of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, Arhadvali, a Jain acharya who was the second acharya after BHADRABAHU II, divided the Mula Sangha or original sangha into four sanghas: Sinha, Nandi, Sena and Deva. Gunaratna, a SHVET-AMBARA scholar of the fifteenth century, states that the DIGAMBARAS were divided into four sanghas, but provides a different list: Kastha, Mula, Mathura and Gopya or YAPANIYA. In Karnataka after the ninth century, various sanghas and the ganas that belonged to them, are mentioned. The Sena Gana and Balatkata were said to be part of the Mula Sangha; the Mathura, Ladabagada, Bagada and Nanditata Gana of the Kastha Sangha. These ganas are mentioned before the twelfth century, but were not then connected with sanghas. From the lists provided, the terms sangha and gana seem to have been used interchangeably. A sangha could also represent a sect or a smaller community.

Sanjan A town in Gujarat sacred to PARSIS, where they are said to have settled after their migration from Iran in the eighth or tenth century. The story of their arrival and of the later problems they faced is narrated in the Kissah-I-Sanjan. The traditionally accepted date for arrival is 716, and for first consecrating the sacred fire here, 721 CE. An arrival date of around 785 is considered more likely, while some place it as late as the tenth century.

Sankisa/Sankasya A village in District Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh which is an ancient site, sacred to Buddhists. Excavations have revealed that the early settlement here, dates from about 1000 BCE to the eighth century CE. Buddhist texts state that from here the BUDDHA ascended to the heaven of the thirty-three gods, where he met his mother, MAHAMAYA, who had died when he was just seven days old, and preached to her the message of DHAMMA. After three months in heaven, when he decided to return, the god INDRA created triple stairways for his descent. The middle one was of gold, the left of crystal, and the right of silver. While the Buddha descended on the gold stairs, BRAHMA, holding a white whisk over him, accompanied him on the right stairway, and Indra on the left. Then all the DEVAS or gods showered flowers on them. Buddhist legends recount that these stairs existed for several centuries. Later, kings set up stairs at the same site, of brick and stone inlaid with precious substances, and several STUPAS and monasteries were erected here. When the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG, visited Sankisa in the seventh century, he recorded that there were four Buddhist monasteries with 1000 monks, all of the SAMMATIYA school. There were also Hindu SHAIVITE temples.

The site has remains of stupas and a monastery, as well as an ASHOKAN PILLAR.

sannyasi A person who has renounced the world and become a wandering ascetic. There are broadly two categories of sannyasis. (1) In the four-fold system or the four ASHRAMAS of traditional Hindu life, that of the sannyasi represented the fourth stage. At this time the person left his life in the forest and became a homeless wanderer. This stage thus helped to free a person of all attachments, focus on god, and prepare for death and the next life. Thus, according to this interpretation, every male person of the higher castes, became a sannyasi towards the end of his life. This is no longer followed.

(2) A person in search of spiritual truth could leave home and become a sannyasi, renouncing a worldly life, at any point of time. This was usually motivated by a genuine spiritual search, but in a social system where one’s role in life was determined by one’s birth, it was also the only legitimate means of opting out of society. The same role was played by the Buddhist SANGHA where many of the women who joined wrote of their relief at escaping oppressive lives. In the ninth century the philosopher SHANKARA founded the DASNAMIS, ten orders of sannyasis, giving them a formal structure, but sannyasis also existed outside this structure. The Dasnami and other sannyasi orders still exist. Sannyasis at times became involved in political movements, particularly in the freedom movement against the British.

The terms sannyasi and SADHU are often used interchangeably.

Sanskrit One of the main languages of ancient India, considered a divine language. According to most scholars it was derived from a common language known as INDO-EUROPEAN, while some believe it is of Indian origin. Proto-Dravidian words of the languages of south India also occur in Vedic Sanskrit.

The earliest extant Sanskrit text is the RIG VEDA, usually dated to between 1500 and 1000 BCE. Later Vedic texts, the north Indian epics of the MAHABHARATA and RAMAYANA, the DHARMA SHASTRAS, DHARMA SUTRAS and PURANAS, are among the vast body of sacred Hindu literature composed in Sanskrit. MAHAYANA Buddhist texts, as well as some Jain texts, were also written in Sanskrit, though earlier Buddhist and Jain texts used PALI or some form of PRAKRIT, respectively. Texts continued to be composed in Sanskrit, though as regional languages arose, much devotional literature was composed in them. In medieval days Sanskrit texts were translated into Persian and Arabic, while from the eighteenth century, they became known in European languages. Sanskrit is still an important language for the study of religion and ancient texts, and is used in ceremonies and sacrificial rituals.

sant A term for a holy man or saintly person.

Santhal religion Santhals, a large tribal group, live mainly in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa, and speak Santhali, a MUNDA language. Some have converted to Christianity, while others are influenced by Hinduism, though at the same time they worship their own deities. According to one of their myths, the first people originated from the eggs of a wild goose. The whole world was full of water, and Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi, born from the eggs, had no piace to stand. Then Thakur (god), with the help of a crocodile, fish, tortoise, crab, and other aquatic creatures, brought earth up from the bottom of the ocean, and created a place for them. Pilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi married, and had seven boys and seven girls, who in turn married each other, and had children. The descendants of each of the seven couples then became seven clans, who did not marry within the clan. Today there are twelve clans, as well as sub-groups.

The chief deity is Sing Bonga, the sun god, also referred to as Thakur, who is both creator and destroyer. Marang Bonga is second in importance, while there are a number of other Bongas (deities or spirits) who are worshipped. The main festivals include Sohrai in November December; Baha, in February–March, heralding the flowering of the sal tree and the beginning of spring; and Bandhana Puja, in April–May, when all the gods are worshipped together. SHIVA and DURGA are among the Hindu deities that are often incorporated in their pantheon.

The naik or village priest has a central role in the ceremonial worship of the deities.

Sant-Nirankari A Sikh sect that traces its origin to Baba Buta Singh (1873–1943). Along with his disciple Avtar Singh, he founded the Sant Nirankari Mission in 1929–30. After Partition, Avtar Singh moved the headquarters of the Mission from Rawalpindi to Delhi. The Sant Nirankari Mandal was founded in 1948, and branches were soon established in other cities. In 1962–63 Avtar Singh made Baba Gurbachan Singh the guru, preferring to remain an ordinary devotee. Orthodox Sikhs opposed the sect, and conflicts led to the assassination of Gurbachan Singh in April 1980. He was succeeded by his son Hardev Singh (b. 1954), who is still the guru. New branches were established by Hardev Singh, and the Mission spread to other countries. Baba Buta Singh was originally a NIRANKARI, though the Sant Nirankari is not accepted by the Nirankaris or by other Sikh groups. The sect reveres the GURU GRANTH SAHIB and the ten Sikh gurus, and uses Sikh symbols, but apart from this has certain differences from other Sikh sects. It has additional texts, including the Avtar Bani, a collection of verses by Avtar Singh, and reveres its own leaders as much as the early gurus.

The Sant Nirankari welcomes people from all communities and religions, and its followers include a number of non-Sikhs.

Santoshi Ma A Hindu goddess whose worship became popular in the 1960s and ’70s. Santoshi Ma, the goddess of fulfilment or contentment, was virtually unknown before the 1960s. At that time some pamphlets describing the goddess were circulated, and her worship began to spread in parts of western and northern India. According to the myths which were generated, she was the mind-born daughter of the god GANESHA.

It was, however, a Hindi film, Jai Santoshi Ma, released in 1975, that really made her popular. Elaborating on the myths in the pamphlet and introducing a parallel story of a suffering Bahu (daughter-in-law) who achieved happiness by worshipping the deity, the film was a great success, and led to the widespread worship of Santoshi Ma. Such worship could be done at home, without the intervention of a priest, and involved offering gur (unrefined sugar) and channa (chickpea) to the deity, and observing a partial fast on Fridays, for the fulfilment of a wish. Temples dedicated to Santoshi Ma were erected in many parts of the country. Though Santoshi Ma is a relatively new deity, she is not considered new, as she is another manifestation of divine feminine power, or SHAKTI. The film introduced myths that led to her acceptance by other female deities, such as LAKSHMI and PARVATI, and she soon became a recognized part of the Hindu pantheon. A new film on Santoshi Ma was made in 2006, but did not gain the same popularity as the first one.

saoshyants A term used in Zoroastrianism, indicating a guide or saviour. In the GATHAS, the term applies to all who attempt to establish good in the world, who struggle to uphold truth and justice and perform right actions. In later Zoroastrianism, the term came to mean a future saviour who will guide the people towards the truth. In PAHLAVI texts it is stated that saoshyants will appear at the end of the cycle of creation, and bring about the FRASHOKERETI or renewal of existence. The idea of a future saviour in Judaism, Christianity and Islam was probably derived from Zoroastrianism. The concept of MAITREYA in Buddhism and of KALKI in Hinduism, are also thought to have Zoroastrian origins.

Sarala Dasa A poet of the fourteenth or fifteenth century who rewrote the MAHABHARATA in colloquial Oriya, using a local background. Its characters are ordinary people in familiar settings. He also wrote the Vilanka Ramayana, a version of the RAMAYANA, and the Chandi Purana, which were popular in the Orissa region. His real name was Sidheswar Parida, but he took the name Sarala Dasa, as he worshipped the deity Sarala Devi, a local goddess.

Sarama A name used in ancient texts.

(1) In the RIG VEDA, she is the dog of the god INDRA. In later texts, she is the mother of the SARAMEYA, the two dogs who accompany the god YAMA.

(2) In the BHAGAVATA PURANA, Sarama is one of the daughters of DAKSHA, from whom all wild animals are descended.

(3) Another Sarama is mentioned in the RAMAYANA. She was the wife of Vibhishana, the brother of RAVANA, and was kind to SITA when she was captured by RAVANA.

Saramati A Buddhist philosopher who lived between 350 and 450, and founded a school of MAHAYANA Buddhism based on the TATHAGATHA-GARBHA concept. Saramati systematized this theory and wrote a commentary on the Ratna-gotravibhaga, a text attributed in Tibetan Buddhism to MAITREYANATHA, but thought by some scholars to have been composed by Saramati.

Sarameya Two watchdogs of the Hindu god YAMA, the god of the dead. They had four eyes each, and their names were Shabala and Shyama. Their mother was SARAMA, the dog of INDRA. In several ancient religious myths, dogs are associated with the underworld and the dead. In Zoroastrianism, YIMA, the counterpart of YAMA, had four dogs. In Zoroastrian traditions, when a person died, a four-eyed dog was brought to view the dead body, while in the Arda Viraf Namah, a Zoroastrian text, Zerioug Goash is a dog that guards the CHINVAT BRIDGE. In Greek myths, the dog Kerberos (Cerberus) guards the underworld; he has three heads, a dragon’s tail and snakes on his back. In Egyptian myths, Anubis, with a jackal’s head, was called the ‘opener of the way’ to the land of the dead.

Sarasvati A Hindu deity, goddess of music and learning. In the RIG VEDA she is the goddess of the river SARASVATI, but in the BRAHMANAS she is also associated with Vach or speech and with healing. Later she became the goddess of wisdom and music. She is the wife of BRAHMA, and sometimes his daughter.

According to the MATSYA PURANA, Brahma created her from his own effulgence, and her other names are Shatarupa, SAVITRI, GAYATRI and Brahmi or Brahmani. According to the SKANDA PURANA, Gayatri, Savitri and Sarasvati, are three different deities. The DEVI BHAGAVATA PURANA states that she is one of the five Shaktis of Krishna. In some myths she is associated with VISHNU and is his second wife, representing spiritual values, while LAKSHMI represents power in the material world. Sarasvati has a number of names indicating her various aspects. Thus she is Smritishakti, the power of memory; Jnanashakti, the power of knowledge; Kalpanashakti, the power of imagination; Pratibha, intelligence; Vedagarbha, the source of the Vedas, as well as other similar names. Sarasvati is also known as Lalita and SHARADA. In sculpture and art she is depicted as a graceful young woman, holding a vina (a traditional stringed instrument), a mala or string of beads, a water pot, and a book. Her VAHANA is a white swan. Though the wife of Brahma, she is usually worshipped independently, and is a popular goddess even today. All musical performances begin with an invocation to her, and she is worshipped by writers, poets and students.

Sarasvati, river A sacred river, first mentioned in the RIG VEDA as a mighty river flowing into the sea. According to later Vedic literature, the Sarasvati disappeared in the sands of the desert. This river is usually identified with the Ghaggar, a semi-dry river that begins in the Shivalik hills to the west of the YAMUNA. Its dry river bed crosses Rajasthan and flows onward as the Hakra. The Sarasvati has alternatively been identified with a dry river flowing through Gujarat. Other identifications include a river in Afghanistan.

It is also possible that the same name was used for different rivers, and the historical importance of the original Sarasvati led to the name being used in a generic sense for a number of sacred rivers. The MARKANDEYA PURANA states that all sacred rivers are the Sarasvati, all sea-going rivers are the GANGA (1V.11.30). The MAHABHARATA states that the Sapta Sarasvati (seven Sarasvatis) covered the universe, and wherever she was summoned she made her appearance. Thus she appeared under different names at PUSHKARA, Naimisha, GAYA, northern Koshala, KURUKSHETRA and Himavat, usually at the time of a sacrifice. At DAKSHA’s sacrifice at Gangadvara, she appeared by the name Surenu.

The seven Sarasvatis and the seven Gangas are frequently referred to; the Sarasvati is also mentioned as one of the seven Gangas. The Sapta Sindhava, referring to the seven rivers of the area west of the YAMUNA, is another common term.

According to later texts, the Sarasvati joined the GANGA and YAMUNA at PRAYAGA. As there is no such river here, this has been taken to have a symbolic meaning, with the Sarasvati representing the SUSHUMNA and the GANGA and YAMUNA the two NADIS on either side of it.

Sarhul A festival celebrated by the MUNDA tribe in the Jharkhand region, when all the Munda deities are propitiated. It takes place in March/April and continues for several days. The Pahan, or village priest, leads the worship while devotees offer sal flowers.

Sarkar, Prabhat Ranjan The founder of the ANANDA MARGA, a spiritual organization. He was also known as Shri Shri Anandamurti. Born in 1921 in Bihar, he became a railway official, but at the same time experimented with various spiritual practices. He developed a modern form of TANTRA Yoga, and established the Ananda Marga in 1955. In addition he had a number of different ideas and concepts. His philsophy of Neo-Humanism, aimed at inculcating a love of all, including animals, plants and inanimate objects. He started a global plant exchange programme to save and propagate plant species, and founded some animal sanctuaries. Another of his ideas was the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) for collective welfare, which aimed at the maximum utilization and distribution of resources, physical, mental and spiritual. Despite these valuable programmes, he and his followers were said to be engaged in sectarian violence, though they claimed they were being persecuted because of their growing influence. Sarkar was arrested in 1971 and imprisoned, and released only in 1978.

After his release, he developed new ideas, including that of Microvita, the theory of emanations of pure consciousness, which are the building blocks of life. He died in 1990, but the Ananda Marga continued to grow in strength.

Sarnath An ancient site near VARANASI in Uttar Pradesh, sacred to Buddhists, but also associated with Hinduism and Jainism.

Here the BUDDHA preached his first sermon in a Deer Park (Mrigadava). According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha once lived here in a previous life, as king of a herd of deer. He was then named Sarangnatha, from which the name Sarnath is derived. A previous Buddha, named Kashyapa, once lived here as well. The place also used to be called Isipatana, or in some texts, Rishipatana. The first SANGHA or community of Buddhist monks was founded here by the Buddha. ASHOKA, the Mauryan emperor, erected a STUPA here, known as the Dharmarajika Stupa, and near it a pillar with a capital of four lions back to back, which today forms India’s National Emblem. On the pillar is an inscription regarding a schism in the sangha, stating that dissenting monks and nuns would be excommunicated.

Several other stupas, shrines and VIHARAS or monasteries were constructed here at different times, and flourished up to the twelfth century. FA-HSIEN, the Chinese pilgrim of the fifth century, recorded that there were four stupas and two viharas here. XUANZANG, who came here in the seventh century, said there was a vihara here with eight divisions and 1500 Buddhist brethren, all belonging to the SAMMATIYA school. There was also a Buddhist temple and a life-size image of the Buddha. Later, Sarnath was protected by the Pala kings (750–1050). Kumara-devi, a queen of the Gahadavala dynasty, gave a donation to the site in the first half of the twelfth century.

Subsequently, Sarnath was neglected and destroyed. In the nineteenth century, sixty cartloads of carved stone were taken from the site and used to build an embankment. Many of the rich Buddhist artefacts at Sarnath have been lost, including a green marble relic casket, though a number of images and remains are preserved at the site and in the site museum. Among the remains is the Dhamekh Stupa, probably constructed in the fourth or fifth century, and the Chaukhandi Stupa, of uncertain date. There is a brick temple, erected on the spot where the Buddha preached, dated to around the same time as the Dhamekh Stupa. A colossal BODHISATTVA image belongs to the time of KANISHKA (first century CE), and there are numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva images of the Gupta period (fourth to sixth centuries), which, with their fine carving and depiction of inner serenity, represent the height of Buddhist art.

This is one of the four holiest places for Buddhists, who come here from all over the world. The Deer Park has been recreated and there are modern Buddhist structures here, including the Mulgandha-kuti Vihara of the MAHABODHI SOCIETY.

According to Jain tradition, this was the birthplace of the eleventh TIRTHANKARA, known as Shreyansa, and the place was called Simhapuri.

As nearby Varanasi is important for SHAIVISM, there is some SHAIVITE influence here, and miniature LINGAS are among the artefacts found. According to Hindu tradition, Sarangnatha is the name of a form of the god SHIVA, installed in a temple here.

sarpa satra Ancient texts record snake sacrifices (sarpa satra), where snakes were killed in large numbers, not to propitiate the gods, but as a form of revenge. One example is the sacrifice of King Janamejaya, described in the MAHABHARATA, undertaken because his father Parikshit was killed by the bite of a snake. Priests recited MANTRAS that compelled snakes to come from all over and throw themselves into the sacrificial fire. TAKSHAKA, king of the snakes, took refuge with the god INDRA, but finally was compelled to reach the sacrifice. Meanwhile the serpent VASUKI asked his sister Jaratkaru to find a way to save them, and she sent her son Astika, a young RISHI to whom Janamejaya owed a favour. Astika asked the king to stop the sacrifice, and he had to agree because he had promised to grant any wish of his. Takshaka was thus saved. Astika then blessed the snakes that had been killed, so that they might all attain salvation. The story also appears in the BHAGAVATA PURANA. Snake sacrifices have been recorded in other ancient cultures.

Sarvastivada A Buddhist sect of the HINAYANA tradition. The Sarvastivada probably developed from the STHAVIRAVADA around the middle of the third century BCE. According to a Chinese tradition, their philosophy was formalized in Kashmir and MATHURA at the time of KANISHKA, the Kushana ruler of the first century CE, when the fourth BUDDHIST COUNCIL was held. The Sarvastivada were prominent all over the north-west, Kashmir and the upper Ganga plains until the seventh century. Their ideas are summarized in the MAHAVIBHASHA. They believed that everything exists (sarvam asti) and always will exist, while the Sthaviravada hold that the past and future are nonexistent. The Sarvastivada state that the past, present and future coexist, or else it would not be possible to think of them in the present. Nor would it be possible for KARMA to ripen over time. Even so, there is no individual soul or underlying being. One of their other differences with the STHAVIRAVADA was a belief that ARHATS could regress from the perfect state. VASUBANDHU was initially one of the greatest authorities of this school, and wrote the ABHIDHARMAKOSHA.

The Saravastivada had a Sanskrit canon of their own. No complete canon is now available in Sanskrit, but fragments and quotes are found in other texts. The main texts were translated into Chinese by the Chinese pilgrim I-CHING between 700 and 712, but there were earlier Chinese translations as well. The Sarvastivada Vinaya, in addition to rules for monks, contains legends relating to the spread of Buddhism in Kashmir and north-west India. The NIKAYAS were known as Agamas; for example, Dirghagama corresponds to the Digha Nikaya. These have some differences from the Pali texts. The Sanskrit ABHIDHARMA PITAKA of the Sarvastivada is entirely different from the Pali ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA.

Among the branches of the Sarvastivada were the VAIBHASHIKA, named after the Mahavibhasha. The SAUTRANTIKA contradicted Vaibhashika theories by appealing to the authority of the early sutras. The Sarvastivada no longer survives, but its sub-school, the Mula Sarvastivada, has an importance in TIBETAN BUDDHISM, which follows their Vinaya or code of monastic discipline.

Sastha A Hindu deity mentioned in the PURANAS. He is considered the northern counterpart of the god AYYAPPA in the south as well as of AYYANAR. Dharma Thakur, a village deity of Bengal was also absorbed into the concept of Sastha.

Satbis Deori A Jain temple located in Chittorgarh, a fort in Rajasthan. This fifteenth-century temple gets its name from the twenty-seven (satbis) small shrines that surround it. There are several Jain images in niches and some finely carved decorations. A tower rises above the sanctuary. Another Jain temple nearby is the Shringara Chauri temple, constructed in 1456 and dedicated to PARSHVANATHA.

sati An ancient practice in which a Hindu woman joined her husband on the funeral pyre when he died. It was mainly practised by the higher castes, and was supposed to be a voluntary act of devotion to the husband. The act of sati is named after the god SHIVA’s wife, who killed herself because of an insult to her husband.

Vedic texts do not mention sati. There is one instance in the RAMAYANA in which Vedavati’s mother is immolated. In the MAHABHARATA, PANDU, the father of the Pandavas, had two wives, and when he died his second wife, MADRI, immolated herself along with him, though the RISHIS present tried to dissuade her. In the same text, Sairandhri is forcibly burnt with her husband Kichaka. However, these are exceptional instances, as none of the numerous other widows created by the great war in the Mahabharata commit sati. The first definite literary evidence of the custom of sati is provided by Greek historians of the time of Alexander (fourth century BCE) who witnessed some examples of it in north-west India. The Vishnu Dharmasutra, which can be dated to the first century CE or later, mentions the custom but does not regard it as a duty. Several of the PURANAS, including the VISHNU PURANA, PADMA PURANA, BHAGAVATA PURANA and BRAHMA PURANA, cite instances of sati, which suggests that it was slowly emerging between CE 400 and 600.

Later texts looked on it as a meritorious act, though certain groups always opposed it. The first inscriptional evidence of it appears in the sixth century. By around 1000, it became an accepted practice among higher castes, particularly Rajput KSHATRIYAS. Through this act, both husband and wife were said to gain religious merit and attain salvation. Many women, including young widows, voluntarily committed sati, partly because it was glorified and praised, and partly because the life of a widow was often made miserable by social restrictions. In other cases, women were forced to burn themselves against their will. AKBAR, the Mughal emperor of the sixteenth century, was one of the kings who banned and tried to prevent forcible sati.

Though sati was more common in the north, it also took place in southern India. According to detailed accounts of travellers in the Vijayanagara kingdom, which existed between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries in the region of Karnataka, women voluntarily burnt themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. When the king died, all 500 of his wives were burnt along with him. In some sects where burial took place, the women were buried alive with their dead husbands.

Reform movements of the nineteenth century attempted to stop sati. Ram Mohan ROY of Bengal, founder of the BRAHMO SAMAJ, tried to prevent the burning of widows, though he was socially ostracized for this. Lord Bentinck, the British governor-general, supported his efforts, and a law was passed in 1829, applicable to all British Indian territories, making sati an act of homicide. Other reformers too, tried to improve the condition of women and prevent sati. Sati continued to take place in the latter half of the nineteenth century in territories under maharajas, particularly in Rajasthan, but gradually was controlled. The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act of 1987 made all types of sati illegal, even if it was claimed to be voluntary. Stray incidences of sati still take place, and though illegal, temples are set up at the site, and the women venerated as deities. There are several older sati temples as well.

Practices similar to sati were known in other cultures. Herodotus, the Greek historian, reported that the Scythians had a custom of slaying the wives and attendants of deceased chieftains and others of high rank. In Viking myths, when the god Balder was killed, his wife Nanna joined him on his funeral pyre. There are other accounts of wives accompanying their husbands in death, from ancient communities in North America, Africa, Oceania, China, Japan and Korea.

Sati, goddess A Hindu deity, a form of the goddess PARVATI. According to myths, the god SHIVA was married to Sati, daughter of DAKSHA. Daksha did not care for his son-in-law and organized a sacrifice to which he invited all the gods, except Shiva. Several legends recount this sacrifice. In one, Shiva took the ferocious form of Virabhadra to destroy the sacrifice. In another, Sati insisted on going to the sacrifice, and when Shiva did not want her to go, took on the ten ferocious forms of the MAHAVIDYAS. A third story states that upset with the insult to her husband, Sati killed herself. Shiva, in tremendous grief, roamed the world carrying her dead body until VISHNU dismembered it and it fell to the earth. Wherever the pieces of her body fell, a SHAKTA-PITHA, a sacred site of great power, was created. Some texts list 108 sites, some name only four main sites, while others have varying numbers of such sites.

sattva One of the three GUNAS or qualities described in SAMKHYA philosophy. Sattva is the quality of purity, calmness and peace.

satyagraha A form of protest that was developed by Mahatma GANDHI, and included using truth and non-violence, even in political protests.

Satyapir A legendary sage, who is supposed to have lived in the fifteenth century, and who incorporated both Hindu and Muslim traditions. His worship was popular in Bengal and Orissa, and there are numerous mythical stories of his exploits in folk literature. Satyapir is said to have been an incarnation of Satya Narayana, a form of the Hindu god VISHNU, and of a Sufi PIR. He wore the Brahmanical sacred thread, and a scarf representing Islam. He could perform all sorts of miracles, and worshipping him brought prosperity and protection from harm.

Sauda, Mirza An Urdu poet who lived from 1713 to 1781. He was born in DELHI, the son of a prosperous merchant from Kabul. After the invasion of the Afghan, Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1757, he moved to Farrukhabad and later to Lucknow.

Though he was not attached to any SUFI order, his poems, as in the example below, reflect his mysticism and Sufi ideals:

We turned to the Kaba and the temple

In search of God,

Not realizing

He is in our hearts.

Saura Purana A Sanskrit text, an Upapurana or minor PURANA, which claims to be a supplement of the BRAHMA PURANA. The Saura Purana (Saura = sun) explains the LINGA cult, glorifies the Hindu god SHIVA, and links the worship of Shiva with that of the sun god, SURYA. It includes myths and legends, as well as three chapters criticizing the ideas of the philosopher MADHVA. It is an important text for the study of SHAIVISM, and in its final form can be dated to the thirteenth century.

Sautrantika A school of HINYANA Buddhism that developed from the SARVASTIVADA around the middle of the second century BCE, so-called because it focussed on the Sutras rather than on other texts. It rejected the Sarvastivada ABHIDHARMA PITAKA and used mainly their Sutra Pitaka. They denied that everything exists (sarvam asti) and stated that the subtlest SKANDHAS (aggregates) transmigrate from life to life, but they did not adopt the PUDGALA concept of an underlying permanent entity. They said that at the attainment of NIRVANA, the Skandhas cease to exist. Some identify the Sautrantika with the Darshtantika, so-called because they illustrated their discussions with comparisons (drishtanta), and who are criticized in SARVASTIVADA texts. Vasubandhu’s ABHIDHARMAKOSHA summarizes some of their ideas.

Savitr, god A deity mentioned in the RIG VEDA, a sun god. Golden in colour, he is said to illumine the air, heaven, and earth. He is associated with PRAJAPATI, PUSHAN, MITRA and BHAGA, and sometimes seems identical with SURYA, but in other passages is distinctly different. He stimulates or arouses all that lives, protects worshippers and bestows immortality. Some scholars believe that in the Rig Veda, Savitr reflects the divine power of the sun in a personified form, while Surya represents the sun in a more concrete way. The sacred GAYATRI MANTRA is recited to this deity.

Savitri and Satyavan An ancient tale first narrated in the MAHABHARATA. According to this, King Ashvapati and his wife Malati prayed to the goddess SAVITRI for a child. After eighteen years their prayer was granted, and they named their beautiful daughter Savitri. When she grew up, Savitri chose to marry Satyavan, son of king Dyumatsena. Dyumatsena, however, was blind and had lost his kingdom, and Satyavan lived in the forest along with his parents. The rishi NARADA told Ashvapati that Satyavan had every good quality, but would die within a year. Nevertheless Savitri insisted on marrying him. After the year was over, the god of death, YAMA, came to take his soul away, but Savitri followed Yama, and finally she obtained, through her persistence, several boons, through which Satyavan was restored to life. In addition, Dyumatsena’s sight and his kingdom were restored.

The story has been retold many times, and Savitri represents the ideal of a wife’s love for her husband. In modern times Sri AUROBINDO recreated the story in his poetic epic, Savitri, which has 24,000 lines.

Savitri, goddess (1) A Hindu goddess, daughter of the sun, who was married to the god BRAHMA. Brahma was married to SARASVATI, Savitri and GAYATRI. According to some PURANAS, these were all names of the same goddess, but according to others they were different.

(2) Savitri is a name of the Gayatri mantra, dedicated to the god SAVITR.

Sayana A commentator on the RIG VEDA. He lived in the fourteenth century, and was a minister of several kings of the Vijayanagara empire. Sayana wrote commentaries on Vedic literature, as well as texts on grammar.

Sé Cathedral A large cathedral located in the city of Old Goa, constructed in the seventeenth century. A Latin inscription records that Dom Sebastiao (ruled Portugal 1557–78) ordered it to be built for the use of the Dominicans. The construction began in 1562 and took almost one hundred years. The body of the cathedral was ready by 1619, while the altars were completed only in 1652.

The cathedral is constructed on a laterite platform and measures 76 m by 55 m, with a 35 m high façade. Though it is rectangular in shape, the interior layout is cruciform in plan. It has a grand vaulted ceiling and is divided into a nave and two aisles by two rows of Corinthian pillars. Apart from the main altar, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, the church has six additional altars in the transept and eight chapels along the aisles. The additional altars are dedicated to St. Anna, Our Lady of Dolours, St. Peter, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Three Necessities and Our Lady of Hope, while the chapels are dedicated to Our Lady of Virtues, St. Sebastian, the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of Life, St. Anthony, St. Bernard, the Cross of Miracles and the Holy Ghost. The Cross of Miracles was earlier located in a separate church and is so-called because it is said to have grown miraculously in size, till it reached its present height of 6.4 m.

The exterior of the cathedral is a mix of Doric and Tuscan styles, and the whole is influenced by the Renaissance architecture of Europe. It once had two bell towers, but only one remains today.

Sen, Keshab Chandra The founder of a new branch of the BRAHMO SAMAJ and of the Nava Vidhan, a new religious sect.

Born in 1838 at Coolootola near Kolkata (Calcutta), after studying at Hindu College (1854–56), he went on to study philosophy and then worked in the Bengal Bank and later in the Calcutta Mint.

Right from his college days he was interested in religion and spirituality, and was continuously seeking new ways to express his ideas. In 1857 he set up the Goodwill Fraternity, an organization for students based on Unitarian theological ideals. The same year he met Debendranath TAGORE and joined the Brahmo Samaj, soon becoming its leading member. He introduced the concept of volunteer missionaries and inspired them to work to remove caste distinctions, child marriage and polygamy, and to improve the position of women. He advocated women’s education and widow remarriage. He also founded a journal, Indian Mirror, to spread these ideas. These programmes brought him into conflict with Debendranath, who was still the head of the Samaj, and who believed social change should be a gradual process. In 1866 Sen founded a new Samaj, named Bharatbarsiya Brahmo Samaj (Brahmo Samaj of India). Tagore’s branch came to be known as the Adi Brahmo Samaj. A new text, the Shloka Samagraha, was formulated for Sen’s Samaj, putting together ideas from Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Confucian texts, and a place of worship was built, combining the symbols and architectural features of a temple, a mosque and a church. Sen’s Brahmo Samaj was open to all.

After visiting England in 1870, Sen, inspired by reformist activities there, returned to India and founded the Indian Reform Association. Under this association he set up educational institutions, including those for girls and for promoting adult literacy, as well as for vocational training. He also set up the Temperance Society and opened medical centres in Kolkata and its suburbs. He began publishing Sulabh Samachar, a weekly newspaper that highlighted the problems of the poor and underprivileged, and had a large circulation until 1877. The passing of the Brahmo Marriage Act in 1872, a liberal act allowing inter-caste and widow marriage, and prohibiting child marriage, was mainly the result of his reformist zeal.

From 1872, however, Sen underwent a change. Gradually he became more inclined towards a mystical and inward spirituality; he began to give spiritual initiations and to act on the basis of divine messages. He was associated with RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHANSA for several years, which may have influenced him. Going back on his earlier beliefs, he married his minor daughter to the maharaja of Koch Bihar. In 1881 he renamed his organization Nava Vidhan (New Dispensation) and created a composite symbol for it, consisting of a cross, crescent and trident. Twelve disciples were appointed to spread its message, for he wanted it to become a universal religion. By this time, a group that found his new policies regressive had broken away from him, and founded the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1878.

Sen’s new religion did not find much favour, and he became disturbed and depressed, and though he was still revered, his influence declined. He died in 1884.

Septuagint A term for the Greek version of the Hebrew BIBLE. The translation from the Hebrew was begun at Alexandria in the third century BCE. This is the standard version of the Bible for Greek-speaking Christians, and it includes other books that are not part of the Hebrew BIBLE, but are in the Christian text.

Sermon on the Mount A term for the teachings of JESUS Christ as contained in the NEW TESTAMENT in the Gospel of Mathew, Chapters 5–7. These chapters are based on a sermon given by Jesus, probably on a mountain near Capernaum. The sermon begins with the Beatitudes, also found elswhere in the Gospel, that describe the qualities that are considered blessed. Each of the nine Beatitudes starts with the term ‘Blessed’ and the first Beatitude states ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. Other concepts considered central to Christianity are contained in the sermon, including the Lord’s prayer and various ethical precepts. The sermon puts forward the ideal of love, even for one’s enemies, instead of the old law of revenge, and recommends forgiveness of all. It was a favourite text of Mahatma GANDHI.

Setu Bandha Another name for the line of shoals connecting India and Sri Lanka, also known as Rama’s Bridge or ADAM’S BRIDGE.

Seventh Day Adventist Church A Christian church that arose out of the Millenarian Movement of the 1840s, which believed that JESUS Christ will come again and rule over the world for a period of 1000 years. The term ‘Adventist’ thus refers to the advent or second coming. Seventh Day Adventists, who celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, believe in salvation through faith in Christ, and focus on the message provided in Revelation, the NEW TESTAMENT text. Founded in 1860 and officially recognized in 1863, it was introduced in India in 1890. The world headquarters is at Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, and in India the main centre is at Pune, Maharashtra.

Shab-e-Barat An Islamic festival held in the middle of Shaban, the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It celebrates the visit of the Prophet MUHAMMAD to Jannat ul-Baqt, one of the heavens. It is a day of worship and sanctity because, according to some accounts, on this day the wicked are purified and sins and merits are judged. Happiness and suffering are then allotted for the coming year, and decisions are made on who should die or be born. The whole day therefore is devoted to fasting and prayer, and some pray through the night as well. Ancestors are remembered at this time and FATIHA prayers offered at their graves. In India local customs were introduced: fireworks are set off and lamps placed on the newly whitewashed graves.

On this day halwa (sweet) is lovingly prepared and served, for it is said MUHAMMAD lost a tooth on this day, and so ate halwa.

This is considered a minor festival as it is not mentioned in the QURAN, but in the HADIS. In Judaism the festival of ROSH HASHANAH, ending in YOM KIPPUR, is similarly the time when God is said to judge the world.

Shab-e-Qadr An Islamic festival, the term commonly used in India for the LAILAT AL-QADR, or night of power. The festival takes place in the last ten days of the month of RAMZAN. The date is not fixed, and it can be on any odd-numbered day, that is, the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th, but normally takes place on the 23rd or 27th of Ramzan.

Shabuoth A Jewish festival, also known as the Feast of Pentecost, observed fifty days after PASSOVER on the sixth day of Sivam (May–June). It lasts for two days and is connected with the harvest festival of early times, when people offered the first fruits of their harvest to God. Shabuoth is also the day when God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt Sinai, and thus marks the spiritual birth of Israel.

shadavashyakam A term for the six AVASHYAKAS or essentials in Jainism.

Shah Namah A text written by Firdausi, completed in CE 1010. It traces the legendary history of Iran from ancient times up to the coming of Islam. Legends include those of mythical Zoroastrian kings, such as Jamshed (Yima), Lohrasp and others, as well as of later kings known to history. The text states that kings are the representatives of God on earth, and describes a God who is omnipotent and omniscient, the creator of Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Stories from the text form part of Zoroastrian legends, but the Shah Namah is also important in Islam, its theory of kingship being accepted by Islamic kings. Written in verse, it consists of 60,000 couplets.

Shahenshahi A Zoroastian sect that emerged in India in the eighteenth century in opposition to the KADIMI. The division into two sects was created by a dispute over the calendar. In 1745 a group of PARSIS adjusted their calendar according to the calendar prevailing in Iran, pushing the lunar calendar one month back. They came to be known as Kadimis, followers of the ‘ancient’ tradition, while those who opposed the move were known as Shahenshahis, followers of the ‘royal’ traditional calendar. Initially there were conflicts between the two groups, but now they live in harmony, though they observe different festival dates. The majority of PARSIS are Shahenshahis and most Zoroastrian temples follow the Shahenshahi calendar.

Shah-i-Hamadan Mosque A mosque located in Kashmir on the river Jhelum, not far from Srinagar, originally constructed in 1395. This wooden mosque was twice destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1479 and 1732. Constructed on a masonry plinth, the mosque is a cube-like structure with a pagoda-style roof. Shah Hamadan is identified with Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani (d.1385), who founded the HAMADANI sect. According to legends associated with the mosque, he flew through the air from Hamadan to Kashmir, to the place where the mosque stands.

shaikh/sheikh In Islam, a learned and holy man, a title given to many Islamic saints in India. It specifically refers to a leader of a SUFI order.

Shaiva Agamas Sanskrit texts that deal with the worship of the Hindu god SHIVA. There are twenty-eight Shaiva Agamas, said to have been composed by Shiva after the creation of the world, though they probably date to the seventh century CE and later. Each Agama has a number of Upagamas, or minor Agamas. The SHAIVITE sects who follow these texts include the SHAIVA SIDDHANTA, the Virashaiva or LINGAYAT, and the Kashmir Shaivas.

Shaiva Siddhanta A SHAIVITE school of thought that developed between the seventh and fourteenth centuries. Literally it means ‘the doctrine of the followers of SHIVA’. It bases its philosophy on the VEDAS, the UPANISHADS and the SHAIVA AGAMAS, which are all Sanskrit texts, as well as the Tamil texts of the NAYANAR saints, the TIRUMURAI, and the MEYKANTA SHASTRAS, apart from other Shaivite works. It sees the supreme reality as Shiva, who is both the formless Absolute and the personal god and saviour representing love. Shiva operates through his SHAKTI, which, though a part of him, forms the link between pure consciousness and matter. Through Shakti, knowledge, action and desire come into being, creating the world and the individual souls. Shiva is Pati, the lord, and all the souls are pashu (literally, cattle). They are in bondage pasha, to the world, or material existence. Acting in the world, the souls, which are eternal, and have knowledge and the ability to act, become bound by false ideas and wrong actions. Destroying these bonds by right action and devotion to Shiva, the soul is freed from impurities and united with Shiva, though it retains its separate identity. Divine knowledge is obtained through Shiva, either directly through intuition, or through a guru. The four stages on this path are said to be charya, or external acts of worship, kriya or action, yoga or union, and jnana or knowledge, though these can exist simultaneously as well. Daily rituals are an essential part of this school. Certain principles of this school, i.e., of the three forms of Pati, pashu and pasha, are the same in the PASHUPATA form of SHAIVISM.

Shaivism One of the three main sects of Hinduism, the others being VAISHNAVISM and SHAKTISM. Shaivism centres around the worship of the god SHIVA in his various forms, of the LINGA, his emblem, and of other deities associated with him, particularly PARVATI, GANESHA and KARTTIKEYA. Certain SHAKTA sects are also considered a part of Shaivism. There are innumerable Shaivite texts, as well as Shaivite sub-sects and cults.

Rudra, an early form of Shiva, is mentioned in the RIG VEDA, whereas Shiva is first referred to in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad. Shiva is described in the MAHABHARATA and the PURANAS. Several Upapuranas or minor Puranas also deal with the worship of Shiva, particularly the Shiva Purana. The Shiva Gita and the Nanmarai are other early texts dealing with the worship of Shiva. The BHAKTI movement brought in new trends, and the NAYANARS of the seventh to tenth centuries wrote devotional hymns to SHIVA in Tamil. Their collected verses are included in the TIRUMURAI, of which the Tevaram forms a part.

The SHAIVA AGAMAS and the MEYKANTA SHASTRAS are among other Shaivite texts, while additional texts are associated with various Shaivite sects. Among early sects is the PASHUPATA, said to be founded by LAKULISHA. Later sects include the Virashaiva or LINGAYAT of Basavanna, and various branches of Kashmir Shaivism. Another important school of Shaivism in south India is the SHAIVA SIDDHANTA. The KALAMUKHA, KANPHATA or NATHA YOGIS, Aghori and KAPALIKA, are also associated with Shiva, and are considered Tantric sects. Other Tantric or SHAKTA sects are those that worship Shiva along with Parvati as SHAKTI or female energy.

Within Shaivism, Parvati is also worshipped separately in her many different forms, as DURGA, KALI and other goddesses, and so are GANESHA and KARTTIKEYA. Shaivite temples, many of them with inscriptions, are found all over India. In south India, the Chola dynasty in particular, were patrons of Shaivism. SHANKARA was said to be a Shiva devotee and founded the DASNAMIS, Shaivite SANNYASI orders.

In Kashmir several branches of Shaivism were prevalent from around the eighth century, including Trika Shastra or the monistic school propagated by VASUGUPTA, Kallata, SOMANANDA, UTPALADEVA, ABHINAVAGUPTA, Kshemaraja and others, and often termed ‘Kashmir Shaivism’. In this school, Shiva is the sole reality, but his energy or Shakti is worshipped in three forms, as Para, a benign goddess, and Parapara and Apara, two fierce goddesses who are forms of Kali. The PANCHA-MAKARA were used in the lower stages, but higher stages involved only meditative practices. The Trika was later absorbed into Kaula Tantrism. Krama Shaivism, another branch, included mystical cults of the goddess Kali and also used the Pancha-makara. There was another dualistic school, which worshipped Shiva as Svacchandabhairava, along with his consort Aghoreshvari. All these schools had Tantric aspects, but at the same time developed significant philosophical concepts.

Among Shaivite festivals, Shivaratri is the most important.

Shaivite/Shaiva A follower of the Hindu god SHIVA or of any of the sects of SHAIVISM.

Shakambhari A Hindu deity, a name of DURGA in her form as goddess of vegetation.

shakha Literally, ‘a branch’, which in Hinduism refers to a branch or school of the VEDA. Each shakha had a different version and interpretation of the texts. According to Shaunaka’s Charana Vyuha, an early text, there were five Rig Vedic schools: the Shakala, Bashkala, Ashvalayana, Shankhayana and Mandukayana. The term shakha is also used in different ways, and can refer to a branch of any sect or group.

shakinis Female spirits who were attendants of the Hindu deities SHIVA and DURGA.

Shakta A Hindu sect based on the concept of SHAKTI or divine feminine energy. Shaktas, those who primarily worship Shakti, see the feminine principle represented by DEVI or MAHADEVI as inherent in every aspect of the universe. The Shakta sect not only worships the outer form of the deity, who can transform herself into all forms, but the inner aspect as well. Thus the KUNDALINI is identified with Shakti, and the advanced Shakta attempts to raise it from the MULADHARA to the SAHASRARA CHAKRA. The SAMKHYA theory of PURUSHA and PRAKRITI is incorporated in Shakta philosophy, where SHIVA represents Purusha, and Shakti represents Prakriti. The sect has ascetic, philosophic, and Tantric practices, and was initially prominent in Bengal and Assam, though the worship of Shakti is widespread all over India. Other ancient civilizations, including Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria and Egypt also had the concept of a female generative principle. The principle exists even in later sects such as the Jewish KABBALAH and the medieval Christian Cathars.

Shakta Pithas Sacred sites in Hinduism that are repositories of divine feminine energy. According to myths, Shakta Pithas occur where parts of the body of the goddess SATI fell when it was cut into pieces after her death. One hundred and eight such sites are mentioned in texts, along with the different forms of DEVI or Sati. Among the places and forms mentioned are VARANASI, where she is known as Vishalakshi, and PRAYAGA (Allahabad), where she is known as Kumuda. At HASTINAPURA she is called Jayanti, and at Kanyakubja (Kannauj), Gauri. She is KALI at Kalanjara, Ratipriya at Gangadvara (HARDWAR) and SITA at Chitrakuta. One of the most important centres is at Guwahati, where she is known as KAMAKHYA. Temples exist at several of these sites, and at other places as well, where local traditions state that a portion of Sati’s body fell. Such sites are said to be very powerful, storing the energy or SHAKTI of Devi. They are also known as Pitha Sthanas or Devi Sthanas.

Shakti The principle of female energy. The worship of the female principle has been traced back to the INDUS CIVILIZATION and even earlier, where ‘mother goddess’ figurines, and ring stones, thought by some to represent the YONI, have been found. Without textual corroboration, however, it is not possible to say whether these items were worshipped, or in what way. In the Devi Sukta hymn of the RIG VEDA, (X.125) the concept of feminine energy inherent in creation is explained. The goddess or DEVI is supreme and all-pervading. In this hymn the goddess says: ‘I am the kingdom, the giver of wealth, the knower of all. I am the first of all rituals… I dwell in all things.’ Two Durgastotras in the MAHABHARATA and the Aryastava in the HARIVAMSHA further expand the concept, while the DEVI MAHATMYA section of the MARKANDEYA PURANA is the most important text describing different forms of Shakti. In the SAMKHYA philosophy, PRAKRITI is the equivalent of Shakti. Other PURANAS too contain passages on Shakti. Shaktis are named as consorts of some of the gods and depicted in images as the MATRIKAS. These represent aspects of one supreme feminine deity. Two texts, the Saundarya Lahiri attributed to the philosopher SHANKARA, and the Lalita-sahasranama, are expositions on the powers and aspects of Shakti. Shakti is most commonly associated with SHIVA, but also forms a part of other sects and religions. In VAISHNAVISM, eight Shaktis are named as channels for the energies of the gods. They are: Shri, Bhu, Sarasvati, Priti, Pushti, Tushti, Kirti and Shanti. The feminine principle is an integral part of VAJRAYANA Buddhism and is seen in Jainism in the VIDYADEVIS and SHASANA DEVIS. Reverence and worship of Shakti forms a part of all Tantric cults.

Shaktism A term for sects that worship SHAKTI or female power, also known as SHAKTA sects.

Shakyamuni A name by which the historic BUDDHA is commonly known. It means ‘a sage (muni) of the Shakya clan’. Shuddhodana, the father of Gautama Siddhartha, later known as the BUDDHA, belonged to the Shakya clan.

Shalagrama A type of ammonite or fossil that represents the Hindu god VISHNU. These fossils of an extinct species of molluscs, are found mainly along the river Gandak. They are said to be pervaded by the divine energy of Vishnu and are of different colours, marked with spirals. They are considered auspicious, and keeping them in the house and worshipping them brings good fortune.

Shambhala A mythical Buddhist kingdom where the Bodhisattva MAITREYA and other BUDDHAS are said to reside. In TIBETAN BUDDHISM, it is said to be located to the north of Tibet, where the practitioners of the KALACHAKRA live. Shambhala is mentioned in Hindu texts, including the VISHNU PURANA and the BHAGAVATA PURANA, where it is said to be a village where KALKI, the future incarnation of the god VISHNU, will be born. Madame BLAVATSKY of the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY also described Shambhala, and it is a popular concept in New Age sects.

Shambuka A SHUDRA described in the RAMAYANA of VALMIKI. After a BRAHMANA boy died in RAMA’s kingdom, Rama, rising up in his PUSHPAKA vimana or aerial vehicle, searched the land for evidence of unrighteousness that could have caused the boy’s death. He found Shambuka, a shudra, practising ascetic penances and chopped off his head with a sword. The gods praised Rama, as it was not right for a shudra to try and reach heaven, and the brahmana boy was restored to life.

This episode was used by the DRAVIDIAN MOVEMENT to condemn the Ramayana as an upper-caste text. Conversely, however, Valmiki, the traditional author, is worshipped by some lower-caste groups. Those who justify this incident state that modern concepts cannot be applied to the past, where the king had to maintain order according to prevailing customs and laws.

Shani One of the NAVAGRAHA or nine planets, representing the planet Saturn. In Hindu mythology, Shani is the son of SURYA and Chhaya, or of BALARAMA and Revati. He is known as Ara, Kona and Kroda, and is depicted as a black man wearing black clothes, with a vulture as his VAHANA or vehicle. Sometimes he is associated with a crow. In astrology, Shani’s influence is generally malefic, though it can alternatively lead to spiritual and mystical heights. In north India, Shani is propitiated on Saturdays.

Shankara, deity A name of the Hindu god, SHIVA.

Shankara, Sri (Adi Shankaracharya) One of the greatest philosophers of India, an exponent of the ADVAITA school of VEDANTA. There is some controversy about the date of his birth, but most scholars believe he was born in 788 and died in 820 CE. Though there are many myths, stories and conflicting accounts of his life, the broad outlines are given below.

He was born at village Kaladi in present Kerala. His parents, Shivaguru and Aryamba, were Nambudiri BRAHMANAS and devotees of the Hindu god SHIVA. His father died when he was a young boy, and he was then brought up by his mother. He displayed extraordinary intelligence, soon mastered all the ancient texts and philosophies, and somehow persuaded his mother to allow him to take sannyasa. He then went in search of a guru, and found him in Govinda Bhagavatapada. Govinda had been the disciple of GAUDAPADA and taught Shankara the Advaita philosophy that he had learnt from his own guru. Govinda then advised him to go to KASHI, and there Shankara composed commentaries on the BRAHMA SUTRA, BHAGAVAD GITA and UPANISHADS. After this he travelled through the country to restore true religion based on the Vedas and Upanishads. He defeated many philosophers in debate and converted them to his point of view. Notable among these was MANDANA MISHRA, the disciple of KUMARILA BHATTA. Mandana then became Shankara’s disciple. To ensure that his principles and ideas were not forgotten, Shankara set up four MATHAS, or centres of religious authority and learning: the Jyotir Matha at BADRINATH in the north, the Sharada Matha at SRINGERI in the south, the Kalika Matha at DVARAKA in the west, and the Govardhana Matha at PURI in the east. According to some accounts, he set up a fifth Matha at KANCHIPURAM. He established the DASNAMI, or ten orders of SANNYASIS attached to these Mathas.

After completing this immense task, Shankara died at the young age of thirty-two, at KEDARNATH in the Himalayas.

Shankara’s works include commentaries on ancient texts, including on the Brahma Sutra, ten or eleven Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; the Upadeshasahasri, and the Vivekachudamani are important philosophical texts. Other works attributed to him are the Dakshinamurti Stotra, Harimide Stotra, Saundarya Lahiri, Dashashloki, Atma Bodha (Knowledge of the Soul) as well as several others, though some scholars doubt whether all these works were his.

Shankara’s philosophy has permeated Indian consciousness. The idea of the One Reality, BRAHMAN, of its identity with the ATMAN or individual soul, and of the world as MAYA or illusion, as well as the concept of KARMA, were known before Shankara, but it was he who explained each with indefatigable logic and established them in the Indian mind. Even today, every person in India is familiar with these concepts, though they may be understood at different levels and interpreted in various ways.

Though Shankara believed in the One Reality, he upheld certain traditional practices. He did so in order to remove Tantric practices that had crept into Hinduism, as well as to combat the threat posed by Buddhism. Some of his ideas are considered similar to those in Buddhism, and by reinterpreting these in a Hindu context, the importance of Buddhism was diminished. He maintained the traditional structure of caste and advocated LINGA worship.

His ideas were challenged by several later philosophers, chief among them being RAMANUJA and MADHVA.

shankaracharyas A title by which the religious heads of the MATHAS established by the philosopher SHANKARA are known. The first four shankaracharyas of the four traditional mathas were chosen from among his disciples and were Padmapadacharya, Totakacharya, Hastamalakacharya and Sureshvara Acharya, earlier known as Mandana Mishra. The head of the Kanchipuram MATHA also uses the title shankaracharya. Later, other mathas began using this title, including Jain mathas.

Shankaradeva A BHAKTI saint of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who worshipped the Hindu god VISHNU in his various forms.

Born in 1449 at village Bardowa in the present district of Naogong in Assam, his father was the shiromani or overlord of a number of local chieftains known as Bhuyans. The boy was born after prayers to the god SHIVA in a local temple, and hence was named Shankara. He lost his parents when still a child and was looked after by his grandmother and educated at the gurukula of a learned pandit, Mahendra Kandali. When he grew up his relatives insisted he take over as shiromani, and got him married, though his inclinations were for a religious life. After the death of his wife, he handed over his duties to his uncles and set off on a religious pilgrimage in 1481. He visited sacred places, including GAYA, PRAYAGA, MATHURA and PURI, and here became a devotee of Lord JAGANNATHA. He began to compose lyrical verses (bargitas) to Jagannatha and to Vishnu in his various forms. Returning to his hometown in 1493, he was persuaded to remarry but spent all his time in a temple, composing verses of devotion and reading and discoursing on sacred texts.

At this time in Assam there were several warring groups. As the Bhuyans faced problems from the Kacharis and the Koch kingdom, Shankara and his followers moved to the island of Majuli in Ahom territory, but after facing problems there too, they went to the Koch kingdom. Here he had initial difficulties, but finally the king, Naranarayana, befriended him. Shankaradeva then lived mainly at Barpeta, and is said to have died in 1568, when he was around 120 years old.

His life has to be seen in the context of the troubled and warlike conditions in Assam, and of the prevailing religion, which was based on SHAKTA and Tantric rites and involved massive animal sacrifices. Shankara was against all this, and his form of VAISHNAVISM gradually became the religion of at least a part of Assam. His philosophical base was Vedantic, but he believed in BHAKTI, prayers and worship. He was against caste and his followers included lower castes and tribals. Helped by his main disciple Madhavadeva, he composed songs and verses, and wrote books and plays. Among his songs were bargitas, compositions with different ragas or melodies, ghoshas, or couplets, and bhatimas or eulogistic songs. His plays Rukmini-harana, Parijataharana and others on Vaishnavite themes, are still enacted in Assam. In his books Bhakti-pradipa and Niminava-siddha-samvada he explains the principles of bhakti. He also wrote other books, including Harishchandra Upakhyana, Amrita Manthana, and Balichalana, in which he retold stories from the PURANAS in simple verse.

Shankaradeva set up satras, Vaishnava religious centres or monasteries, for organizing and spreading Vaishnavism in Assam.

He is still revered as a great saint and reformer of Assam.

shankha The Sanskrit term for a conch. The shankha is considered sacred and is an emblem of the Hindu god VISHNU. It is sometimes personified as a Shankha Purusha, a male figure. Conches are blown at the time of prayers and on any auspicious occasion.

Shanti Durga Temple An eighteenth-century temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess DURGA, in the form of Shanti Durga. It is located a little outside the town of Ponda in Maharashtra. The main shrine has an image of the goddess, and an octagonal domed tower rises above. There is a secondary shrine and a rectangular MANDAPA with a gabled roof. The temple has glass chandeliers, wooden ceilings and silver screens with embossed doorways.

Shanti Suri A Jain philosopher of the eleventh century (d. 1040) who wrote a commentary named Shishyahita on the UTTARAJJHAYANA SUTTA. It formed the basis for later commentaries on this text.

Shantidas Jawahari A seventeenth-century Jain jeweller and banker from Ahmadabad, who was influential at the Mughal court. Shantidas constructed poshalas, or places where Jains stayed while fulfilling vows, and built a large Jain temple at Ahmadabad. In 1629 the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan granted the land where the poshalas were constructed, to the Jains. In 1654, AURANGZEB, then governor of the Deccan, built a MIHRAB in the temple, thus converting it into a mosque. When Shantidas appealed to Shah Jahan, the temple was restored. In 1656, Murad Baksh, another of Shah Jahan’s sons who became governor of Gujarat, granted PALITANA to Shantidas for the use of Jain pilgrims, and Shah Jahan confirmed the grant. Murad took a large loan from Shantidas, which he later ordered to be repaid from the Gujarat revenues. Before it could be repaid, however, Aurangzeb imprisoned Murad. Later, Aurangzeb ordered the repayment and asked for Shantidas’s help in conciliating merchants and others in Ahmadabad. In 1660 Aurangzeb in another farman or decree, acknowledged the help given by Shantidas to the army in the form of provisions. He also confirmed the Palitana grant.

Shantideva A Buddhist scholar and poet of the MAHAYANA school, who lived between the seventh and eighth centuries. His Bodhicharyavatara is essential reading on the path of the BODHISATTVA. Among his other works is the Shiksha-samuchchaya, a summary of Mahayana practice and thought, and Sutra-samuchchaya, an anthology of sutras from Mahayana texts. A verse by Shantideva epitomizing the compassion of the BODHISATTVA is often meditated upon by Buddhists. It states:

As long as the sky exists

And there are sentient beings in the world,

May I remain to help them

To relieve them of their pain.

Shantirakshita A Buddhist philosopher of the MAHAYANA school who lived from 680 to 740. He combined the ideas of the YOGACHARA-SVATANTRIKA and MADHYAMIKA schools and took Buddhism to Tibet, but did not have much success in spreading it there, as his concepts were too rational and analytical. His work was carried on by KAMALASHILA, but it was PADMASAMBHAVA who combined mystical techniques with rational concepts and succeeded in establishing Buddhism in Tibet. Shantirakshita wrote several texts, including the Tattvasamgraha and the Madhyamakalankara.

Sharada A name of the Hindu goddess SARASVATI. Sharada is also the name of the universal mother, the supreme deity representing the absolute.

Sharada Temple A temple dedicated to the goddess SHARADA, in her form as the supreme deity, located at SRINGERI in Karnataka. The present temple dates to 1916, but is a reconstruction of an earlier temple. The first structure is said to go back to the time of Sri SHANKARA in the ninth century, and consisted of a YANTRA, a sacred diagram, drawn by Shankara on a rock in the middle of the Tunga river. A sandalwood image was installed on this, and it was covered with a thatched roof. VIDYARANYA, the guru of the founders of the Vijayanagara empire, installed a golden image and added a tiled roof. The modern construction was started in 1907.

Sharada is the main deity of the Sringeri Matha. She represents the Absolute and has no consort. In her hands the goddess holds a jar of AMRITA, the divine nectar of immortality; a book, representing supreme knowledge; and a mala or rosary, symbolizing the aksharas, the divine syllables from which forms are created. The fourth hand is in chin mudra, a gesture indicating the identity of the individual soul with BRAHMAN. Sharada is another form of the goddess Lalita Raja Rajeshvari and is worshipped through the recitation of the Lalita Sahasranama. She is also called Sharada Parameshvari. Sharada transcends the three deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, along with their Shaktis, and encompasses all these.

The temple has a GARBHA-GRIHA housing the deity, and a small ante-chamber in front, enclosed in granite. Around this is a passageway, and in front a large MANDAPA or pillared hall.

Sharaf-ud-din Yahya Munyari, Shaikh A SUFI saint of the FIRDAUSI ORDER who was popular in Bihar. He is also known as Shaikh Maneri because he lived in Maner in Bihar. Shaikh Munyari was saintly and liberal in his approach. He admired IBN AL-ARABI, but did not totally accept the WAHDAT AL-WUJUD doctrine, as he said the union of man and God was not possible. He was influenced by the Sufi saints, Attar, Rumi, and Iraqi.

Munyari initially studied with an orthodox scholar, Maulana Sharaf-ud-din Tauma, at Sonargaon. He came to DELHI in search of a PIR and became the disciple of Shaikh Najibuddin Firdausi. He meditated in a cave in the Rajgir hills, visiting Maner on Fridays for prayers, and became known as a spiritual ascetic. A small KHANQAH was built for him in Maner by his disciples, and later a large one by order of the Delhi sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq, but Sharaf-ud-din remained an ascetic by temperament. He had a good relationship with the Delhi sultan, and later with the sultan of Bengal. His disciples included both learned and ordinary people. He wrote the Maktubat-i-Sadi, a collection of one hundred epistles, while the first collection of his discourses is known as the Madan al-Maani. His disciple, Shaikh Zain Badr Arabi, compiled the Khwan-i-Pur Nimat on his teachings, and the Malfuzat, a collection of Munyari’s utterances.

Shaikh Munyari died in 1381 and is still renowned in Bihar.

sharia/shariat A term for law in Islam, which includes codes of conduct for every aspect of life. Islamic law is based on the QURAN and the SUNNAH, along with IJMA (consensus of the learned) and qiyas or reasoning by analogy. IJTIHAD, ‘the exertion of mental energy by jurists’, was also used. The four main schools of SUNNI law (FIQH) were formed by the eighth century and consist of the HANAFI, the Shafi, the Maliki and Hanbali. The Hanafi code is most commonly used by Sunnis in India, while some follow the Shafi code.

The SHIAS of the ISNA ASHARI sect depend on the Quran, the Sunnah, and the traditions of the IMAMS, as well as ijma of Shia jurists, and aql (reason). Qualified scholars, the MUJTAHID, can make decisions after ijtihad. The Al-kutub al-arbaa (four books) are the main books for Shia law.

In India ISLAMIC LAW operates only in the personal sphere.

Shariputra A disciple of the BUDDHA. He was originally a BRAHMANA, but after listening to the discourse of a Buddhist monk he joined the SANGHA. He was close to the Buddha and quickly gained enlightenment.

shasana devata A term for a male guardian deity of a TIRTHANKARA. Each TIRTHANKARA has its own shasana devata and SHASANA DEVI.

shasana devi A term for a female deity who is a guardian deity of a TIRTHANKARA. Each TIRTHANKARA has its own SHASANA DEVATA and shasana devi, also known as a YAKSHA and Yakshini.

The shasana devis, though termed yakshis, are actually goddesses in Jainism. The shasana devis of the twenty-four Tirthankaras in sequence are: (1) Chakreshvari; (2) Rohini; (3) Prajnapti, (4) Vajrashrinkala; (5) Purushadatta; (6) Manovega, (7) Kali, (8) Jvalamalini or Jvalini; (9) Mahakali; (10) Manvi; (11) Gauri; (12) Gandhari; (13) Vairoti; (14) Anantamati; (15) Manasi; (16) Mahamanasi; (17) Jaya or Vijaya; (18) Tara; (19) Aparajita; (20) Bahurupini; (21) Chamunda; (22) Amra or AMBIKA; (23) Padmavati; (24) Siddhayika.

They are similar to the Jain VIDYADEVIS and have their counterparts among Hindu and Buddhist deities.

Shastra The name of a certain category of Sanskrit texts. Shastra, a Sanskrit word, originally meant an order, command or rule. It can also refer to teaching or good advice or council. Shastras include religious or sacred texts, scientific manuals and books of rules or precepts. For instance, DHARMA SHASTRAS are texts on right conduct, sanctified by customary religious law; SHULVA SHASTRAS provide information on measurement for sacrificial altars.

Shat Khandagama Sutra A Jain text sacred to the DIGAMBARA sect, also known as the KARMAPRABHRITA.

Shatrughna The son of the king DASHARATHA and half-brother of RAMA, described in the RAMAYANA. His mother was queen Sumitra, and he was the twin of LAKSHMANA. He was married to Shrutakirti, who was related to SITA. In later versions of the Ramayana, Shatrughna was said to be a partial incarnation (AMSHA-AVATARA) of the god VISHNU, to the extent of one-eighth.

Shatrunjaya A Jain temple city on Shatrunjaya hill, near PALITANA town in Gujarat. The hill reaches a height of 600 m and has a number of Jain temples. The Shatrunjaya Mahatmya, a work of about the eleventh century written by Dhaneshvara, describes the shrines and legends associated with the sacred city. It is also described in the VIVIDHA TIRTHA KALPA, a later text.

According to the traditional accounts in these and other texts, RISHABHA, the first Jain TIRTHANKARA, visited this hill, and the temple of Marudeva located here was first made by Rishabha’s son BAHUBALI. Pundarika, a disciple of Rishabha, attained enlightenment here. Other Tirthankaras and Jain saints also visited the place, and according to the Vividha Tirtha Kalpa the five PANDAVAS, along with KUNTI, attained perfection here.

The existing temples were constructed in the sixteenth century and later.

Temples and smaller shrines are located on two ridges and in the valley between them, mostly clustered together in fortified enclosures known as tuks. They were founded mainly by wealthy merchants, and in general have plain exteriors, double-storey porches, elaborate gateways, corner bastions, and high towers. The sacred hill is visited by pilgrims every day.

Shattari A SUFI order that came to India in the fifteenth century. The order was founded in the eighth century and was known as the Ishqiya in Iran and Central Asia, and the Bistamiya in Turkey. Shah Abdullah, who came to India from Central Asia in the fifteenth century, named it the Shattari, meaning ‘fast runner’, as he claimed it was the quickest way to reach perfection. He travelled across north India and Bengal, finally settling in Mandu, where Sultan Ghiyasuddin Shah (1469–1500) became his disciple. He died there in 1485. He wrote a text known as the Lataif-i-Ghabiyya, in which he explained the basic Shattari teachings. Among his most notable disciples was Shaikh MUHAMAMAD GHAUS, author of the JAWAHIR-I KHAMSA and other texts, and his elder brother Shaikh Phul. Other prominent Shattaris were Shaikh WAJIHUDDIN AHMAD (d. 1589–90) of Gujarat, Shaikh Isa, and Shaikh Burhanuddin of the seventeenth century, both of Burhanpur. Shattaris preached a mystical approach to God, accompanied by the control of breath, diet restrictions, and invoking the names of ALLAH under specific conditions. The order remained popular in Bengal, Gujarat and the Deccan until the seventeenth century, and even spread to Mecca, Medina, Syria, Malaysia and Indonesia.

shekhinah A Hebrew word meaning ‘dwelling’ or ‘presence’. In Judaism the term indicates God’s presence in the world. The term can be translated as the ‘divine light’ or ‘glory’ of God.

Shesha/Sheshanaga The king of the NAGAS or serpents, described in Hindu mythology. He ruled in PATALA, one of the LOKAS or worlds, and had a thousand heads. He is also called ANANTA. The god VISHNU sleeps on Shesha or Ananta in the intervals between creation and in this pose is known as Sheshayana. BALARAMA is said to be an incarnation of Shesha.

Sheshayana A form of the Hindu god VISHNU when he sleeps on the serpent ANANTA or SHESHA.

Sheth Hathisingh Temple An ornate Jain temple located in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, constructed in 1848 by a Jain merchant. The temple is in a rectangular court, entered through an elaborate gateway, and has three shrines, each with an image of the fifteenth TIRTHANKARA, Dharmanatha. Attached to the shrines are several MANDAPAS, and along the outer walls are other small shrines. Three spires rise above the shrines, while the mandapas have domed roofs. The temple has intricate carving and decoration.

Shia One of the two main sects of Islam, the other being the SUNNI. Shias differ from Sunnis primarily in their views on the rightful successors of the Prophet MUHAMMAD. They revere Muhammad’s relatives, including Fatima, his daughter; Ali, his son-in-law and cousin; and his grandsons, Hasan and HUSAIN. They also consider the IMAMS who followed as infallible. They do not acknowledge the Prophet’s successors, Abu Bakr, Omar and Osman, and believe that Ali should have been made Caliph after the Prophet. The Imam has a spiritual function exceeding that of the Sunni Caliphs and is the interpreter of the law. Shias reject the Sunni belief that the Divine Being will be seen by the pious on the day of judgement.

In India, Shias first settled in Sind in the late tenth century and ISMAILI Shias remained prominent in part of lower Sind until the fourteenth century. Most north Indian Islamic rulers favoured SUNNIS. In northern India in the time of Sultan Razia (1237–40), a Shia, Nur Turk, tried to start a revolt, but did not succeed. In Sind and Gujarat the BOHRAS and KHOJAS were converted to the Ismaili Shia sect in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries. ISNA ASHARI Shias seem to have been introduced in India in the fourteenth century, and according to some accounts they were patronized by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, but suppressed by Firuz Tughlaq.

After Timur’s invasion (1398), Shias migrated from Iran to the Deccan. Sultan Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur (1490–1510) made the Isna Ashari faith the state religion. More Shia scholars came from Iran to the Deccan, and Shias were favoured by the Qutb Shahi rulers of Golkonda. In Kashmir, Shias came in conflict with Sunnis.

On the whole, Shias did not face problems from the Mughal emperors, not even AURANGZEB, who was a staunch SUNNI, but at times were persecuted because of opposition from the ULAMA. After the downfall of the Mughal empire in the eighteenth century, Shias and Sunnis became more hostile to each other.

There are over five crore Shia Muslims in India. In January 2005, Shia representatives formed the Shia Muslim Personal Law Board, breaking away from the all-India body, as they felt it was not tackling their problems. Separate Shia Waqf boards (charitable trusts) already exist in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and they want similar Waqfs established in other states.

Shia sects include the Isna Ashari or Imami, Zaidi, and Ismaili, among whom are the Bohras and Khojas.

shikhara A term for the tower rising above a temple. It is particularly used for TEMPLES of the north Indian or Nagara style. Literally, the term means the peak of a mountain.

shiksha The science of phonetics, one of the VEDANGAS or additional branches of the VEDA. It deals with the correct pronunciation and recitation of the Vedas.

shila A term that means ‘principle’, but in Buddhism refers specifically to moral precepts. The pancha-shila or five precepts, similar to the five YAMAS of Hinduism, are to be followed by all Buddhists, while there are five additional precepts for monks and nuns. These additional precepts are: not eating solid food after noon; avoiding music, dance and drama; avoiding perfumes and other adornments; not using high beds; not touching gold or silver. In MAHAYANA Buddhism there are other shila for the BODHISATTVA path, including the PARAMITAS or perfections.

Shilappadigaram A Tamil epic, sometimes considered part of SANGAM LITERATURE, though usually assigned to a later date. The name Shilappadigaram can be translated as ‘The Jewelled Anklet’. The author is said to be Ilangovadigal, the grandson of Karikala, a king of the Chola dynasty who ruled in the first or second centuries CE. References in the text indicate it could be somewhat later and some scholars assign it to the sixth century.

This verse epic narrates the story of Kovalan and KANNAGI, a married couple. Kovalan fell in love with the dancer Madhavi and spent all his money on her. Kannagi, however, remained faithful to Kovalan, and penniless, the couple reached the city of MADURAI. Kannagi then took off one of her anklets and gave it to Kovalan to sell, but in the market he was accused of being a thief because the queen had lost a similar anklet. The falsely accused Kovalan was put to death, and Kannagi, when she heard of it, stormed through the city in grief. Finally she was taken to the king, and when she showed him her remaining anklet he realized he had wrongly condemned an innocent man. ‘I am no king,’ he said, and in shock he fell down dead. Kannagi then tore off one of her breasts and threw it in the city, which went up in flames. Thus she destroyed the king and his city, and finally retreated to a hill where she died a few days later, rejoining her husband in heaven. Kannagi is worshipped as a goddess in the Tamil region, a symbol of a wife’s chastity, devotion and loyalty to her husband. The MANIMEKHALAI is a sequel to this epic.

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) An organization founded in 1920 to look after the affairs of Sikh GURDWARAS. The SGPC is an elected body that exercises direct control over most of the historic Sikh gurdwaras, gives rulings on religious issues, runs some educational insitutions, trains Sikh preachers and publishes material on Sikhism. Sikhs contesting SGPC elections are normally backed by political parties.

Shitala A Hindu mother goddess worshipped in rural Bengal for protection from disease, particularly smallpox. Shitala is usually depicted dressed in red, seated on a lotus or a donkey. She was more popular in the days when smallpox was widespread.