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Murti

Kataragama also Katharagama,and Katirkamam (Tamil கதிர்காமம்) is a regionally popular place of pilgrimage to Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and indigenous Vedda communities of Sri Lanka and South India. This article is about the Hindu religion. ... Image File history File links Aum. ... Hinduism (सनातन धर्म; also known as Sanātana Dharma, and Vaidika-Dharma) is a worldwide religious tradition that is based on the revealed knowledge of the Veda and the direct descendant of the Vedic religion. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Hinduism encompasses many movements and schools fairly organized within Hindu denominations. ... Hindu mythology is a term used by modern scholarship for a large body of Indian literature that details the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large sections of philosophical and ethical discourse. ... Hindu philosophy (one of the main divisions of Indian philosophy) is traditionally seen through the prism of six different systems (called darshanas in Sanskrit) that are listed here and make up the main belief systems of Hinduism. ... Past Lives redirects here. ... Moksha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Karma is a concept in Hinduism, based on the Vedas and Upanishads, which explains causality through a system where beneficial events are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful events from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a persons reincarnated lives. ... A small prayer setup This article is about Hinduism. ... ... In the Indian religions Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, nirvāna (from the Sanskrit निर्वाण, Pali: Nibbāna -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: niè pán), literally extinction and/or extinguishing, is the culmination of the yogis pursuit of liberation. ... Dharma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ayurveda (आयुर्वेद Sanskrit: ayu—life; veda—knowledge of) or ayurvedic medicine is a comprehensive system of medicine, first described by Charaka around the beginning of the Common Era, Presently the central document of Ayurveda is considered to be Charaka Samhita which is a treatise of 500 drugs compiled by Charaka under... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat, including beef, poultry, fish, or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. ... Bhakti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Artha is a Sanskrit term referring to the idea of material prosperity. ... Hindu scripture is overwhelmingly written in Sanskrit. ... The Upanishads (उपनिषद्, Upanişad) are part of the Hindu Shruti scriptures which primarily discuss meditation and philosophy and are seen as religious instructions by most schools of Hinduism. ... The Vedas (Sanskrit: वेद), collectively refers to a corpus of ancient Indo-Aryan religious literature that are associated with the Vedic civilization and are considered by adherents of Hinduism to be revealed knowledge. ... The Brahmana (Sanskrit ब्राह्मण) are part of the Hindu Shruti; They are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, and the period of their composition is sometimes referred to as the Brahmanic period or age (approximately between 900 BC and 500 BC). ... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... The Rāmāyana (Sanskrit: रामायण, march or journey (Ä€yana) of Rāma) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ... The Aranyakas (Sanskrit आरण्यक, Forest Books, Forest Treatises) are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures are sometimes argued to be part of either the Brahmanas or Upanishads. ... The percentage of Hindu population of each country was taken from the US State Departments International Religious Freedom Report 2004. ... These are some of the most noteworthy Gurus and Saints of Hinduism: Shankara Ramanuja Amritanandamayi Paramahansa Yogananda Madhvacharya Raghavendra Swami Ramakrishna Vivekananda Sree Narayana Guru Aurobindo Ramana Maharshi Sivananda Chinmayananda Yogaswami Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Swaminarayan Shriram Sharma Acharya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Satya Sai Baba Shirdi Sai Baba Bhakti Vaibhava... The Gopuram of temples, in south India, are adorned with colourful icons depicting a particular story surrounding the temples deity. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A mantra is a religious syllable or poem, typically from the Sanskrit language. ... Glossary of terms in Hinduism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Nataraja is one of the most famous images of Lord Shiva Murtis (singular Murti, also spelled Murthi or Murthy) refers to deities or images used by Hindus and also by some Mahayana Buddhists during worship as points of devotional and meditational focus. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... A Hindu (archaic Hindoo), as per modern definition is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of the Indian subcontinent and the island of Bali. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) is an adherent of Islam. ... The Wanniyala-Aetto, or forest beings (This is the name they call themselves; the commonly known name is Veddahs in Sinhalese) are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. ... A map of South India, its rivers, regions and water bodies. ...

Current township

Today it is a fast developing township in the deep south of Sri Lanka. But in medieval times it was only a small village. It is situated 228km south of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo (කොළඹ in Sinhala; கொழும்பு in Tamil) is the largest city and primary commercial hub of Sri Lanka. ...

Buddhist Kataragama

Some believe that it is one of the 16 principal places of Buddhist pilgrimage to be visited in Sri Lanka. According to the chronicle of Sri Lankan history the Mahawamsa, when the Bo-sapling or Pipil tree sapling under which Goutama Buddha attained enlightenment in North India was brought to the city of Anuradhapura 2,300 years ago, the warriors or Kshatriyas from Kataragama were present on the occasion to pay homage and respect. A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... The Mahavamsa, also Mahawamsa, (Pāli: great chronicle) is a historical record, written in the Pāli language, of the Buddhist kings of Sri Lanka. ... Bodhi is a past tense of bodhati meaning awake, become aware, notice, know or understand in both Pāli and Sanskrit. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A map showing North India North India is a geographic and linguistic-cultural region of India. ... // Name Anuradhapura, (அனுராதபுரம் in Tamil) is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, world famous for its well preserved ruins of the Great Sri Lankan Civilization. ... Kshatriya is the title of the Hindu military order. ...

The Budhist Kiri Vehera Dagoba which stands in close proximity to the Hindu temple was built by the King Mahasena. According to the legend Lord Buddha on his third and the last visit to Sri Lanka was believed to have met the King Mahasena who ruled over the Kataragama area in B.C.580. Thus the local Sinhalese Buddhists believe that Kataragama was sanctified by Lord Buddha. The King met the Lord Buddha and listened to the Buddha’s discourse and as a token of gratitude, the Dagoba was built on that exact spot where it now stands. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Dagoba is a Buddhist shrine or mound containing relics of a Buddha or important manuscripts. ...

Hindu Katirkamam

(see main article for transformation of Katirkamam Hindu temple) Katirkamam also Kathirgamam and Katirgamam (Tamil கதிர்காமம்) is the name of the Hindu temple dedicated to lord Murukan in Sri Lanka. ...

Tamil Hindus of Sri Lanka and South India refer to the place as Katirkamam and it has a famous Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Katirkaman. The presiding deity is popularly identified with Lord Murukan or Skandha. Saivite Hindus of South India call him also as Subramanya. Following are the other names to identify the same deity in the Hindu texts; Kandasamy, Katiradeva, Katiravel, Kartikeya, and Tarakajith. Some of these names are derived from the root Katir from Katirkamam. Tamil may refer to: Tamil language, one of the Dravidian languages primarily spoken in the South ASIA Tamil script, primarily used to write the Tamil language Tamil people The phrase Tamil country is used sometimes to refer to the regions with a significant population of Tamil-speaking people. ... A Hindu (archaic Hindoo), as per modern definition is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of the Indian subcontinent and the island of Bali. ... Kartikeya(extreme right) in Durga Puja In Hinduism, Kārttikeya (also Skanda, Subrahmanya, Kumara, Arumugan, Shanmugan, Murugan, Guha, Saravana, Swaminatha, Velan, Velavan, Senthil) is a god born out of a magical spark created by Shiva. ... The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap or bundle) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The deity’s image is depicted either with six heads and 12 hands, or one head and 4 hands. The God’s vehicle is the peacock, which is native to Sri Lanka and India. Many local Tamils undertake long pilgrimage journeys across the island to reach temple complex. There is also a related shrine called as Sella Katirkamam dedicated to Lord Ganesh nearby. Peacock re-directs here; for alternate uses see Peacock (disambiguation). ... Popular image of Ganesh In Hinduism, Ganesha (Gaṇeśa, lord of the hosts, also spelled Ganesa and sometimes referred to as Ganesh in Hindi, Bengali and other Indian vernaculars) is the god of wisdom, intelligence, education and prudence. ...

The local river namely Manik Ganga or Manika Gangai functions as a place of ablution where a sacred bath is taken to remove ones sins.

Pre Hindu and Buddhist origins

The deity at Kataragama is indigenous and long-celebrated in Sri Lankan lore and legend, and originally resides on the top of mountain called Wædahiti Kanda (or hill of the indigenous Vedda people) just outside of the Kataragama town. Since ancient times an inseparable connection between the God and his domain has existed. At one time the local deity was identified with God Saman , a deity that was important to the Sinhalese people before their conversion to Buddhism. The Wanniyala-Aetto, or forest beings (This is the name they call themselves; the commonly known name is Veddahs in Sinhalese) are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. ...

Till today the indigenous Vedda people come to venerate at the temple complex from their forest abodes. As a link to the Vedda past the temple holds its annual festival, that celebrates the God’s courtship and marriage to a Vedda princess, in July to August. The Wanniyala-Aetto, or forest beings (This is the name they call themselves; the commonly known name is Veddahs in Sinhalese) are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. ...

Secretive shrines outside the main temple complex is also used in sorcery and cursing by local Sinhalese [1] Magic (also called magick to distinguish it from stage magic) is a supposed way of influencing the world through supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ... Cursing can refer to: Curse Profanity ...

Temple of Syncretism

Kataragama is a multi-religious sacred city as it contains an Islamic Mosque within its temple complex as well. Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ... In various religions, sacred (from Latin, sacrum, sacrifice) or holy, objects, places or concepts are believed by followers to be intimately connected with the supernatural, or divinity, and are thus greatly revered. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Yeni Camii (the New Mosque), one of the landmarks of İstanbul A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ...

In spite of the differences of caste and creed, all Sri Lankans show great reverence to God Kataragama. They honor him as a very powerful deity and beg divine help to overcome their personal problems or for success in business enterprises etc., with the fervent hope that their requests would be granted. They believe that God Kataragama actually exists and is vested with extraordinary power to assist those who ever appeal to him with faith and devotion in times of their distress or calamity. Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The concept of the divine or of The Divine, meaning matters relating to a god, forms an important ingredient in many religious faiths (but compare Buddhism, for example, or Scientology). ...

External links

• Kataragama website
• Vedda website

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