the three day world saiva conference5.2.10-7.2.10), organised by worldsaiva council(wsc) has just been concluded.
the programmes were held at annamalai university. eminent saiva adheenams, saiva scholars, delegates from foriegn countries(mostly from srilanka) and people from various saiva organisations in tamilnadu participated(total 3500).
it was a mix of both popular particpation and scholarly ovations. it was nice to see many youndsters also to be seen inside the auditorium ( though many of them are university students).
there was good sales of religious books and articles of worship.
i bought a whole set of 12 murais and 14 sandhana texts on a reduction sale by panasai mutt. i also bought books on thiruvilayadal and kandha puranam. some of the less known veera saiva madams have also published books like the kumara dhevar muttt of vridhachalam.
i could interact with some srilankan delegates who were still in grief and deprssion. one nallur adheenam from jaffna was on the dias with the senior adheenams. war has completely destroyed their body&mind only spirit was attached to them.
resolutions regarding the pann isai, saiva life style, thrumurai recital, tolerence for other languages(including importance of sanskrit)..were emphasised by adheenams.many organisations from underpriveleged sections could be seen interacting with the mutt leaders( a very unusual phenomena).
kanchi sankara mutt has sanctioned an amount for repairing saivite temples in hindu areas in srilanka and it was announced there by avaduthurai mutt.
on the whole it was an emotional, social, religious get together for chidambrians with the saivites from around the globe.food and shelter were provided free for as many as 2000 people by local satrams and marriage halls. registration was free.