Siddhas - The Wandering Saints of Tamil Nadu

Siddhas of Tamil Nadu, who came in a line of wandering saints, claim a divine origin; according to them Lord SHIVA (Hindu God) is the first Siddha. Some times their origin is traced to the mysterious mythical sage. THIRUMOOLAR. He is regarded as the supreme preceptor and originator of the exoteric school of SIDDHAS . He lived, some believe, 3000 years ago. It is impossible to explain the typical features of the Tamil Siddhas in terms of one historical line or metaphysical doctrine and an attempt to do so shares the fate of reductionism.

In Tamil Nadu, spiritual freedom has always been articulated by authority. The mystical system of Tamils, thoughtful techniques, and philosophies are all heading for to one end i.e. to gain liberation of the self. Even though they disagreed over the nature and reputation of attaining it, it is a rebirth to a non-conditioned manner of being. It is the very construction of human survival, but due to the unawareness of man, he is not aware of it and does not comprehend it and he has toil hard to understand it.

According to Siddhas the way to accomplish this freedom is to come down into one's own self. Siddhas relied only on the individual's labors for the accomplishment of liberation. Their feature attitude is: 'find out for yourself'. According to their philosophy, there is an honesty to a magnificent transcendence. This openness has rendered it not easy to put their spiritual and philosophical thoughts into a methodical total. Their philosophy is to be recommended more by saying what it is not, as a sculpture exposes an image by the act of removing pieces of stone from a block of stone.

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As a Siddha, sectarian association is immaterial. This Siddhas have no consecrated city, no monastic institute, no religious instruments. They are illustrious by their unresponsiveness to recognized religion. Siddhas are not system builders; their whole technique is to shake people out of their intellectual ruts and their conservative, unproductive, ethics. They make fun of logic and metaphysics. They turn conventional philosophy upside down in order to make it look ridiculous.

They are the non- ascetic, non- conventional persons, religious aspirants, longing for direct and natural approach to, and a more concentrated experience of, the utter truth. It is not simply Surithi or Smirthi (classes of scriptures) which they rebuff, but the influence of scriptures as such the value and standing of the scriptures which remains the privilege of a few in Hinduism. That's why, a group of people, those who leading their lives with the help of religious rituals, idols and religious carry outs strongly appose Siddhas ideology and propagating alongside them as "Siddhas were opium eaters", Siddhas poetry is Nuisance etc. But the people of Tamil Nadu well known about the truth and preponderance of people are respecting and practicing the Siddha philosophy.

Siddhas belong to a non- traditionalist, 'counter-tradition'. The Siddhas confronted many of the conventional beliefs, and carry outs of the local religious society and contemplation. They condemned idol and ritualistic worship and prayers as manacles holding back the soul from the liberation.

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The current survey on the principles of Indian Philosophical system showed that the Sankya Philosophy was the oldest one which is founded by Siddhas. Different ailments due to change in mental and physical faculties and Leprosy with it signs and indicators were declared and known to them. The quality of Good medicine was also mentioned and this might have become the basis for the proper explanation of Siddha medicine by Thirumoolar in his discourse Thirumoolar 8000. The theory of resistance was also elementary and it was known to the Physicians of Sangam Age (2000 BC to 200 AD) even before Chinese and English Physicians.

The ordinary herbs and parts of trees were used largely as medicines there was no orientation of using metals and non metals as medicines. The basic ideology and methods of Surgery like Incision, Excision, Separation, Suturing application of Bandage, Amputation were known and practiced by the Siddha Surgeons.

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