Sthala purana

Sthala Purana comes from the Sanskrit terms Sthala, meaning, 'place', and Purana, meaning, 'history'. A Sthala Purana serves to offer information regarding the events associated with a given place, which is usually a temple.{{Cite book |last=Frykenberg |first=Robert Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vy27HF4FWtAC&dq=sthala+purana+place+history&pg=PA155 |title=History and Belief: The Foundations of Historical Understanding |date=1996 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-0739-7 |pages=155 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Kakatiya-era Rama temple has rare door carvings |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/kakatiya-era-rama-temple-has-rare-door-carvings/article33762881.ece |access-date=7 November 2021 |work=The Hindu |date=6 February 2021}}

{{Hindu scriptures and texts}}

Sthala Puranas were historically transmitted orally, traditionally by the priests of a Hindu temple, who would recount the account during puja. They were also sometimes preserved in manuscripts, usually included in works of religious literature. In the contemporary period, these accounts are often offered in printed pamphlets, or summarised on websites on the Internet. Such accounts offer narratives regarding how the murti (a representation of the deity that is worshipped) of a temple came to be in that place, either as a svayambhu (self-manifestation), a miraculous discovery, acts of the deity performed at the given site, or how a saint or devotee was blessed by the deity in the site. They may also explain the relationship between the mulavar (main deity) housed in the temple, and the murtis of other deities also enshrined within. The forms of ritual worship that are prescribed to be performed at a given temple, and the punya (virtue) one would be rewarded with for engaging in worship at the site are also often detailed. Such accounts generally extol the glory of one deity in particular, and regard the veneration of that deity to be most virtuous.{{Cite book |last=Flueckiger |first=Joyce Burkhalter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0inWBgAAQBAJ&dq=sthala+purana&pg=PA99 |title=Everyday Hinduism |date=2015-05-06 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-6021-6 |pages=99 |language=en}}

Sthala Puranas are categorised along three main themes: tirtha (sacredness of a site), khestra (a geographic area or place), and daivata (deity).

Sthala Puranas are found more often in South India, where the dominant Hindu traditions are Vaishnavism and Shaivism.{{Cite book |last1=Sears |first1=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUrTBwAAQBAJ&dq=sthala+purana+south+india&pg=PA781 |title=Oceanography: The Past: Proceedings of the Third International Congress on the History of Oceanography, held September 22-26, 1980 at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the Institution |last2=Merriman |first2=D. |date=2012-12-06 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4613-8090-0 |pages=781 |language=en}} Accordingly, most of these chronicles offer veneration to Vishnu or Shiva in their contents. In Tamil Nadu, Sthala Puranas are rendered Tala Valaraṟu ({{Langx|ta|தல வரலாறு}}), and are generally transmitted in Tamil.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ahjAAAAMAAJ&q=tala+varalaru+tamil |title=Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India |date=1984 |publisher=The Society |pages=32 |language=en}}

Vaishnava Sthala Puranas are primarily associated with the Sri Vaishnava tradition, to which the twelve poet-saints, the Alvars, belonged to. Each of the Divya Desams, the 108 sacred abodes of Vishnu, scattered throughout India, has a Sthala Purana associated with it.{{Cite book |last=Padma |first=Sree |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Jn_AwAAQBAJ&dq=alvars+sthala+purana&pg=PA123 |title=Inventing and Reinventing the Goddess: Contemporary Iterations of Hindu Deities on the Move |date=2014-07-03 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-9002-9 |pages=123 |language=en}} The Alvars are regarded to have visited and extolled these shrines,{{Cite book |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC&dq=alvars+sthala+purana&pg=PA278 |title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts |date=1993-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-1381-4 |pages=278 |language=en}} their hymns compiled in the Sri Vaishnava canon, called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham.{{Cite book |last1=Narayanan |first1=Vasudha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x8uL8ki9-D8C&dq=divya+prabandham+sthala+purana&pg=PR14 |title=The Vernacular Veda: Revelation, Recitation, and Ritual |last2=Nammaaolvaar |date=1994 |publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-87249-965-2 |pages=xiv |language=en}}

Shaiva chronicles of this genre tell of the origins and traditions of particular Tamil Shiva temples or shrines. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in the vernacular, but some with Sanskrit versions as well. The 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent have such Puranas for each, famously glorified in the Tamil literary work Tevaram. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.{{sfn|Shulman|1980}}

• The Sthala Purana of the Alagiya Manavalan Perumal temple in Uraiyur (Woraiyur), now part of Tiruchirappali, and known as Thirukkoli, describes the tale behind the existence of temple.{{cite news |title=Vishnu temple in an ancient Chola capital |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2021/oct/13/vishnu-temple-in-an-ancient-chola-capital-2370936.html |access-date=7 November 2021 |publisher=The Indian Express |date=13 October 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of the Srivilliputhur Andal temple is significant due to its influence on Ramanuja.{{cn|date=March 2023}}
• The Sthala Purana of the region of Thiruvottiyur (Chennai), one of the oldest habitations by the sea, during the 16th century, describes it as one of the greener places in the region.{{cite news |title=Traces of Thiruvottiyur in texts |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2021/sep/11/traces-of-thiruvottiyur-in-texts-2357065.html |access-date=7 November 2021 |publisher=newindianexpress |date=11 September 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of Mumbai is believed to have been derived from goddess belonging to Koli community, Mumba devi, who are considered as the initial inhabitants of the islands in city.{{cite news |title=Story of Mumbai |publisher=talkingmyths.com |url=https://talkingmyths.com/tag/sthala-purana/ |access-date=7 November 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of the Sthalasayana Perumal temple at Mamallapuram highlights the story of the lotus- offering to Vishnu in that place.
• The Sthala Purana of the city of Kumbhakonam indicates the place as being surrounded by villages, which are jointly linked, with a legendary story relating to cosmogony.{{cite web |title=Holy Dham-Information about Holy places in India |url=https://www.holydham.com/sthala-purana/ |access-date=8 November 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of the Meenakshi Amman Temple highlights that Meenakshi Amma was believed to be found by the king of the devas, Indra.{{cite web |title=Sthala Purana and History of Meenakshi Amman Temple |url=https://www.templedairy.in/sthala-purana-and-history-of-meenakshi-amman-temple |website=Temple Diary |access-date=8 November 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Vari Devasthanam Temple in Simhachalam relates the temple to the asura king known as Hiranyakashipu, and his son, Prahlada.{{cite web |title=Sthala purana of The Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Vari Devasthanam Simhachalam Temple |url=https://tms.ap.gov.in/SMCHLM/cnt/index |access-date=8 November 2021}}
• The Sthala Purana of the Yadagirigutta Narasimha Swamy temple is said to be dated back to the Treta Yugam.
• The Sthala Purana of places in Nalgonda gives ancient details of the Sri Meenakshi Agasteswara Swamy Temple.{{cite news |title=Places of Interest |publisher=nalgonda.telangana.gov.in |url=https://nalgonda.telangana.gov.in/places-of-interest/ |access-date=8 November 2021}}

• Puranas
• Tirtha
• Divya Desam

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Category:Pilgrimage in India

Category:Puranas

Category:Hindu texts

Category:Hindu temples