A sthala purana or sthala puranam (
Sanskrit: स्थलपुराणम्,
romanized: sthalapurāṇam,
lit. 'regional history') refers to a religious account that recounts the historical significance of a
Hindu temple, or the sacredness of the region in which it is situated. It is sometimes referred to as a eulogistic work that glorifies a sacred site.[1] The name of a given place and the temple present in a sthala purana traditionally has a religious or a historical association, with some major event surrounding it.[2]
Etymology
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.[3][4]
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.[5]
Sthala Puranas are categorised along three main themes:
tirtha (sacredness of a site), khestra (a geographic area or place), and daivata (deity).
Traditions
Sthala Puranas are found more often in
South India, where the dominant Hindu traditions are
Vaishnavism and
Shaivism.[6] Accordingly, most of these chronicles offer veneration to
Vishnu or
Shiva in their contents. In
Tamil Nadu, Sthala Puranas are rendered Tala Valaraṟu (
Tamil: தல வரலாறு), and are generally transmitted in
Tamil.[7]
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.[8] The Alvars are regarded to have visited and extolled these shrines,[9] their hymns compiled in the Sri Vaishnava canon, called the
Naalayira Divya Prabandham.[10]
Shaiva chronicles of this genre tell of the origins and traditions of particular
TamilShiva 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 workTevaram. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by
David Dean Shulman.[11]
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.[13]
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.[14]
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.[15]