How Temple Deities in South India Were Saved From Muslim Invaders, Stone Screens

Hinduism History Practices Mantras

We do not know our ancient history,Our culture and in short our past.One such is the information relating to the Invasion and destruction of Hindu Temples by Muslim Invaders.This information has been withheld, suppressed by the Invaders and later the Secular rulers of India (?!).Text books on Indian History right from the scholl level make a coy reference to Islam Invasion and destruction, looting of Indian Temples ,apologetically in the passing.This article is not about the list of Temples destroyed by Muslims In India or about the Temples converted into Mosques. How did our ancestors save most of the Moolavars, Presiding Deity in The Sanctum, when the pillaging, plundering armies ransacked towns and Temples? On receiving information that invading armies of Muslim Rulers were proceeding towards a city, our ancestors built a stone wall infront of the Deity in the Sanctum, placed a duplicate Idol in front of the Stone Screen, called Kal Thirai, Screen made of Stone.This is how most of the Moolavar Vigrahas were saved from the marauding Islam Armies. In Madurai , the Moolavar of Meenakshi Amman was saved this way by the Sivachariars.The Siva Linga which was damaged by the Muslim army is kept in the Meenakshi temple. In the north, the Indian subcontinent had been conquered by the Delhi Sultanate. Muslim armies had begun raiding central India for plunder by the late 13th century. Between 1310–1311, the Ala ud Din Khilji’s Muslim general Malik Kafur and his Delhi Sultanate forces went deeper into the Indian peninsula for loot and to establish annual tribute paying Muslim governors.The records left by the court historians of the Delhi Sultanate state that Malik Kafur raided Madurai, Chidambaram, Srirangam and other Tamil towns, destroyed the temples, and they were the sources of gold and jewels booty he brought back to Delhi. The Islamic invasion in the 14th century, states George Michell – a professor and art historian of Indian architecture, brought an abrupt end to the patronage of Tamil Hindu temple towns.[47] The Tamil Hindus revived these towns but in some places such as Madurai, it took a long while.After the conquest and destruction, the Delhi Sultan appointed a Muslim governor in Madurai, who seceded within the few years from the Delhi Sultanate and began the Madurai Sultanate. This Sultanate sought tribute from the temple towns, instead of supporting them. The Muslim Madurai Sultanate was relatively short-lived, with Hindu Vijayanagar Empire removing it in the late 14th century. According to one poetic legend called Madhura Vijayam attributed to Ganga Devi, the wife of Kumara Kampana, she gave him a sword, urged him to liberate Madurai, right the vast wrongs, and reopen the Meenakshi temple out of its ruins. The Vijayanagara rulers succeeded, removed the ruins and reopened the temple for active worship.They restored, repaired and expanded the temple through the 16th century, along with many other regional temples. More at https://ramanisblog.in/2021/05/31/how-temple-deities-were-saved-from-muslim-armies-kal-thirai-stone-screen/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ramanispodcast/message