The propaganda song from Kamal Haasan movie
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Indian Cinema
AJ_June_forever — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 10:45 PM)
Followers of Sri Ramanuja do believe in all sorts of fantastical history. Some of them have been able to make their fantasies enter mainstream history. As per my studies, the main problem between the two sects was mainly in Karnataka and it was caused from the other side than depicted in this song. The great Shaivite from Tamil Nadu/karnatka Sri Appayya DikshÍta did his best to save Shaivism in the region when it was completely consumed by Vaishnava propaganda. I do like to see a movie made about great Sri Appayya DikshÍta. My favourite scholar for sure.
When a sodomite dies, the world becomes a slightly better place
A man from Alabama -
AJ_June_forever — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 11:17 PM)
My answer to your question will be relevant for India after 9th century.
Religion had a lot of influence in those times. While folk culture and local culture still dominated in most of the places, the 3 big Acharya* were definitely able to influence the stories and myths of those local cultures. So while they directly did not control society like Church did, their teachings did shape the life of most people and narratives of society.. In north India, a sect called Ramanandi Sampradya were able to do what 3 big ones did in south. The Ramanandi sect itself was highly influenced by Sri Ramanuja's Vaisihnavism. The misogyny, strict caste division and some other evils had their root in teachings of those 3 big schools and their sub-schools. So religion of course influenced a lot but not directly like Church.
Religion was not so dominating before Advaita sampradaya emerged dominant. The myths and culture were very local to various regions before 8th century and there was no concept of any particular school dominating local people. Religion still existed of course but more philosophical religion and less intrusive religion.
*The 3 big schools are Advaita, VishishtAdvaita and Tatvavada (also ignorantly called Dwaita-vada). All these 3 schools came from south India and dominated all of India except northern states where Shaivism of Nath sampradaya exerted influence. In my personal opinion Nath sampradaya (unfortunately dying today) is much better and liberal religion than 3 big ones that have dominated India for a long time now.When a sodomite dies, the world becomes a slightly better place
A man from Alabama -
vikade1 — 9 years ago(December 20, 2016 11:46 PM)
When you say that religion was not so dominant before the 8th or 9th century, that means the Gupta Empire was during a time when religion was not so dominant.
This was during the time when the Maurya Empire died off, Buddhism was waning as a power and the Hindu reaction to it had not yet solidified.
Considering that the Gupta age is talked about as a Golden Age, it's interesting to wonder.